John J. O’Connor, a television critic for The New York Times, missed the first half-hour of “Saturday Night” when it premiered live on NBC at 11:30 on Oct. 11, 1975.
“An unusually good dinner on Long Island and a steady rain during the 100-mile drive back to the city thwarted thoroughly noble intentions,” he wrote in the newspaper that month.
But “Saturday Night,” a late-night sketch comedy series that changed its name to “Saturday Night Live” in 1977, had his attention. And quickly, “S.N.L.” became a fixture of The Times’s media and cultural coverage.
Half a century later, “S.N.L.” is still going strong, and The Times publishes a recap of each episode, reviewing the host’s monologue and noteworthy sketches.
In the lead-up to the 50th anniversary of “S.N.L.,” which NBC is honoring with a special broadcast on Sunday, The Times’s Culture desk has published a deeper look into the history and influence of the show. Articles in a series, “S.N.L.” at 50, have appeared in newspapers since last fall, exploring topics such as popular political sketches, five decades of musical guests and the subjective eye its viewers tend to develop.
Times Insider asked four Culture journalists to explain their own personal histories with the show. Read their accounts below. TERENCE McGINLEY
Up Late, Exposed to Sketch Comedy
For better or for worse, I was given carte blanche access to TV at a pretty young age (I was allowed to stay up late, too). What could have been more exciting for a kid than watching “Saturday Night Live” during its 1990s heyday? My favorite sketches from those years involved Sprockets, the Spartan cheerleaders and Mary Katherine Gallagher, as well as any time Chris Farley or Will Ferrell was onscreen.
More than anything, “S.N.L.,” along with two of my favorite series of that era, “The Tracey Ullman Show” and “Mr. Show,” gave me a foundational appreciation for sketch comedy in general and may have shaped my sense of humor more than might have been advisable.
— Maya Salam, Culture editor
A “Mirror for the Nation’s History” to Share
“S.N.L.” is a fascinating subject because it’s been at the heart of American culture for so long that it has become a kind of mirror for the nation’s history and your own. I started watching as a kid during the Dana Carvey years, which is still my favorite era. (This made it extra fun when I talked to Carvey for our catchphrases package and listened to him do George Bush, Ross Perot and all the other impressions I used to copy at school.) Now I watch the show with my daughter. If she’s lucky, she may one day talk to Bowen Yang about why his George Santos sketches were so hysterical. (And I’m sure Santos would be thrilled to be remembered.)
— Jeremy Egner, television editor
This TV Critic Doesn’t Watch
I don’t watch “Saturday Night Live.” That may surprise you, since I am a professional TV critic. It certainly has surprised various editors.
I know, of course, that “S.N.L.” is a cultural institution. But institutions, by nature, are usually not where the most exciting action is in any art form, TV included. And honestly? I haven’t stayed up until 1 a.m. since high school.
When I say I don’t watch “S.N.L.,” though, I don’t mean that I never see it. For me, the most significant development in the history of “S.N.L.” was not a particular cast change but the invention of YouTube. That’s how I, and many others, now experience the show. Sketch comedy is hit-or-miss by definition, but when it hits — a banger Lonely Island short, say — I’m glad to watch it the next day, after social media tells me about it.
If you love your routine of staying up to watch “S.N.L.” — live, from New York — I’m happy for you. I’m also grateful: You and your night-owl companions are essentially the screeners for the rest of us morning-after clip-watchers. I, and my relatively well-rested eyeballs, thank you for your service. — James Poniewozik, television critic
Monday Morning, Favorite Lines Ranked
Even when I was a kid and I first started watching “S.N.L.,” I could tell that Weekend Update was the centerpiece of the show. That didn’t mean I understood much of what Dennis Miller was talking about, but he seemed amused by himself. I was a little older when Kevin Nealon took over and he seemed funny enough, even if he mostly gave “a friend’s kind of goofy dad” vibes. But when Norm Macdonald took over, it was a revelation. This one still gets me every time: “In music news, No. 1 on the college charts this summer was Better Than Ezra. And at No. 2: Ezra.” My friends and I would set our VHS every Saturday night and come to school Monday ready with our best lines, ranked. — David Malitz, deputy culture editor
