Saturday Night Live



Saturday Night Live is a late-night sketch comedy series which premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, and introduced a number of new comics and distinctive, recurring characters -- much like Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In years earlier, but with an edgier, late-night sensibility. The Muppets were regular performers in the first season of Saturday Night Live (1975-76).

The Land of Gorch

 * For more information see The Land of Gorch

Jim Henson's Muppets were regular performers in the first season of Saturday Night Live (1975-76). The characters, which were specifically created for the show, appeared in The Land of Gorch segments. Fifteen sketches were produced, featuring performances by Muppeteers Jim Henson, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, Alice Tweedie, Fran Brill, and Richard Hunt.

The series of sketches lasted from SNL's first episode to April of 1976 (and became a recurring joke in the show's second season). The book Live From New York by TV critic Tom Shales details the backstage conflict between the writers of the show, who resisted integrating the Muppets into the show during the first year, and the Muppet performers.

Connections
"Motherlover", a song by Justin Timberlake performed on SNL, was nominated at the 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, versus "I Wish I Could Be Santa Claus", from A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa. Both lost to Hugh Jackman's opening number at the 81st Annual Academy Awards.

Cast & Crew

 * Don Pardo, announcer (1975-1981, 1982-2014)
 * Dan Aykroyd, cast member (1975-1979)
 * John Belushi, cast member (1975–1979)
 * Chevy Chase, cast member (1975–1976)
 * Jane Curtin, cast member (1975–1980)
 * Laraine Newman, cast member (1975–1980)
 * Gilda Radner, cast member (1975–1980)
 * Albert Brooks, filmmaker (1975)
 * Richard Belzer, extra and guest performer (1975-1980)
 * Cheryl Hardwick, band member and composer (1975-2000)
 * Brian Doyle-Murray, cast member and writer (1978-1982)
 * Mitchell Kriegman, writer (1980)
 * Gilbert Gottfried, cast member (1980–1981)
 * Eddie Murphy, cast member (1980–1984)
 * Julia Louis-Dreyfus, cast member (1982–1985)
 * Billy Crystal, cast member (1984–1985)
 * Martin Short, cast member (1984–1985)
 * Joan Cusack, cast member (1985–1986)
 * Robert Downey, Jr., cast member (1985–1986)
 * Robert Smigel, writer and featured performer (1985–2008)
 * Victoria Jackson, cast member (1986-1992)
 * Conan O'Brien, writer (1987-1991)
 * Ben Stiller, featured performer (1989)
 * Mike Myers, cast member (1989-1995)
 * Chris Rock, cast member (1990–1993)
 * Rob Schneider, cast member (1990–1994)
 * Adam Sandler, cast member (1991-1995)
 * Sarah Silverman, featured performer and writer (1993–1994)
 * Jay Mohr, featured performer (1993-1995)
 * Michael McKean, cast member (1994–1995)
 * Molly Shannon, cast member (1995–2001)
 * Hugh Fink, writer (1995-2002)
 * Stephen Colbert, voice of Ace in "The Ambiguously Gay Duo" (1996–2007, 2011) and guest writer (1996)
 * Tina Fey, writer and cast member (1997-2006)
 * Jimmy Fallon, cast member (1998-2004)
 * Horatio Sanz, cast member (1998–2006)
 * Rachel Dratch, cast member (1999-2006)
 * Maya Rudolph, cast member (2000-2007)
 * Amy Poehler, cast member (2001-2008)
 * Ken Scarborough, writer (2001-2004)
 * Seth Meyers, writer and cast member (2001-2014)
 * Fred Armisen, cast member (2002-2013)
 * Bill Hader, cast member (2005-2013)
 * Andy Samberg, cast member (2005-2012)
 * Fátima Ptacek, extra, two episodes (2009)
 * Bobby Moynihan, cast member (2008-2017)
 * Nasim Pedrad, cast member (2009-2014)
 * Jenny Slate, cast member (2009-2010)
 * Vanessa Bayer, cast member (2010-2017)
 * Jay Pharoah, cast member (2010-2016)
 * Taran Killam, cast member (2010-2016)
 * Kate McKinnon, cast member (2012-present)