Saturday Night Live is an American comedy sketch series created by Lorne Michaels. It's title is often abbreviated to SNL. It began airing on Saturday evenings at 11:30 pm on NBC in 1975. Each episode runs approximately an hour and a half (including commercials) and features a special guest host and musical guest each week. The original regular cast members of Saturday Night Live have been colloquially referred to as the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players". Many of the show's regular comedians have gone on to become extremely successful actors in both film and television. Modern examples of this would include Tina Fey, who went on to act and produce 30 Rock and Amy Poehler, who would achieve equal success with her comedy series Parks and Recreation. Several of the show's sketches have been adapted into feature films such as The Blues Brothers, Wayne's World, The Coneheads and It's Pat.

Throughout its more than three decades on air, Saturday Night Live has received a number of awards, including 36 Primetime Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, and three Writers Guild of America Awards. In 2000, it was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.