Saturday Night Live

A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest.

Saturday Night Live (1975-present) is an American live sketch comedy and variety series created by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol for NBC. Across fifty-two seasons and more than a thousand episodes, a large rotating repertory cast led by Kenan Thompson (Kenan Thompson) and Michael Che (Michael Che) performs parody sketches that skewer the week's politics, celebrities and pop culture. Each episode is built around a celebrity host who delivers an opening monologue and joins the cast in sketches, alongside a musical guest. The engine is simple and relentless: a fresh batch of material must land before a studio audience in real time, with no retakes to save a weak bit. Newer cast members such as Chloe Fineman (Chloe Fineman) and James Austin Johnson (James Austin Johnson) try to earn a place among recurring characters, while the show's quality rises and falls with its writers and talent. The tone is breezy, irreverent and sometimes uneven, a mix of sharp impressions, absurdist bits and deliberately flat jokes. Fans of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and In Living Color will find resonance in its topical bite and variety-show rhythm.

Audiences broadly regard the long-running sketch show as uneven across its decades, with strong peaks in its early and mid-period seasons and a widely felt decline in its later run.

• Last Week Tonight with John Oliverlive sketch comedy parodying current politics and culture with rotating hosts and musical guests
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carsonlate-night variety format with celebrity hosts and topical monologues
• In Living Colormulti-decade sketch comedy with a revolving repertory cast and topical satire

Created by

Dick Ebersol, Lorne Michaels

Release Date

1975-10-11

Episode runtime

67 min

Rating

8.0 / 10 (540)

What is Saturday Night Live about?

A long-running live sketch comedy and variety show where a rotating repertory cast parodies the week's culture and politics, hosted each week by a celebrity guest.

What is Saturday Night Live like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Saturday Night Live as brisk, its intensity as mild and its storytelling as simple.

Is Saturday Night Live violent?

No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Saturday Night Live.

What did critics think of Saturday Night Live?

Audiences broadly regard the long-running sketch show as uneven across its decades, with strong peaks in its early and mid-period seasons and a widely felt decline in its later run.

Which shows are like Saturday Night Live?

Shows with a similar feel include Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and In Living Color.

How long is Saturday Night Live?

Saturday Night Live: 52 seasons, 1,018 episodes.

Is Saturday Night Live still running?

Yes, Saturday Night Live is still running.

Where can I watch Saturday Night Live?

In United States, Saturday Night Live streams on Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, NBC, fuboTV, YouTube TV.