Get an inside look at the first show that put the counterculture on mainstream TV.
Saturday Night Live is now a well-known American institution of comedy, but when it started in 1975, that was far from the case. The cast was unknown, production was chaotic, and most people on set assumed the show would be canceled right out of the gate. It didn't, of course, and it's all thanks to the hard work and brilliant minds of that first 1975 crew.
Go behind the scenes of the first few years of the show and see the start of the now iconic late-night show.
1
Original cast meeting President Gerald Ford
1976
2
Lorne Michaels, Jane Curtin, and Dan Aykroyd rehearsing Weekend Update
1977
3
Lorne Michaels and Bea Arthur backstage
1976
4
Garrett Morris, Bill Murray, Jane Curtin, and Steve Martin
1977
6
Gilda Radner, Desi Arnaz, and Chevy Chase
1976
7
John Belushi and Desi Arnaz
1976
8
Fran Tarkenton and Chevy Chase
1977
9
Cameramen on set at 30 Rockefeller Center
1976
10
Buck Henry and Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford
1976
11
Chevy Chase performing on Weekend Update
1975
12
White House Press Secretary Ron Nessen and Chevy Chase rehearsing a Gerald Ford sketch
1976
13
Lorne Michaels backstage
1976
14
Bill Murray rehearsing Weekend Update
1978
15
Lorne Michaels on set
1976
16
Gilda Radner, Desi Arnaz and Chevy Chase
1976
17
John Belushi with a prop gun
1976
18
The original SNL cast
1975
19
Billy Preston as the first SNL musical guest
1975
20
Patti Smith and John Belushi backstage
1976
