Sunday November 29th, 2009 Saturday Night Live

Live from New York, it's Saturday night. With these words, on October 11, 1975, Saturday Night Live was launched and it is still part of the prime time lineup. Filmed live each week with a guest host and a featured musical group, it is known for its satire. The original cast included Jane Curtin, Chevy Chase, John Belushi and others. The show has spawned many cast members such as Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Dennis Miller and Thunder Bay's own Paul Shaffer. Here are some, but by all means not all of my favourite cast members.

Chevy Chase 1975-76

He was hired as a writer for the show, but also appeared before the camera, most notably as an anchor for the Weekend Update news segment. He left the show after only one year, for a career on the big screen. Of all his movies, my favourite would be a tossup between Caddyshack and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The library carries both of these movies, something to keep in mind if you're ever in need of a laugh.


Steve Martin

Although he was a guest 25 times and has hosted 14 times, he wasn't an actual cast member. He is probably best known for the skits he did with Dan Akroyd as two wild and crazy guys. The library carries several Steve Martin movies, such as Planes, Trains And Automobiles, in which he starred with John Candy. We also carry books he has written - Cruel Shoes, The Pleasure Of My Company and Shopgirl. I bet you didn't know he was an author.


Will Ferrell 1995-2002

Will played a host of characters such as George W. Bush, Alex Trebek and Craig, the Spartan Cheerleader. One of my favourite skits was Janet Reno's dance party, with Will in a blue dress, as Janet Reno. On her last day of office the real Janet Reno appeared as herself in a skit with Will. Will left in 2002 to pursue a film career. We carry movies starring Will such as Land Of The Lost and Talledega Nights.

Gilda Radner 1975-80

Gilda was one of the original cast members. She played many characters such as Lisa Loopner, Baba Wawa and Emily Litella.

Her struggle with cancer and death at an early age is chronicled in her book It's Always Something. She handled her illness with the same sense of humour, she used every day.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus 1982-85
Before she spent nine seasons as Elaine Benes on Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a cast member of SNL. She was the first female cast member to come back as a host.

The library carries some of the episodes of Seinfeld on dvd.


Mike Myers 1989-1995

One of many Canadians to star on Saturday Night Live was Mike Myers. While on SNL, he was known for skits such as Coffee Talk with Linda Richman. I get verklempt just thinking about it. He and Dana Carvey played the hosts of the local cable tv show, Wayne's World, which later spawned a motion picture. Mike is also the voice of my favourite ogre, Shrek. The library carries Shrek, Austin Powers, Wayne's World and other movies featuring Mike.

The show still keeps turning out great cast members that go on to movies or other television series, such as recent alumni Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. After all these years I still enjoy watching it, but sometimes I tape it and watch it the next day. I look forward to watching the next 35 seasons. Let’s see – that would make me…

Some of the information in this article was found in our own Virtual Collection in the Biography Resource Center. It's a good place to find information on SNL alumni, or anyone else for that matter. Remember the Virtual Collection is available to you 24 hours a day. The following sources were also used.

Source - Live From New York: An Uncensored History Of Saturday Night Live by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller.

Source - The Internet Movie Database

Source - Saturday Night Live Web Site

Source – www.tv.com

Karen Craib is a Library Technicia