Saturday Night Live - Season 1
Description: The first season of Saturday Night Live, the weekly late-night 90-minute American sketch comedy/variety show on NBC, aired during the 1975–1976 television season. Saturday Night Live premiered on October 11, 1975 and consisted of a total of 24 episodes, the last of which aired on July 31, 1976.
In 1974, NBC Tonight Show host Johnny Carson requested that the weekend broadcasts of "Best of Carson" come to an end, so that Carson could take two weeknights off and NBC would thus air those repeats on those nights rather than feed them to affiliates for broadcast on either Saturdays or Sundays. Given Carson's undisputed status as the dean of late-night television, NBC heard his request as an ultimatum, fearing he might use the issue as grounds to defect to either ABC or CBS. To fill the gap, the network drew up some ideas and brought in Dick Ebersol – a protégé of legendary ABC Sports president Roone Arledge – to develop a 90-minute late-night variety show. Ebersol's first order of business was hiring a young Canadian producer named Lorne Michaels to be the show-runner.
Episodes
George Carlin with Janis Ian and Billy Preston
Aired: Oct 11, 1975
Live from New York, It's...George Carlin! Sketches Include: Wolverines, New Dad...
Paul Simon with Randy Newman, Phoebe Snow, and Art Garfunkel
Aired: Oct 18, 1975
Live from New York, It's...Paul Simon! Sketches Include: The Berkeley Collecti...
Rob Reiner
Aired: Oct 25, 1975
Live from New York, it's...Rob Reiner! Sketches Include: National Pancreas Asso...
Candice Bergen with Esther Phillips
Aired: Nov 8, 1975
Live from New York, It's...Candice Bergen Sketches include: Ambassador Training...
Robert Klein with ABBA and Loudon Wainwright III
Aired: Nov 15, 1975
Live from New York, It's...Robert Klein Sketches include: Pong, Minute Mystery,...
Lily Tomlin
Aired: Nov 22, 1975
Live from New York, it's...Lily Tomlin Sketches Include: Beethoven Part 1, Jaws...
Richard Pryor with Gil Scott-Heron
Aired: Dec 13, 1975
Live From New York, it's...Richard Pryor! Sketches Include: Samurai Hotel, Look...
Candice Bergen with Martha Reeves and The Stylistics
Aired: Dec 20, 1975
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include-- Fireside Chat with Ge...
Elliott Gould with Anne Murray
Aired: Jan 10, 1976
Live from New York, it's... Chevy Chase Sketches include "The Dead String Quart...
Buck Henry with Bill Withers and Toni Basil
Aired: Jan 17, 1976
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--Suicide Prevention, "S...
Peter Cook & Dudley Moore with Neil Sedaka
Aired: Jan 24, 1976
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include-- Bomb Squad, Prisoner ...
Dick Cavett with Jimmy Cliff
Aired: Jan 31, 1976
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--Voodoo on Chevy Chase,...
Peter Boyle with Al Jarreau
Aired: Feb 14, 1976
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include "The Valentine's Day Ma...
Desi Arnaz with Desi Arnaz Jr.
Aired: Feb 21, 1976
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include-- Gerald Ford gives a w...
Jill Clayburgh with Leon Redbone
Aired: Feb 28, 1976
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include-- No More Falls, "Great...
Anthony Perkins with Betty Carter
Aired: Mar 13, 1976
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--'SNL is not ad-libbed'...
Ron Nessen with the Patti Smith Group
Aired: Apr 17, 1976
Live from New York, It's...Gerald Ford Sketches include-- "The Dead String Quar...
Raquel Welch with Phoebe Snow and John Sebastian
Aired: Apr 24, 1976
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include-- "Get to the fall Chev...
Madeline Kahn with Carly Simon
Aired: May 8, 1976
Live from New York, it's Chevy Chase! Sketches are "Ronald Reagan's Jam Sessio...
Dyan Cannon with Leon & Mary Russell
Aired: May 15, 1976
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--Chevy has to do the fa...
Buck Henry with Gordon Lightfoot
Aired: May 22, 1976
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--Emmy winner Chevy trie...
Elliott Gould with Leon Redbone and Harlan Collins & Joyce Everson
Aired: May 29, 1976
Sketches include "Wax Museum," "Phone Operator Academy," "European Poker Player,...
Louise Lasser with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Aired: Jul 24, 1976
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--Belushi thinks Chevy h...
Kris Kristofferson with Rita Coolidge
Aired: Jul 31, 1976
Live from New York, It's...Chevy Chase Sketches include--Kristofferson signs "H...