At 11:30pm on October 11th, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. Find out what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live.
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00:00Hey, free comedy show. Plenty of seats. Plenty of tickets left, guys. Free show.
00:07Fuck's sake.
00:12So, big night.
00:18Look, my name is Lorne Michaels, I'm the producer of Saturday Night.
00:20The whole night?
00:21Yeah, the whole night.
00:22Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Dan Ayik, uh, how the fuck do you pronounce this?
00:29Ackroyd.
00:32You know, I was thinking, why don't we punt?
00:35We should run the dress rehearsal and claw back a win next Saturday.
00:38We can't, Dick. It's a live show.
00:41We're just not ready.
00:42Doesn't matter that we're ready, it matters that it's 11.30. That's when we go on.
00:48Lorne, all I'm trying to do is give you advice.
00:51It's in everyone's best interest, mainly yours.
00:53Sorry, was that a threat?
00:54Look around, Lorne. You haven't locked the script. Your crew is in open rebellion.
00:59Fuck you, fuck you. I definitely fucked you.
01:02The writers on the 17th floor tied a belt around Big Bird's neck and hung him from my dressing room door.
01:11Tell him how to do it, Gilda!
01:12They'll tell him how you fit into this ensemble.
01:13Oh, is this an ensemble?
01:14It's not the job, it's your hour!
01:16NBC makes more money playing ruins of The Tonight Show.
01:19NBC is lucky to have something as relevant as this show.
01:23Lorne, they don't even want us.
01:24That's logical, Dick. That's why they're paying us all to be here.
01:26I mean, Lorne, 90 minutes of live television by a group of 20-year-olds who have never made anything.
01:31Do you ever stop and wonder why they said yes?
01:33A counterculture show starring total unknowns with zero narrative and even less structure.
01:39Fuck!
01:45They want you to fail.
01:48We just have to make it to air.
01:53Am I still in the show?
01:57Jesus Christ.
01:59Sorry, tripped over my penis.
02:17You