![]() ![]() The new show debuted on October 11, 1975, broadcast from Studio 8H in 30 Rockefeller Center. According to Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, however, having a regular host was briefly considered during the earliest planning stages in 1974 - prior to Michaels joining - with names such as Rich Little, Bert Convy, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin and even singer Linda Ronstadt discussed. Rather than having a regular host, SNL was conceived as having a different guest host each week. They also hired John Belushi and Chevy Chase from the National Lampoon's Lemmings (Belushi was also a Second City alumnus), as well as Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin, and Laraine Newman. From SCTV, they poached Gilda Radner and Dan Aykroyd. Needing actors for the new show, Ebersol and Michaels turned to Second City TV, a television show being broadcast from the Toronto wing of the Second City comedy troupe. ![]() All three anchored Weekend Update during their tenures on the show. All three actors would also join SNL on NBC later on the Murray brothers in season 2 (though Brian Doyle-Murray was a writer only until season 5) and Christopher Guest in season 10. Michaels parodied this name by naming the new SNL cast the "not ready for primetime players". They were known as the "Primetime Players". The name was not the only thing taken from Cosell's show- Cosell had a cast of three actors: brothers Bill Murray and Brian Doyle-Murray, and Christopher Guest. ABC cancelled Cosell's show after eighteen episodes due to poor ratings, and NBC purchased the name, renaming their show Saturday Night Live at the beginning of the second season (although the original title remains in use as part of the famous cold opening announcement, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"). As a result, the new show on NBC debuted under the simpler name Saturday Night. Saturday Night Live was the original name sought by Michaels and Ebersol, due to the show's live broadcast, but the name was unavailable - at the very same time, ABC was developing a similar variety show for primetime Saturday, hosted by Howard Cosell, which had already been named Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell. ![]() Ebersol approached Lorne Michaels, who pitched the idea of a comedy variety show with musical guests. Then-NBC head Herb Schlosser tapped Dick Ebersol to develop a new show for the timeslot. By 1974, Carson was hoping for more time off, and asked NBC to stop airing reruns on weekends, so that they could be rerun on weekdays, allowing him further time off. This was dependent, however, on Carson continuing to record shows with sufficient frequency to leave shows available for rerun. From 1965 until SNL began in 1975, this timeslot was filled with reruns of The Tonight Show (which occupied the timeslot on weekdays). Saturday Night Live was born from NBC's desire to place original programming in the 11:30 PM Saturday timeslot.
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