"Saturday Night Live" debuted on NBC on this day in 1975. Originally titled "Saturday NIght" - the title changed to "Saturday Night Live." The show was a monumental moment on television - especially for the Boomer generation. Every Saturday night I made plans to watch SNL and saw it as a gift from my generation.
"Saturday Night Live" has been on the air for 48 years and I still watch it occasionally. When the show debuted in 1975 - the target audience was a younger audience and today SNL still targets a younger audience - which is why many Boomers may not be able to relate to the content of many of the skits.
Chevy Chase - Dan Aykrod - Jane Curtain - Garret Morris (who was from New Orleans) - John Belushi - Lauraine Newman - and Gilda Radner made up the core of the first group of the Not Ready For Prime Time Players" - but so many SNL cast members went on to become superstars. In no particular order - these were some of the cast members who reached superstar status: Eddie Murphy - Mike Meyers - Adam Sandler - Dennis Miller - Bill Murray - Kate McKinnon - Molly Shannon - and Kenan Thompson. SNL showcased some amazing talent.
Today on our talk show on WWL-AM-FM-New Orleans - I talked about the debut of "Saturday Night Live" and the important role the show played in American pop culture. Watching SNL was a ritual to many of us. I'm not sure the show is still "appointment television" the way it was for many years. The brilliance of SNL was the topical humor and the political satire that bordered on political commentary.
Today - Donald Trump proved to be a rich target of comic opportunity and Trump supporters who once loved SNL may be offended by the relentless attacks on Trump - but I see it all as a continuing commitment to build comedy around the more visible common denominators in politics and society.
One of the exciting things about our talk show is you never know who is listening. While talking about the premiere of "Saturday NIght Live" - a man called in from Mississippi who actually worked on the show in the late 70s and shared stories about being in the elevator with John Belushi and Dan Aykrod and getting beer for the staff and literally running into Bill Murray.
Another call came from a guy in Nashville, TN - who streams the show every afternoon - and talked about getting together with the guys to watch every week. And musician David Batiste was listening and called in to talk about the week he spent rehearsing with the cast for the week he played keyboards with The Meters who were musical guests on the show. Batiste talked about going to dinner with Belushi - Aykrod - and Bill Murrray and how dinner would turn into a food fight. Batiste's memories of being on SNL were priceless.
Relive the memories you have of watching "Saturday Night LIve" with us as we share a segment of our show today.
