LEEDS RISING ’16

On February 22, 2015, one of the greatest American television shows reached a major milestone. As of last Sunday, Satur­day Night Live had aired 40 seasons since 1975. After “The Tonight Show with John­ny Carson” had its re-runs no longer run on the weekends in 1974, NBC was look­ing for a frequent original comedy show to take up the available 11:30 timeslot. Saturday Night Live was the original name that founder Lorne Michaels was hoping to find, due to the show’s live broadcast, but the name was unavailable- at the very same time, ABC was developing a similar vari­ety show for primetime Saturday, hosted by Howard Cosell, which had already been named Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell. As a result, the new show on NBC debuted under the simpler name Saturday Night. ABC cancelled Cosell’s show after eighteen episodes due to poor ratings, and NBC purchased the name, renaming their show Saturday Night Live at the beginning of the second season.

This milestone was a chance for the crew and characters of Saturday Night Live to revisit and celebrate their television accomplishments over the last 40 years. There were many sketches from people who had hosted past Saturday Night Live shows. Of these, some of the standout per­formances were from Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon. The two of them created a mash up song that they both proceeded to sing in perfect harmony. As well as new sketches, this anniversary for Saturday Night Live also was a chance to revisit some of the best skits that have happened on Sat­urday Night Live in the last 40 years. Some of these famous skits that were revisited in­cluded “The Californians”, and some of its related sketches. This show had been used by SNL in well over a dozen related skits, being played by famous actors such as Josh Brolin, Mick Jagger, and even Justin Bieber. However, Bieber did not come back for the 40th anniversary.

The Saturday Night Live 40th an­niversary was one of the most celebratory and happy moments in television history, showing testament to all of the accomplish­ments and hard work that have been put into Saturday Night Live over the last 40 years. If you have yet to see this special anniver­sary, or any Saturday Night Live at all, this latest SNL is the perfect way to learn and experience the growth of comedy and act­ing over televised skits.