The dark history behind SNL: The US TV show that launched countless careers
A launching pad for Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler and Tina Fey, among many others, Saturday Night Live has a long and proud history of turning unknown comics into global superstars.
Created by Lorne Michaels in 1975, SNL has also become the place for Hollywood actors and music chart-toppers to showcase their comedy chops, offer political commentary, and – in the case of Scarlett Johansson and Emma Stone – even find love.
Stone met her now husband David McCary while he was a director and writer on the show and she was hosting for the third time, while Johansson – who has served seven stints as host – fell for Weekend Update anchor Colin Jost. The Jurassic World: Rebirth star told Access Hollywood that she relishes the SNL gig because the cast has come to feel like family.
And Stone gushed: 'I have made so many memories here and so many friends, and I even met my husband here at SNL,' as she was hosting for the fifth time in 2023. Even stars who haven't found true love on set line up to do the show.
Melissa McCarthy has been on five times, Tom Hanks 10, Steve Martin has hosted 16 times (plus giving the opening monologue at the recent 50th anniversary special SNL50), while Alec Baldwin is the reigning king of emcees with 17 appearances. And little wonder. With sketches that regularly go viral (think Ariana Grande as an off-key singing bridesmaid, Baldwin's Donald Trump impersonation, and Ryan Gosling as a man with an uncanny resemblance to the cartoon character Beavis, friend of Butt-Head), appearing on SNL is a great way to be part of the zeitgeist. And yet, in addition to being a blessing for those who take part in the weekly silliness, there is also a long-rumoured curse that hangs over the sketch show.
Talk of the so-called SNL curse began with John Belushi's overdose in 1982 at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles. He was just 33. An emotional Dan Aykroyd, who worked alongside Belushi on the first seasons of SNL before making their cult movie The Blues Brothers, still thinks about his friend every day, and believes the comic would have gone on to be a successful Broadway director had he not died.
'I learned that when friends reach out to you, you better get back to them quick, because I missed a phone call from John,' he said in an interview with Dan Rather in March.
'He left a message on my answering machine and I was in a period when I didn't really want to speak to him because he was being so uncompliant with what his wife wanted and with what we wanted. So, I let a day go by without responding – and it was too late by the time I heard the message. He was gone. So, when friends reach out to you, get back to them pretty quick. That's the lesson.'
Other members of the original line-up have also died in tragic circumstances. Andy Kaufman (who was portrayed by Jim Carrey in the biopic Man On The Moon) and Gilda Radner both died from aggressive forms of cancer. And Jim Henson, who made regular appearances with his puppets in the inaugural season, died in 1990 when a bad cold escalated into toxic shock syndrome.
Show regular Phil Hartman, who also voiced many popular Simpsons characters, was murdered by his wife in 1998, while Black Sheep comedian Chris Farley overdosed on drugs in 1997. Sandler remains close to Farley's family. During his 2022 stand-up tour, the Happy Gilmore star performed a musical tribute to his old friend for fans. Although it's not easy, Sandler enjoys talking about his late friend.
'I love hearing the crowd go nuts for Farley. Every show I do, by far the biggest applause of the night is talking about Farley,' he told the Happy Sad Confused podcast. Appearing on the SNL50, Sandler became visibly emotional while performing a tribute song about the series that launched his career, pausing to compose himself after mentioning Farley and Hartman. Not all cast members forged firm friendships during their tenure, though.
Chevy Chase and Bill Murray famously came to blows just before the show went to air in 1978, as Chase was set to return as a guest host after departing SNL to make movies. He later blamed his old co-star Belushi for the infamous backstage showdown.
'Billy Murray and I came to fisticuffs, but we never really ended up hitting each other,' Chase told Esquire in a 2010 interview. 'We tried, but Belushi got in the middle and we both ended up hitting John. And if anybody deserved to be slapped in the forehead, it was John for instigating it all.' Chase and Murrary put their differences aside to make Caddy Shack together in 1980, and were both in attendance at this year's 50th anniversary celebrations. Murray even gave props to Chase's contributions to the show during his segment with Jost.
The anniversary special brought back many of the show's most famous alumni from across the decades to perform sketches, along with a who's who of Hollywood stars. Meryl Streep and Woody Harrelson joined Kate McKinnon for a hilarious sketch about alien abduction; Kristen Wiig resurrected her Dooneese character alongside Kim Kardashian; and Rachel Dratch dusted off Debbie Downer for a stand-off with Robert DeNiro. For Eddie Murphy, who joined the series when he was 19 in 1980, the reunion was a happy reminder of having been part of an 'American Institution'.
'It was a trip,' Murphy told talk-show host Jennifer Hudson. 'Because everybody was real old.'
Check out these movies featuring SNL alums:
Daddy Day Care (2003): When Charlie (Murphy) and two pals are made redundant, they come up with the unorthodox plan to make some cash and keep their kids happy.
Lost In Translation (2003): While spruiking whisky in Tokyo, an ageing Hollywood star (Murray) strikes up an unlikely friendship with a philosophy graduate (Johansson), bonding over their shared feeling of displacement.
That's My Boy (2012): Sandler and Andy Samberg lead an all-star cast that includes James Caan and Susan Sarandon in this comedy about a deadbeat dad attempting to reunite with his estranged son.
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