Before 'Saturday Night Live,' Chevy Chase played in a jazz band with the members of Steely Dan.

‘Saturday Night Live’ cast rank the show's best comics

"Saturday Night Live" has held a unique role in the cultural zeitgeist since its founding in 1975, providing a national stage of silly mockery and filling our Sunday feeds with the latest impressions of public figures. In its 50th year, 50 cast members weigh in on who their favorite casts and individual comedians were. Read their various opinions here.

Every ‘SNL’ host who's doubled as musical guest

This chronological list details every entertainer who’s both hosted and performed as musical guest through the show’s five decades. You’ll find some interesting tidbits, like Paul Simon breaking ground as the first to do it in 1975, and some serious headscratchers, like Garth Brooks performing as his alter ego Chris Gaines.

'SNL' was originally called 'NBC's Saturday Night'

Another show already owned the title: the short-lived "Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell." The variety show only lasted one season and was widely panned, despite featuring several talented comedians—like Bill Murray, Christopher Guest, and Billy Crystal—who'd later be stars on "SNL" ... after officially changing its name.

'SNL' began as a low-budget replacement for reruns of 'The Tonight Show'

Johnny Carson, host of "The Tonight Show," asked NBC to move his reruns to weeknights instead of weekends. That freed up a weekend slot and the network decided to try a new live show.

A low-budget, Seattle-based comedy show launched Bill Nye's on-camera career

"Almost Live!" began in 1984 as a Sunday evening talk show before evolving into a sketch comedy show that served as the lead-in for "Saturday Night Live" on NBC's Seattle affiliate station. Besides Nye, TV stars Joel McHale and Lauren Weedman were regular cast members.

The intro for every 'Saturday Night Live' cast member ever

Cast member intros are an iconic part of "SNL," featuring a portrait of the comedian and a bold recitation of their name by Don Pardo or Darrell Hammond. This video splices together the intros for every cast member in the show's five-decade history.

Before 'SNL,' producer Lorne Michaels was a performer

Michaels was a costar on "The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour," a popular show on the Canadian network CBC. As these clips show, it was a standard variety show, something Michaels would intentionally react against with "SNL."

Lorne Michaels jokingly offered the Beatles $3K to reunite on 'Saturday Night Live,' which John Lennon and Paul McCartney briefly considered.

Springsteen played in several groups in Asbury Park, including one massive jam band

Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom featured between 15 and 20 people on stage at any given time, including future E Street Band members like Steven Van Zandt and Jersey Shore mainstay Southside Johnny. The band was not entirely serious, sometimes featuring someone who "played Monopoly" rather than an instrument.

A list of every ‘SNL’ host and musical guest

Every episode, "SNL" welcomes a host and a musical guest, bringing a wild range of personalities to the stage at 30 Rock. That’s evident by browsing this comprehensive list of every “SNL” episode, which features mind-boggling combos, including Buck Henry and Sun Ra, Helen Hunt and Snoop Dogg, and Jackie Chan and Kid Rock.

Steve Martin was vying for love on 'The Dating Game' before he was selling out arenas

In 1968, the 21-year-old Martin was a writer for the Smothers Brothers, who had a popular variety show. He appeared on “The Dating Game” as one of the bachelors, attempting to impress the twin sister of his childhood crush. (Spoiler: It worked.)

A guided tour of Studio 8H, the home of ‘SNL’

Fans of “Saturday Night Live” might be familiar with Studio 8H, which has only changed slightly over the show’s five decades. This video tour from Architectural Digest provides access you won’t find on the weekly broadcast, with cast members Heidi Gardner, Chloe Fineman, and Ego Nwodim walking you through makeup, dressing rooms, and more.

SNL's history in 60 seconds

Saturday Night Live has been a fixture of American comedy since 1975. Created by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol, the show was designed as an alternative to late-night reruns, blending live sketch comedy, political satire, and celebrity impressions.

A smooth, scrollable timeline of every 'SNL' cast member

Starting from season 1 in 1975, scroll through the years of the show's comic actors in this well-designed visual record and get a sense of their relative endurance on the show. Stop to click and read more on that season's highlights or the specific career arc of the actor.

Spinal Tap began as a sketch on a short-lived TV show

The fake band might be best known for "This is Spinal Tap," 1984 movie that effectively created the comedy mockumentary, but the premise began with an appearance on a short-lived ABC show called "The TV Show."

'SNL' spinoffs have had mixed success

As “SNL” became more popular, Lorne Michaels sensed an opportunity to turn some of the show’s most popular sketches and characters into feature films. It’s a strategy that had mixed results: “Wayne’s World” and “The Blues Brothers” are modern classics, while others, like “It’s Pat” and “The Ladies Man,” performed poorly with audiences and critics alike.

The most controversial moments in ‘Saturday Night Live’ history

This list ranks the show’s biggest controversies over five decades, including Sinead O’Connor’s infamous shredding of the Pope, Elvis Costello’s abrupt set change, and Fear trashing Studio 8H.

Eddie Murphy saved ‘SNL’ from getting canceled in the early '80s

A young Eddie Murphy kept "Saturday Night Live" afloat during the years Lorne Michaels left the show by turning even the most pedestrian material into something revelatory. Eventually, he pursued a wildly successful acting and stand-up career.

The first cast members were relatively unknown 'enlightened amateurs'

“SNL” producers aimed to cast relative newcomers for the show’s first season, convinced that amateurs would infuse the show with the countercultural spirit Lorne Michaels envisioned.

'SNL' parodied Liza Minnelli's showbiz persona

Kristen Wiig plays Minnelli in the skit, poking fun at the Broadway star's extravagance and onstage presence. Minnelli is unable to perform regular tasks without whipping out Fosse's dance moves.

Watch Will Ferrell's ‘SNL’ audition

Making it to “SNL” requires multiple auditions, including one in New York in front of Lorne Michaels and some of the show’s top staff. Will Ferrell’s audition for 'SNL' is one of the most legendary in the show's history. Ferrell runs through several of his classic characters, covering the stage in his singular weirdness.

After five seasons, Lorne Michaels quit ‘Saturday Night Live‘

Lorne Michaels left the show in 1980, citing burnout and disagreements with network executives. He tried several gigs, including a sketch comedy show called “The New Show” that was strikingly similar to “SNL,” but nothing stuck. He returned to "SNL" in 1985.

Wally Feresten is the man behind the show's iconic cue cards

"SNL" obsessives are familiar with the show's cue cards, which occasionally appear on air in fourth-wall-breaking segments. They might even recognize Wally Feresten, the man who's been handwriting (and holding) them since 1990. This podcast interview delves into Feresten's curious life behind the scenes at "SNL" and his unexpected turns in front of the camera.

Jim Downey is one of SNL's most legendary writers

Jim Downey arrived at “Saturday Night Live” in 1976, the same week as Bill Murray. He also wrote a legendary monologue from “Billy Madison,” and created David Letterman’s “Top Ten."

Broadway hit 'Stereophonic' was inspired by Fleetwood Mac

The show follows a 1970s rock band while they're in the studio, tracking a new album, and mirrors many of the internal conflicts that led to Fleetwood Mac's 1977 record, "Rumours." The play was a massive hit, earning 13 Tony nominations (the most ever for a play). It won five, including best play.

‘SNL’ sketches often follow a uniform structure

Sketch comedy relies on pacing, with scripts that hit certain beats. "SNL" often greenlights sketches that lean into a particular formula that features two "turns," or unexpected events that disrupt the "base reality" of the story.

'Saturday Night Live' uses a tool to recreate politicians' clothes

The show's costume designer, Tom Broecker, said that the team uses a "cricket," which allows them to scan patterns from images and recreate them for cast members' costumes.

The 1977 'SNL' Mardi Gras special is considered the show's biggest disaster

An on-location episode of the then-young sketch show featured drunken heckling from the audience, technical difficulties amid the broadcast, and beads being pelted at cast members.

Eddie Murphy avoided the show for years thanks to a joke made at his expense

A 1995 segment with David Spade criticized Murphy's unsuccessful film "Vampire in Brooklyn." Muprhy was offended and called the SNL offices to confront Spade. Murphy avoided the show through the 2010s, finally returning in 2015 for the show's 40th anniversary special, where he hugged Spade backstage.

In 1984, Dylan began experimenting with punk

When Bob Dylan was asked to appear on David Letterman’s relatively new late-night show, he decided to call an audible. He’d been intrigued by LA’s exploding post-punk scene and had spent time jamming with one of its bands, the Plugz, whom he decided to bring to Letterman as his backing band. The appearance sounds unlike anything else in his catalog and is one of his more fascinating creative reinventions in a career loaded with them.

Michaels doesn’t care when people say ‘SNL’ was funnier when they were younger

"Generally when people talk about the best cast I think, 'Well, that's when they were in high school,'" Michaels told "Today" in 2015. "Because in high school you have the least amount of power you're ever gonna have. ... Staying up with friends later on a Saturday is great, and people attach to a cast."

Mark Zuckerberg and Jesse Eisenberg met during Eisenberg's 'Saturday Night Live' monologue

When Jesse Eisenberg hosted "SNL" in 2011 ahead of an Academy Awards appearance for his portrayal of Zuckerberg in "The Social Network," Zuckerberg actually came on stage. That was the first time the two met, and many viewers said the interaction was awkward. Eisenberg tried to meet Zuckerberg before filming "The Social Network," but his producers told him he couldn't for legal reasons.

Mel Brooks got his first big break in 1950 as a writer on Sid Caesar's 'Your Show of Shows,' a pioneering TV variety show.

Springsteen's first band was called the Castiles

Springsteen joined a local garage rock band at 16. The band was influenced by British Invasion acts like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, as well as the burgeoning American psychedelic scene.

Eddie Vedder's humble gas-station attendant roots

The singer was living in the San Diego area when a friend mailed him a demo tape recorded by Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard that lacked vocals. Vedder wrote lyrics for the three songs (one of which would later become the hit "Alive") and tracked his own vocals on the tape, then mailed it back to the band. Two weeks later, they invited him to move to Seattle to join the band.

Winning a Steve Martin look-alike contest led Bill Nye to pursue comedy

Doing impressions helped Nye realize he enjoyed making people laugh, and he pursued stand-up and comedy writing gigs while working at Boeing after college. On October 3, 1986, he left his engineering job to pursue a full-time career in the entertainment industry.