'SNL' spinoffs have had mixed success

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.

‘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.

'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' 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.

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.

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.

'Lazy Sunday' was YouTube's first viral hit

Initially aired on television, the 2005 "Saturday Night Live" digital short featuring Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell took off on YouTube, becoming one of the platform's first viral videos. The song may be a joke, but its success underscored how online video could extend the lifespan of regularly televised content.

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.

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."

‘The Larry Sanders Show’ redefined the American sitcom by cutting the laughs

"The Larry Sanders Show" avoided both live studio audiences and canned laughs, implying viewers didn’t need to be told when to react. That was not common at the time—TV’s most popular live-action sitcoms, “Seinfeld” and “Cheers,” both relied on the more traditional approach—but the choice had a profound effect.

Lorne Michaels claims 'SNL' has never banned a musical guest

After including overt political protests in their performances, rumors swirled that Sinead O'Connor and Rage Against the Machine had been banned from the show. (People said the same about rock band the Replacements, but that was for on-air drunkenness.) Showrunner Lorne Michaels, however, claims no musical guest has ever been banned.

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."

The 10 best TV spin-offs ever

The spin-off is a much-maligned genre, often seen as a cash grab more than an artistic enterprise. This list argues otherwise, offering 10 excellent series that come close to besting their source material.

Many critically panned cult classics did well at the box office

Franchise flops like 1997's "Batman & Robin," 1983's "Jaws 3-D," and 2015's "Fantastic Four" were panned, though that didn't stop them from selling hundreds of millions of dollars in tickets.

HBO’s biggest flops

Although HBO is known for its high-quality programming, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t missed the mark from time to time. Shows like “The Mind of the Married Man” and “John From Cincinnati” missed the mark in numerous ways, with both critics and audiences.

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."

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.

The origins and evolution of the movie sequel

Sequels have long leveraged the financial success of a first installment into a second, or third, part, as far back as the earliest novels in the 18th century, like Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels," which inspired countless spin-offs. The film...

Watch the 'Star Wars Holiday Special,' a 1978 spin-off that became a cult classic

The CBS television special is a hokey variety show that was widely panned after it aired and, as a result, was never officially released on home video. George Lucas had little involvement, though it did feature the original cast alongside guest stars like Bea Arthur. Interestingly, it also features Boba Fett's first appearance.

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.

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

The Girlboss TV show is generally regarded as a failure

Sophia Amoruso’s memoir, “#Girlboss,” spawned more than just a cultural movement—it also inspired an ill-fated television show that is remembered as one of Netflix’s first major failures.

Steve Martin was a wildly successful stand-up—and abruptly quit doing it

In the ‘70s, few stand-up comics were bigger than Steve Martin, who released multiplatinum albums and regularly sold out arenas. As he detailed in his 2007 memoir, Martin had grown disillusioned with his success as a stand-up and pivoted into film.

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

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

The unexpected rise of the global romcom

The romantic comedy has mostly fallen out of favor in the US, but it's booming in other parts of the world, including India, Nigeria, and South Korea. Rebecca Liu talks with film scholars and industry veterans to unpack why that happened and whether an American romcom renaissance is possible.

Minnelli collaborated with Pet Shop Boys on an album in the 1980s

Her 1989 album "Results" was a rare venture into contemporary pop. Produced by the British pop duo, the tracks are dark and synthy, infused with Minnelli's show-tune background. Music videos that resulted, like for the song "Losing My Mind," are also shot in a style reminiscent of the Pet Shop Boys. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Dolly Parton produced the original 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' movie

Parton’s Sandollar Entertainment company was responsible for the 1992 film, which eventually led to the television series of the same name—a pop culture sensation that inspired spin-offs and a devoted fanbase. Although Parton was not listed as a producer for the show, some believe showrunner Joss Whedon paid homage to her by making the titular character’s birthday the same as Parton’s.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova—a jazz-influenced Brazilian genre—to the US

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

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.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

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

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

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.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

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.

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.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

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

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.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.