by Howard Rathbun

Created on: August 03, 2007   Last Updated: August 04, 2007

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, a program that began as a patched together attempt to quickly fill a hole in the late night NBC- TV Saturday 11:30PM to 1:00AM timeslot will soon be thirty- two years old; the longest running comedy / variety program on TV. In the early 70's NBC- TV used Johnny Carson Tonight Show reruns to fill those late hours until Johnny, wishin to use those same reruns whenever he took time off, instructed the network to end the practice. The network agreed and immediately scrambled in search of another Saturday night program to fill a potential dead- air void. On board came Lorne Michaels, a talented Canadian comedy writer with Laugh- In, Lily Tomlin Specials and a string of other successful shows on his resume'. Michaels immediately recognized the emergence of the fruits of the Baby Bommer generation who grew up in the radical 60's as a potential late night prime target audience and set about to develop a program format that would cater to their needs. It would have to be a show the other networks failed to reach in a meanful way, edgy, topical, boundry pushing. His writer's experiences came from the talents of the likes of National Lampoon, LA Comedy scenes, Monty Python, Second City, and a dozen more TV and radio standup scenes. Similarly, his casting drew from Chicago's Second City, east and west coast standup talent, polically conscious boundary pushers. Brought together it was a hodgepodge of talent scrambling to make it work and convince a somewhat reluctant network that a slightly raw, edgy, political satirical "Live" ninety minute late night program was what was would work for the Baby Boomer Generation audience. NBC executives balked at first fearing it would be too dangerous to air a "Live Show" of that nature, but faced with only limited choices of other options and the possibility of dead- air time, agreed to give it a short- term try. Old studio 8H, originally built for use by the NBC Symphony Orchestra in the 1930's was assigned to the new program to be called, Saturday Night Live and with only one exception has been used for every show during the past thirty- two years. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY SNL. Thanks to the vision of Lorne Michaels and the hundreds of talents who made it happen and those that followed, NBC- TV's decision to risk it paid off and Baby Boomer or not millions of viewers past and present still can enjoy this one- of its- kind, late night treat.

Learn more about this author, Howard Rathbun.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.