Saturday Night Live is a late-night sketch-comedy television program which has been running on NBC (National Broadcasting Company) since it's premiere on October 11, 1975. It is seen live, by the east coast, at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday nights. Its television season usually begins in September and ends in May, with 20 live episodes per season. Reruns and specials are shown between live shows, with no more than three live shows being done in consecutive weeks.

SNL has been the highest rated late-night show in America since 1977. This was official when SNL's ratings passed "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." While the cast members and featured players have changed over the years, the main elements remain the same: a celebrity host, musical guest, sketches, commercial parodies, and a fake news segment.

SNL has seen many faces come and go as the seasons have changed. Here's a quick summary of each:

1975-1980: "The Not Ready for Prime-Time Players"
The majority of the SNL fans refer to this as the best era of the show's life. Stars who emerged from this era include Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Al Franken, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Paul Shaffer, and Steve Martin (Steve was never part of the cast. He just hosted....a lot!!).


1980-1981: "Writer's Cramp"
This season followed the era America had grown to love. The cast from 1975-1980 had already moved on, but the writers stayed, producing weak writing. Stars who emerged from this era include Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, Gilbert Gottfried, and Charles Rocket.


1981-1984: "Sold: To Eddie Murphy"
SNL came back with an era that won back fans and critics who deserted the show during the previous season. This era is known as the era that really let Eddie Murphy shine and become a true star! Stars to emerge from this era include Jim Belushi and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and of course....Eddie Murphy.


1984-1985: "Celebrity Cast Memers"
During this season, celebrities began to join SNL, including Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, and Martin Short. Despite several popular characters that Crystal developed over the course of the season, many critics panned the Eddie Murphy-less show.


1985-1990: "Gimme back my show....gimme...back...my...show!!"
Lorne Michaels, who was the executive producer of the show for its first era, returned in 1985 to struggling show. In 1986, Michaels got rid of Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Michael Hall, and Randy Quaid, and hired a new cast (saving only Nora Dunn, Jon Lovitz, and Dennis Miller from the previous season). Writers and the new cast, including Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Victoria Jackson, Kevin Nealon, and Mike Myers, helped to save the show. Critics and fans hailed the last four seasons of this era as the best since the first era.


1990-1994: "The Rise of the Featured Players"
Lorne Michaels wanted stars, but he wasn't quite sure if they were good enough. So, he jammed as many featured players into the show as possible, and it worked wonders! As cast members Dennis Miller, Victoria Jackson, Jon Lovitz, and Dana Carvey left, Michaels simply gave popular featured players a raise to cast member status. Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, David Spade, and Julia Sweeney were among those who started as featured players, but eventually replaced exiting cast members.


1994-1995: "The cast would be living in a van...down by the river"
This one-season era is referred to by some criticas and viewers as the worst in the show's history. This era, despite Chris Elliot, Chris Farley, Janeane Garafalo, Michael McKean, Adam Sandler, and David Spade was a hunk of junk. Popular recurring characters were no where to be found and many sketches seemed to have no ending. One element which critics praised was the "Weekend Update" segment, anchored by then-relatively unknown comic Norm Macdonald.


1995-1999: "Leon and the ladies"
Despite a very apparent rise in the show's quality, the loss of Adam Sandler and Chris Farley, coupled with competition from FOX's "Mad TV", SNL resulted in low Nielsen Ratings for the first season of this era. Eventually, however, SNL's audience found its way back...as did the show's reliance on recurring characters. This era has seen Tim Meadows and Norm Macdonald emerge as stars. Great characters emerged such as Leon Phelps, Bobby & Marty Mohann Culp, Mango, and everyone's favorite..The Spartan Cheerleaders. The last five seasons have been praised for one of the most talented female ensembles in SNL history. In fact, despite the men outnumbering the women every season, Molly Shannon is the only cast member during this era to earn an Emmy nomination for her performance on the show. Male cast members Jim Breuer, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, and Chris Kattan have won over cult followings.
Saturday Night Live Movie Spin-offs:

"The Blues Brothers" (1980), "Gilda Live" (1980), "Wayne's World" (1992), "Mo' Money" (1992), "Bob Roberts" (1992), "Mr. Saturday Night" (1992), "Coneheads" (1993), "Wayne's World 2" (1993), "It's Pat" (1994), "Casper" (1995), "Stuart Saves His Family" (1995), "Blues Brothers 2000" (1998), "A Night at the Roxbury" (1998), "Office Space" (1999), "Superstar" (1999), "The Ladies Man" (2000).