It's Saturday Night!

HISTORY This Week

The HISTORY® Channel

History, Education, Society & Culture

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2024

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

October 11, 1975. In Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City, Lorne Michaels and his cast and crew of 20-somethings scramble as the clock gets closer and closer to 11:30 PM. Wardrobes are being assembled, sets put together, and everyone—from NBC executives to viewers at home—anxiously awaits the start of what's supposed to be "a whole new dimension for TV." In just a few minutes, NBC's Saturday Night will be broadcast live across America, and change television forever. Today, guest host Dave Holmes interviews author James Andrew Miller to find out... what happened in the lead-up to the first episode of SNL? And how did one man's unwavering vision result in the most influential comedy program of the century? Special thanks to James Andrew Miller, author of Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History Channel Original Podcast.
0:03.4	Hey History this Week listeners, it's Sally here.
0:05.9	We are bringing you an extra episode this week for the 50th anniversary
0:10.0	of one of the longest running TV shows in history, Saturday Night Live.
0:15.8	And to take you through this story, we are welcoming a special guest host, Dave Holmes.
0:21.8	It is a great conversation that you will not want to miss.
0:25.0	History this week, October 11th, 1975.
0:31.0	I'm Dave Holmes.
0:34.3	Writers, prop masters and stage hands scramble behind the scenes as George Carlin,
0:41.8	pretty much the preeminent stand-up comedian of the time, waits in the
0:45.8	wings.
0:46.8	He's preparing to deliver a monologue from Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City.
0:53.8	Now this is not his usual gig.
0:55.6	Carlin is hosting a TV show,
0:58.0	MCing something brand new in the world of live television.
1:01.5	NBC's Saturday Night.
1:03.4	Now if this monologue doesn't go great for Carlin,
1:09.4	he can just go back to the stand-up circuit.
1:11.6	Saturday night's showrunner, Lorne Michaels,
1:14.3	has a lot more on the line.
1:16.2	He's only 30 years old.
1:18.0	And many NBC executives don't think he has what it takes
	...

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