Watch Will Ferrell's ‘SNL’ audition

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.

Every ‘SNL’ season, ranked

This list gives an overview of the strengths, weaknesses, and nuances of every one of the 50 seasons of "SNL." Helpfully, it also includes plenty of great sketches, acting as a compilation of the legendary show’s definitive moments.

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.

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.

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.

Auditions for the US adaptation of 'The Office' included many now-famous actors

When NBC decided to adapt "The Office" for American audiences, they auditioned in several comic character actors, including Seth Rogen, Bob Odenkirk, Kathryn Hahn, and Adam Scott. Though those actors didn't land the parts, they did end up with major roles in other critically-acclaimed movies and TV shows, including "Knocked Up," "Abigail All Along," "Better Call Saul," and "Severance."

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 disastrous meeting of the Muppets and ‘SNL’

The first season of "Saturday Night Live" featured some of the most cutting-edge comedy imaginable. Curiously, it also featured Jim Henson's Muppets. Henson and his singular brand of puppetry had found success with "Sesame Street," but Henson was concerned he was being pigeonholed as a children's entertainer and jumped at the opportunity to appear in a recurring segment on NBC's new program. The result was a bizarre train wreck that's detailed in this comprehensive retrospective.

'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.

Season 11 of ‘SNL’ is known as the ‘Weird Year’

After several years of middling material and low ratings, showrunner Lorne Michaels returned in 1985 and brought a cast of Hollywood A-listers, including Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey Jr. The season is now called the “Weird Year" due to the use of more established actors, whose connection with the audience was limited.

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.

'Saturday Night Live' parodied the jury selection process in 2025

This "SNL" sketch lampoons the lengths people go to avoid jury duty, with prospective jurors claiming that a Kardashian hit them with a car, that they are from the future and already know the verdict, and that they should be the judge instead.

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."

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.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

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

Chase attended Bard College in the 1960s with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, who'd later form the group Steely Dan, known for hits like "Reelin' in the Years" and "Peg." Chase played drums for the college band, which, at one point, was called the Very Bad Jazz Band.

One man provides temporary vocals for nearly every character on 'The Simpsons'

Early in the production process, voice actor Chris Edgerly voices hundreds of characters so animators can create preliminary sketches. In this interview, he explains how he learned to mimic the characters' unique voice and tics.

Terrible performance art: an insider's perspective

David Sedaris may be known for his writing now, but when he was in college, he thought his future was in the art world. Specifically, the performance art world. In this episode of NPR’s This American Life, Sedaris shares a selection of moments from his career as an artist, each more embarrassing than the last. The kicker? Being heckled from the audience—by his own father.

How presidential candidates prepare for TV debates

One of the most significant performances of a politician's life is the televised debate, which requires the kind of preparation only an actor would be familiar with. This article dives into some of the recent history around debate prep norms, including how every campaign chooses someone to act like the opponent in mock debates—often to comical effect.

Steve Martin and Robin Williams once starred in 'Waiting for Godot'

The duo starred as Vladimir and Estragon, respectively, in a 1988 production of Samuel Beckett's play. Since then, the show has become an opportunity for other famous duos to engage with the theater of the absurd, including Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen (in 2009, and then again from 2013 to 2014) and Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves (from 2025 to 2026). The only complete recording of a Williams and Martin production is available for researchers at The New York Public Library, though you can watch a few scenes below.

Why Christopher Walken is so eccentric

Cultural icon and actor Christopher Walken has attained a unique status in Hollywood as a beloved eccentric, inspiring countless hilarious stories. This quick write-up dives into some of the elements that mixed to form his unusual personality and style, from growing up around immigrants to his embrace of improvisation.

Kermit the Frog was originally a lizard—and was made from Jim Henson's jeans

The iconic figure was initially created for 1955's "Sam and Friends," a lead-in to "The Tonight Show" that was the debut of the Muppets. The original Kermit puppet was lizard-like and made from two articles of clothing: Henson's blue jeans and his mother's old coat.

Before he had his own show, Pee-wee Herman appeared on 'The Dating Game'

Paul Reubens' character Pee-wee Herman would become a sensation with his 1986 children's show "Pee-wee's Playhouse," but in 1979 he appeared as the hilariously naive character on "the Dating Game." It's not clear if the show (or its audience) understood what they were seeing.

In 1933, the influenza virus was first identified through “ferret flu” experiments

In 1933, British researchers dripped filtered nasal fluids from a sick colleague into ferrets, which quickly developed “ferret flu.” This experiment proved influenza was viral, not bacterial, and established the basis for modern flu vaccines.

Watch LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman interview his deepfake doppelgänger

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman created an AI doppelgänger of himself in 2024 that was fed a sample of his voice and trained on his books and other writings and speeches. In this conversation, his deepfake version attempts to replicate human mannerisms, including scratching their nose and getting distracted.

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

Brian Wilson wrote the Beach Boys' 'Don't Worry Baby' for the Ronettes, but the legendary girl group rejected it.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

The animatronic shark from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' the first modern blockbuster, was a complex underwater apparatus called 'Bruce.'

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Planarian flatworms are small, aquatic worms with exceptional regenerative capabilities. When cut, the worms can regenerate multiple bodies in a matter of weeks.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

Shooting stars, or meteors, are fragments of asteroids and comets that burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating streaks in the sky called meteor showers.