Lorne Michaels vision for Saturday Night Live, an American late variety show, came to life on the night of October 11, 1975 premiering on, well you could’ve guessed, NBC. Saturday night live was a hit in family homes all across America. Reaching an audience range many shows couldn’t. The goal of SNL wasn’t just to get that quality audience, however get the audience the other shows couldn’t get. This late night comedy stared weekly celebrity host and musical guest with that formula your guaranteed to get people watching. If it wasn’t for the show it was for whoever was going to be on it that week. This is just a pure example of television and the family. NBC’s Saturday Night gives families the opportunity to sit down and enjoy a show together.
With cast members like John Belushi and Chevy Chase each week something new was going to happen. Thats what keeps this show running from day one is each episode is never going to be the same as the previous. Each celebrity host puts there own twist on it and the cast is there to back up there image and put on a show. The range of cast members this show has gone through is hard to look at and think that they’re still on the air. As of Season 44, SNL has featured close to 150 cast members. Thats what keeps so many people watching and shows how when reviews go down and they do have a rough season, they have something new coming that can bring them right back up. So for the families that eat dinner in the living room, or the families that eat dinner, and then go to the living room to watch that late night Saturday time slot. I bet it was SNL.
Because SNL was such a good example of Television and the family it brought in all sorts of commercials and sellers trying to put they’re product in the late night time slot rather than the prime time. In 1975 and 1976, they were the most desirable demographic for television advertisers. In this era of Broadcast Television, adds where everything. The way SNL brought something new to the table shows how much of an impact it was and still is for telivision and families
– Drake Nickolaison