On this day, October 11th, in 1975, Saturday Night Live premiered on NBC. Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show. It actually premiered under its original name of “NBC’s Saturday Night.” The focus of the show is a series of sketches that poke fun at American culture and politics. A large and varied repertoire cast performs these sketches. Each episode features a different celebrity guest who hosts and participates in these sketches alongside cast members. Host celebrities are selected for their popularity or because they have work that is releasing around the time of their SNL appearance. For the premiere episode, comedian George Carlin was the first celebrity guest to host.
Other countries have created their own versions of the show because of Saturday Night Live’s success in America. Some of these countries include Spain, Italy, and Japan.