On the eve of Sunday’s live SNL anniversary special, NBC is filling SNL’s regular 11:30 p.m. Saturday slot with the first episode of “NBC’s Saturday Night,” which would change its name to “Saturday Night Live” following the demise of ABC’s short-lived primetime series “Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell,” which co-starred future SNL players Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray and Christopher Guest. (The NBC cast in those days was billed as The Not Ready For Primetime Players because the Murrays and Guest were billed as Cosell’s “Primetime Players.”)
SNL creator Lorne Michaels wanted comedian Albert Brooks to serve as permanent host but Brooks didn’t want to leave Los Angeles or endure the rigors of weekly live TV, so Brooks suggested Michaels use a different host every week. Michaels embraced the idea and George Carlin hosted the first episode.
The show was still finding its format. The first episode featured 26 segments Four segments featured Carlin performing stand-up. Two other young comics besides Carlin – Andy Kaufman and Valri Bromfield – performed stand-up. There were two musical guests. One segment was devoted to the first of six short films by Albert Brooks. The Muppets, sans Kermit, appeared in the first of many first-season sketches. “The Original Seven” – Aykroyd, Belushi, Chase, Curtin, Morris, Newman and Radner – were actually the Original Nine, with character actor George Coe and SNL head writer Michael O’Donoghue listed among the Not Ready For Primetime Players. Carlin was asked to participate in sketches, but declined.
Premiering tonight:
Sexy Beasts (10pm A&E)
True Supernatural (10pm DA)
The 11:30 p.m. SNL repeat hosted by Amy Adams was the top-rated show in late night or primetime last Saturday.
Saturdays, Jan. 3-Feb. 7, 2015
(Adults 18-49; repeats in gray; previous weeks in parentheses)
1.6 (2.1) (2.2) (2.0) (1.6) (1.7) Saturday Night Live
1.1 (1.1) (0.6) (0.6) (0.6) (0.7) College Basketball
1.1 (---) (---) (0.7) (1.2) (---) Dateline
1.1 (0.8) (0.7) (0.8) (0.7) (0.9) 48 Hours
1.0 (---) (---) (0.8) (0.8) (---) SNL Vintage
0.8 (0.9) (0.6) (0.8) (---) (0.5) ABC Movie
0.6 (0.4) (0.4) (0.4) (---) (3.3) SportsCenter
0.5 (0.6) (0.4) (0.4) (0.4) (---) Mythbusters
0.5 (0.5) (---) (---) (---) (---) Red Band Society
0.4 (0.5) (0.6) (0.5) (0.4) (---) Cops
0.4 (0.4) (0.5) (---) (0.3) (0.4) House Hunters Reno
0.4 (0.4) (0.4) (---) (---) (---) Jail: Las Vegas
0.4 (0.5) (0.4) (0.4) (---) (0.4) Naruto Shippuden
0.4 (---) (---) (0.4) (---) (0.4) NCIS NO
0.4 (---) (0.5) (---) (0.3) (0.4) Sex Sent Me To/ER
