User:Rorschach/List of Saturday Night Live episodes/Summary

Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a late-night sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. It premiered on NBC, a terrestrial television network, October 11, 1975 under the title NBC's Saturday Night. The show often satirizes contemporary American popular culture and politics. Saturday Night Live features a two-tiered cast: the repertory members, also known as the "Not Ready for Prime-Time Players", and newer cast members, known as "Featured Players." Each week, the show features a host, often a well-known celebrity, who delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast. A musical guest is also invited to perform several sets (usually two, and occasionally more). Every so often a host or musical guest will fill both roles, such as was the case with Britney Spears in 2000 and 2002 and, most recently, Taylor Swift in 2009. With the exception of Season 7 and several other rare cases, the show has begun with a cold open that ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

As of 2010, Saturday Night Live is one of the longest running network programs in American television history. A number of the show's sketches have been developed into feature films.

As of December 19, 2009, 668 episodes over the span of 35 seasons have been broadcast. At present, seasons 1-5 are available on DVD in Region 1. Various Saturday Night Live skits are available in several new media formats, including streaming on Hulu. Selected sketches and segments are also available for purchase at the iTunes Store to download and playback on home computers and certain iPods.