document_title: Saturday Night Live

question_text: how do you become an snl cast member

question_tokens: how do you become an snl cast member

text: Saturday Night Live

text: Development[edit]

text:
History of Saturday Night Live series:

1975–80
(seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
1980–85
(seasons 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
1985–90
(seasons 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
1990–95
(seasons 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
1995–2000
(seasons 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
2000–05
(seasons 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
2005–10
(seasons 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
2010–15
(seasons 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
2015–present
(seasons 41, 42, 43)
Weekend Update

text: From 1965 until September 1975, NBC ran The Best of Carson reruns of The Tonight Show, airing them on either Saturday or Sunday night at local affiliates' discretion (originally known as The Saturday/Sunday Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson). In 1974, Johnny Carson announced that he wanted the weekend shows pulled and saved so that they could be aired during weeknights, allowing him to take time off.[4]

text: In 1974, NBC president Herbert Schlosser approached his vice president of late night programming, Dick Ebersol, and asked him to create a show to fill the Saturday night time slot.[citation needed] At the suggestion of Paramount Pictures executive Barry Diller, Schlosser and Ebersol then approached Lorne Michaels. Over the next three weeks, Ebersol and Michaels developed the latter's idea for a variety show featuring high-concept comedy sketches, political satire, and music performances that would attract 18- to 34-year-old viewers.[5][6] By 1975 Michaels had assembled a talented cast, including Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Michael O'Donoghue, Gilda Radner,[5] and George Coe.[7] The show was originally called NBC's Saturday Night, because Saturday Night Live was in use by Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell on the rival network ABC.[8] NBC purchased the rights to the name in 1976 and officially adopted the new title on March 26, 1977.[9]

text: Debuting on October 11, 1975,[6] the show quickly developed a cult following,[10] eventually becoming a mainstream hit and spawning (in 1978) "Best of Saturday Night Live" compilations that reached viewers who could not stay awake for the live broadcasts. But during the first season in 1975 and 1976, according to a book about the show authored by Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad, some NBC executives were not satisfied with the show's Nielsen ratings and shares.[11] Lorne Michaels pointed out to them that Nielsen's measurement of demographics indicated that baby boomers constituted a large majority of the viewers who did commit to watching the show, and many of them watched little else on television.[12] In 1975 and 1976, they were the most desirable demographic for television advertisers, even though Generation X was the right age for commercials for toys and other children's products. Baby boomers far outnumbered Generation X in reality but not in television viewership with the exception of Michaels' new show and major league sports, and advertisers had long been concerned about baby boomers' distaste for the powerful medium. NBC executives eventually understood Michaels' explanation of the desirable demographics and they decided to keep the show on the air despite many angry letters and phone calls that the network received from viewers who were offended by certain sketches.[13]

text: They included a Weekend Update segment on April 24, 1976, the 18th episode, that ridiculed Aspen, Colorado murder suspect Claudine Longet and warranted an on-air apology by announcer Don Pardo during the following episode.[14] Herminio Traviesas, a censor who was vice president of the network's Standards and Practices department, objected to cast member Laraine Newman's use of the term "pissed off" in the March 13, 1976 episode with host Anthony Perkins, according to the book by Hill and Weingrad, and was in the process of placing the show on a permanent delay of several seconds, instead of live, but he changed his mind after Newman personally apologized to him.[15]

text: Chevy Chase left the show in November of the second season and was replaced a few months later by the then-unknown comic actor Bill Murray. Aykroyd and Belushi left the show in 1979 after the end of season four. In May 1980 (after season five), Michaels—emotionally and physically exhausted—requested to put the show on hiatus for a year to give him time and energy to pursue other projects.[16] Concerned that the show would be cancelled without him, Michaels suggested writers Al Franken, Tom Davis, and Jim Downey as his replacements. NBC president Fred Silverman disliked Franken, and was infuriated by Franken's Weekend Update routine called "Limo for a Lame-O", a scathing critique of Silverman's job performance at the network and his insistence on traveling by limousine at the network's expense. Silverman blamed Michaels for approving this Weekend Update segment.[17] Unable to get the deal he wanted, Michaels chose to leave NBC for Paramount Pictures, intending to take his associate producer, Jean Doumanian, with him. Michaels later learned that Doumanian had been given his position at SNL after being recommended by her friend, NBC vice president Barbara Gallagher.[18] Michaels' departure led to most of the cast and writing staff leaving the show.[19]

text: The reputation of the show as a springboard to fame meant that many aspiring stars were eager to join the new series. Doumanian was tasked with hiring a full cast and writing staff in less than three months, and NBC immediately cut the show's budget from the previous $1 million per episode down to just $350,000. Doumanian faced resentment and sabotage from the remaining Michaels staff, particularly males who did not appreciate a woman believing she could take Michaels' place.[20] The season was a disaster; ratings plummeted, and audiences failed to connect to the original cast's replacements, such as Charles Rocket and Ann Risley.[19] Doumanian's fate was sealed when, during a sketch, Rocket said "fuck" on live television.[21] After only ten months, Doumanian was dismissed.[22][23] Although executives suggested that SNL be left to die, network chief Brandon Tartikoff wanted to keep the show on the air, believing that the concept was more important to the network than money. Tartikoff turned to Ebersol as his choice for the new producer. Ebersol previously had been fired by Silverman. Ebersol gained Michaels' approval in an attempt to avoid the same staff sabotage that had blighted Doumanian's tenure.[24]

text: Ebersol's tenure saw commercial success, but was considered lackluster compared to the Michaels era, except for the breakout of cast member Eddie Murphy.[25] Murphy, the main draw of the cast, left in 1984 to pursue his already successful film career, and Ebersol decided to again rebuild the cast. He broke with history by hiring established comedians such as Billy Crystal and Martin Short who could bring their already successful material to the show.[24] Ebersol's final year with this new cast is considered one of the series' funniest, but had strayed far from the precedent-shattering show that Michaels had created.[26] After that season, Ebersol wanted a more significant revamp, including departing from the show's established "live" format.[citation needed] Following unsuccessful forays into film and television, in need of money, and eager not to see Tartikoff cancel the show,[27] Michaels finally returned in 1985 after Ebersol opted not to. The show was again recast, with Michaels borrowing Ebersol's idea, and seeking out established actors such as Joan Cusack and Robert Downey, Jr.[28] The cast and writers struggled creatively, and in April 1986, Tartikoff made the decision to cancel the show, until he was convinced by producer Bernie Brillstein to give it one more year.[29] The show was renewed but for the first time in its history, for only thirteen episodes instead of the usual twenty-two.[30] Michaels again fired most of the cast and, learning his lesson from the previous seasons, sought out unknown talent such as Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman instead of known names.[30]

text: The show ran successfully again until it lost Carvey and Hartman, two of its biggest stars, between 1992 and 1994. Wanting to increase SNL's ratings and profitability, then-NBC West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer and other executives began to actively interfere in the show, recommending that new stars such as Chris Farley and Adam Sandler be fired because Ohlmeyer did not "get" them, and critiquing the costly nature of performing the show live. The show faced increasing criticism from the press and cast, in part encouraged by the NBC executives hoping to weaken Michaels' position.[31] Michaels received a lucrative offer to develop a Saturday night project for CBS during this time, but remained loyal to SNL.[32] By 1995, Farley and Sandler were fired, and Mike Myers, another popular cast member, had left for a film career, but a new cast waited to replace them, featuring the likes of Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, and Tina Fey.[33] The show focused on performers, and writers were forced to supply material for the cast's existing characters before they could write original sketches.[34] By 1997, Ohlmeyer renewed his focus on limiting Michaels' independence, forcing the removal of writer Jim Downey and cast member Norm Macdonald.[35]

text: Cast and crew[edit]

text: Cast[edit]

text: The original 1975 cast of SNL, officially known on-air as "The Not Ready For Prime-Time Players",[36][37] a term coined by writer Herb Sargent,[38] included Laraine Newman, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Garrett Morris, and Chevy Chase. Radner was the first person hired after Michaels himself. Although Chase became a performer, he was hired on a one-year writer contract, and refused to sign the performer contract that was repeatedly given to him, allowing him to leave the show after the first season in 1976.[39] Newman was brought aboard after having a prior working relationship with Michaels.[40] Morris was initially brought in as a writer, but attempts to have him fired by another writer led Michaels to have Morris audition for the cast, where he turned in a successful performance.[41] Curtin and Belushi were the last two cast members hired.[40] Belushi had a disdain for television and had repeatedly turned down offers to appear on other shows, but decided to work with the show because of the involvement of Radner, and writers Anne Beatts and Michael O'Donoghue.[42] Michaels was still reluctant to hire Belushi, believing he would be a source of trouble for the show, but Beatts, O'Donoghue, and Ebersol successfully argued for his inclusion.[42]

text: After Chase left the show, he was replaced by Bill Murray, whom Michaels had intended to hire for the first-season cast, but was unable to because of budget restrictions.[43] When Chase returned to host in 1978, he found the remaining cast resentful at his departure and his success, particularly Belushi. Murray, goaded by the rest of the cast, and Chase came to blows shortly before the show.[44] Chase's departure for film made Michaels possessive of his talent; he threatened to fire Aykroyd if he took the role of D-Day in the 1978 comedy Animal House, and later refused to allow SNL musician Paul Shaffer to participate in The Blues Brothers (1980) with Aykroyd and Belushi after they left in 1979 to pursue film careers.[45][46] Michaels began to struggle to hold the remaining cast together in the wake of Chase, Aykroyd, and Belushi's independent successes. Radner had a one-woman Broadway show and Murray starred in the 1979 comedy Meatballs.[47] In 1980, Michaels chose to leave the series to pursue other interests and was replaced by Doumanian, who wanted to give the show a fresh start with a new cast and writing staff.[48] Michaels was followed by the remaining original cast, Curtin, Newman, Radner, Morris, Murray, and additional cast members.[46]

text: The Doumanian-era cast faced immediate comparison to the beloved former cast and were not received favorably.[22] Ebersol fired the majority of her hires, except for two unknown comedians: Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo.[49] Talent coordinator Neil Levy claimed Murphy contacted and pleaded with him for a role on the show, and after seeing him audition, Levy fought with Doumanian to cast him instead of Robert Townsend. Doumanian wanted only one black cast member and favored Townsend, but Levy convinced her to choose Murphy. Doumanian also claimed credit for discovering Murphy and fighting with NBC executives to bring him onto the show.[50] Even so, Murphy would languish as a background character until Ebersol took charge,[51] after which Murphy was credited with much of that era's success.[52][53] Murphy's star exploded, and he quickly appeared in films such as 48 Hrs. and Trading Places, before leaving for his film career in early 1984. Much of the Ebersol cast departed after the 1983–84 season and were replaced with established comedians who could supply their own material, but at an inflated cost; Billy Crystal and Martin Short were paid $25,000 and $20,000 per episode respectively, a far cry from earlier salaries.[24] Michaels' return in 1985 saw a cast reset that featured established talent such as Robert Downey Jr., Jon Lovitz and Dennis Miller.[54] The season was poorly received, and another reset followed in 1986. Learning his lesson from the previous season, Michaels avoided known talent in favor of actual ability. He kept Lovitz, Miller and Nora Dunn, and brought in new, untested talent such as Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, and Jan Hooks, who together would define a new era on the show into the early 1990s.[55]

text: In 1989–90, new talent such as Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, and Chris Farley were added. Afraid of cast members leaving for film careers, Michaels had overcrowded the cast, causing a divide between the veteran members and the new, younger talent, increasing competition for limited screen time.[56] By 1995, Carvey and Hartman had left, taking with them a virtual army of characters, Myers quit for his movie career, and increasing network pressure forced Michaels to fire Sandler and Farley. The show saw its next major overhaul, bringing in a new cast including Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, and Jimmy Fallon.[57] While cast members would leave over the following two decades, the show saw its next biggest transition in 2013, with the addition of 6 cast members to compensate for the departure of several longtime cast members like Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis, and Fred Armisen.[58]

text: SNL has featured over 140 cast members including, besides the above-mentioned players, Rachel Dratch, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, David Spade, Will Forte, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tracy Morgan, Chris Parnell, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Kristen Wiig, and many others. Darrell Hammond was the longest-serving cast member until 2017, having been a part of the cast for fourteen years between 1995 and 2009, and returned in 2014 as the show's announcer following the death of Don Pardo.[59][60] In 2017 Kenan Thompson surpassed Hammond as the longest-serving cast member. Thompson first joined the series in 2003.[61] Those selected to join the cast of SNL are normally already accomplished performers, recruited from improvisational comedy groups such as The Groundlings (Ferrell, Hartman,[62] Lovitz, Wiig[63]) and The Second City (Aykroyd, Farley, Fey,[64] Tim Meadows), or established stand-up comedians (Carvey, Sandler, Rock, Norm Macdonald), who already possess the training or experience necessary for SNL.[65]

text: Of the many roles available in the show, one of the longest-running and most coveted is being the host of Weekend Update, a segment which has alternated between having one or two hosts, and which allows the cast members involved to perform as themselves and be on camera for an extended period of time.[66] Many of the Weekend Update hosts have gone on to find greater success outside the show, including: Chase, Curtin, Murray,[66] Miller, Macdonald,[67] Fey,[66] Fallon,[68] and Poehler. From 2008, Seth Meyers was the solo host of Weekend Update,[66] before being partnered with Cecily Strong in 2013. After Meyers left for Late Night with Seth Meyers in February 2014, Strong was paired with head writer Colin Jost. However, later that year, she was replaced by writer Michael Che.[69][70] The cast is divided into two tiers: the more established group of repertory players; and newer, unproven cast members known as featured players, who may eventually be promoted to the repertory stable.

text:
2017–18 season cast[71]

Repertory players
Featured players

Beck Bennett (joined 2013)
Aidy Bryant (joined 2012)
Michael Che (joined 2014) ⱡ
Pete Davidson (joined 2014)
Leslie Jones (joined 2014)
Colin Jost (joined 2014) ⱡ
Kate McKinnon (joined 2012)
Kyle Mooney (joined 2013)
Cecily Strong (joined 2012)
Kenan Thompson (joined 2003)

Mikey Day (joined 2016)
Heidi Gardner (joined 2017)
Alex Moffat (joined 2016)
Luke Null (joined 2017)
Chris Redd (joined 2017)
Melissa Villaseñor (joined 2016)

ⱡ denotes Weekend Update anchor

text: The cast were often contracted from anywhere between five and six years to the show,[72][73] but starting with the 1999–2000 season, new hires were tied to a rewritten contract that allowed NBC to take a cast member in at least their second year and put them in an NBC sitcom. Cast are given the option of rejecting the first two sitcom offers but must accept the third offer, with the sitcom contract length dictated by NBC and potentially lasting up to six years.[73] The move drew criticism from talent agents and managers who believed that a cast member could be locked into a contract with NBC for twelve years; six on SNL and then six on a sitcom. The contract also optioned the cast member for three feature films produced by SNL Films, a company owned by NBC, Paramount Pictures, and Michaels. The new contracts were reportedly developed after many previously unknown cast, such as Myers and Sandler, gained fame on SNL only to leave and make money for other studios.[73] In a 2010 interview, Wiig was reported to be contracted to SNL for a total of seven years.[74] The contracts also contain a network option which allows NBC to remove a cast member at any time.[75] In the first season of the show, cast were paid $750 per episode, rising to $2,000 by season two, and $4,000 by season four.[76] By the late 1990s, new cast members received a salary between $5,000[73] and $5,500 per episode, increasing to $6,000 in the second year and up to $12,500 for a cast member in their fifth year. Performers could earn an additional $1,500 per episode for writing a sketch which made it to air.[75] In 2001, Ferrell became the highest paid cast member, being paid $350,000 per season (approximately $17,500 per episode).[77] In 2014, Sasheer Zamata was added as a cast member in mid-season after criticism of the show's lack of an African-American woman.[78][79][80]

text: Writers[edit]

text: As of the 2017–18 season, Michael Che, Colin Jost, Bryan Tucker and Kent Sublette are the show's co-head writers.[81] Jost had been a writer since 2005, and was a head writer from 2012 to 2015 before being renamed head writer. Che has been a writer since 2013. He temporarily left the show in the summer of 2014, but came back that fall to anchor Update and reclaimed his status as writer.

text: Seth Meyers became co-head writer in 2005, became the single head writer from 2008 to 2012, and then left in 2014. The Weekend Update segment has its own dedicated team of writers led by head writer and producer Alex Baze as of the 2011–12 season.[82][83][84] Scenes on Weekend Update that involve members of the cast acting in-character alongside the host are often written by staff writers outside the dedicated Weekend Update team, who know those characters better.[84]

text: SNL writers are often also performers or experienced in writing and improvisational comedy. Many are hired from similar backgrounds such as The Groundlings, Second City, Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, and ImprovOlympic.[46] Comedian Jim Downey was head writer for nine years beginning in 1985.[85] Experienced writers with backgrounds in television shows are also sometimes brought into the SNL writing room. Like the SNL cast who appear on camera, many of the writers have been able to find their own success outside the show, such as Conan O'Brien, who was brought into SNL from The Groundlings, went on to write for The Simpsons, and eventually began hosting his own show.[86] Former head writer Adam McKay, along with performer Ferrell, founded the successful comedy website Funny or Die.[87] In 2000, Tina Fey became the first female SNL head writer[88][89] and successfully made the transition to starring on the show,[90] as well as writing and starring in feature films,[91][92][93] ultimately creating and starring in her own show 30 Rock, which was partly based on her SNL experiences.[94] In 2005, Fey was paid $1.5 million per season for her dual role as head writer and performer.[95]

text: Announcers[edit]

text: Don Pardo served as the announcer for the series when it began,[96] and continued in the role for all but season seven between 1981 and 1982, when Michaels had left and Mel Brandt and Bill Hanrahan filled the announcing role. In 2004, Pardo announced that he would step down from his position, but then continued in the role until 2009 where he again announced his retirement, but then continued into the 2009–10 season.[96] In 2010, then 92-year-old Pardo was reported to be again considering his retirement, but continued to serve as announcer until his death at age 96 on August 18, 2014, following the 39th season. Apart from a brief period in 2006 in which Pardo pre-recorded his announcements at his home in Arizona, he flew to New York City to perform his announcing duties live.[96][97] Cast members Joe Piscopo[98] and Darrell Hammond also periodically impersonated Pardo and fulfilled his announcing duties when Pardo was unavailable.[99] Hammond took over as full-time announcer starting with season 40.[100]

text: Hosts and musical guests[edit]

text: A typical episode of SNL will feature a single host chosen for their popularity or novelty, or because they have a film, album, or other work being released near the time of their appearance on the show.[101] The host delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast. Traditionally the host of the show ends the opening monologue by introducing the musical guest for the night. Comedian George Carlin was the first to host SNL in the debut October 1975 episode;[102] three episodes later, Candice Bergen became the first female host[103] and subsequently the first to host more than once.[104] Hosts have been drawn from a wide spectrum of backgrounds, from actors, such as Christopher Walken, Buck Henry, and John Goodman,[105] to musicians like Dolly Parton,[106] to political activist Ralph Nader.[101] Guests who have hosted five or more times are sometimes referred to as belonging to the Five-Timers Club, a term that originated on a sketch performed on Tom Hanks' fifth episode.[107] As of February 11, 2017, actor Alec Baldwin holds the record for most times hosting, having performed the duty on seventeen different occasions since 1990; Baldwin took the record from actor Steve Martin who had hosted fifteen times since 1976.[108]

text: Each episode also features a musical guest, a solo act or a band, who perform two to three musical numbers. Occasionally, the musical guest has also simultaneously served as the host. As of May 19, 2012, Dave Grohl is the most frequent musical guest, performing on eleven shows since 1992.[109] Michaels does not allow musical guests to perform using lip-synching tracks,[110] believing it diminishes the live aspect of the show. Exceptions are only made when the musical act is focused on intense dance routines instead of vocals, where it is difficult to be both heavily physically active and sing simultaneously.[111] A 1975 performance by pop group ABBA was the first and only act to feature lip-synching,[110] until the controversial 2004 performance of Ashlee Simpson.

text: The SNL Band[edit]

text: The Saturday Night Live Band (also known as "The Live Band") is the house band for SNL. Academy Award-winning composer Howard Shore served as the first musical director, from 1975 to 1980, appearing in many musical sketches, including Howard Shore and His All-Nurse Band and (backing a US Coast Guard chorus) Howard Shore and the Shore Patrol. Over the years, the band has featured several New York studio musicians including Paul Shaffer (1975–1980), Lou Marini (1975–1983), David Sanborn (1975), Michael Brecker (early 1980s), Ray Chew (1980–1983), Alan Rubin (1975–1983), Georg Wadenius (1979–1985), Steve Ferrone (1985), David Johansen (performing as Buster Poindexter), Tom Malone (who took over as musical director from 1981 to 1985), and G. E. Smith (musical director from 1985 to 1995). As of 2017, the band is under the leadership of Tower of Power alumnus Lenny Pickett, keyboardist Leon Pendarvis and Eli Bruegemann, who does not play in the band on the live show. The number of musicians has varied over the years, but the basic instrumentation has been three saxophones (alto, tenor and baritone), one trombone, one trumpet, and a rhythm section featuring two keyboards (piano and Hammond organ), a guitar, bass guitar, drums, and an extra percussionist, not a permanent part of the band until Valerie Naranjo's arrival in 1995. The 1983–1984 and 1984–1985 seasons featured the smallest band, a six-piece combo. The band plays instrumentals leading in and out of station breaks; affiliates who run no advertising during these interludes hear the band play complete songs behind a Saturday Night Live bumper graphic until the program resumes.[112] The band plays "Closing Theme (Waltz in A)", written by Shore, at the end of the show.[113]

text: Production[edit]

text: The studio[edit]

text: Since the show's inception, SNL has aired from Studio 8H, located on floors 8 and 9 of the Comcast Building (formerly the RCA Building and GE Building) (30 Rockefeller Plaza or "30 Rock"). The studio had originally been used as a radio soundstage for Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra.[114] Michaels was dumbfounded when he originally inspected Studio 8H in 1975, and found it technically limited, outdated, in need of repair,[115] and lacking the capacity to host a live show.[114] Michaels demanded that NBC executives rebuild the studio and improve the acoustics to accommodate the intended musical acts,[114] at a cost of approximately $300,000.[114] Three of the first four shows of the 1976–77 season were shot at the former NBC Studios in Brooklyn, due to NBC News using Studio 8H for Presidential election coverage.[116]

text: During the summer 2005 shooting hiatus, crews began renovations on Studio 8H. With its thirty-first-season premiere in October 2005, the show began broadcasting in high-definition television, appearing letterboxed on conventional television screens. The offices of SNL writers, producers, and other staff can be found on the 17th floor of "30 Rock".[117]

text: Creating an episode[edit]

text: Production on an SNL episode will normally start on a Monday with a free-form pitch meeting[118][119][120] between the cast, writers, producers including Michaels, and the guest host, in Michaels' office, over two hours. The host is invited to pitch ideas during this meeting. Although some sketch writing may occur on the day, the bulk of the work revolves around pitching ideas. Tuesday is the only day dedicated purely to writing the scripts,[119] a process which usually extends through the night into the following morning. Writing may not begin until 8 pm on the Tuesday evening.[118][120] At 5 pm on Wednesday, the sketches are read by the cast during a round-table meeting in the writers room,[120] attended by the writers and producers present during the pitch meeting, technical experts such as make-up artists, who may be required to realize certain sketch ideas such as those using prosthetics, and other producers, resulting in an attendance of approximately fifty people.[121] At this point there may be at least 40 sketch ideas which are read-through in turn, lasting upwards of three hours.[121]

text: After completion of the read-through, Michaels, the head writer, the guest host, and some of the show producers will move to Michaels' office to decide the layout of the show and decide which of the sketches will be developed for air. Once complete, the writers and cast are allowed into Michaels' office to view the show breakdown and learn whether or not their sketch has survived.[122] Sketches may be rewritten starting the same day,[119] but will certainly commence on Thursday, work focuses on developing and rewriting the remaining sketches,[118] and possibly rehearsals.[120] If a sketch is still scheduled beyond Thursday, it is rehearsed on Friday or Saturday[119] before moving to a rehearsal before a live audience at 8 pm, again on Saturday before the live show.[118][120] After the rehearsal, Michaels will review the show lineup to ensure it meets a 90-minute length, and sketches that have made it as far as the live rehearsal may be removed.[123] This often results in less than two days of rehearsal for the eight to twelve sketches that have made it to the stage that then may appear on the live broadcast.[118] The opening monologue, spoken by the guest host, is given low priority and can be written as late as Saturday afternoon.[124]

text: According to an interview with Fey in 2004, the three- to four-member dedicated Weekend Update writing team will write jokes throughout the week. The host(s) of Weekend Update will normally not work with, or read the scripts from, the team until Thursday evening, after the main show sketches have been finalized. The host(s) will then work on contributing to the script where necessary.[125][126]

text: Post-production[edit]

text: With onsite facilities housed on floors 8 and 17 of Rockefeller Plaza, post-production duties on live broadcasts of Saturday Night Live include the mixing of audio and video elements by the Senior Audio Mixer, coupled with additional audio feeds consisting of music, sound effects, music scoring and pre-recorded voiceovers. All sources are stored digitally, with shows captured and segregated into individual elements to reorganise for future repeats and syndication. The production tracking system was migrated from primarily analog to digital in 1998, with live shows typically requiring 1.5 terabytes of storage, consisting of audio elements and 5 cameras' worth of visual elements.[127] Elements of Saturday Night Live that are pre-recorded, such as certain commercial parodies, SNL Digital Shorts, and show graphics are processed off-site in the post-production facilities of Broadway Video.[128][129]

text: Filming and photography[edit]

text: Studio 8H production facilities are maintained by NBC Production Services. Video camera equipment includes four Sony BVP-700 CCD cameras, and two Sony BVP-750 CCD handheld cameras, both using Vinten pedestals. A GVG 4000-3 digital component production switcher, and GVG 7000 digital component routing switcher are used to route visual feeds to the control room, with multiple digital and analogue video recorders used to store footage. Graphics are provided by a Chyron Lyric Pro character generator and an Avid Deko character generator. Audio facilities consist of a Calrec T Series digitally controlled analogue mixing console, and a Yamaha digital mixing console used for tape playback support and utility audio work.[130] While exact budgets for other seasons are not known, the 39th season (2013–2014) had a budget of just over $70 million, for which it received a subsidy from New York State in the amount of $12.3 million.[131]

text: As of 2009, the opening title sequence and opening montage is shot using the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Canon EOS 7D digital SLR cameras. Typical elements are recorded at 30 fps, with slow-motion sequences shot at 60 fps, both in full 1080p high definition.[132]

text: Edie Baskin was the original SNL photographer. She was hired after Michaels saw her photographs of Las Vegas and other work. Baskin helped create the opening title sequence for the show by taking photos of New York City at night.[133] The first episode used publicity photos of Carlin as transitional bumpers between the show and commercial breaks, the second episode used photos Baskin had already taken of host Paul Simon. It was then that Michaels suggested that Baskin photograph the hosts for the bumpers instead of using publicity photos, beginning a tradition which continues today.[134]

text: Since 1999, Mary Ellen Matthews has been the official photographer of SNL, responsible for devising distinctive photo layouts and aesthetics for still imagery used on the show. Matthews creates photo portraits of the hosts and musical guests of each episode which are used as commercial bumpers. The limited time frame between the host's involvement in the production process and the Live show requires Matthews to create makeshift photo studios on site at 30 Rock, with Matthews attempting to shoot the host on Tuesday and the musical guest on Thursday, although the availability of either can mean the photoshoot for both occurs as late as Thursday.[135] Matthews employs flattering portrait lighting with hard lights to achieve a Hollywood style. On the lighting, Matthews commented: "I think it just helps the image pop off the screen...If you use soft or flat lighting, it becomes not as dimensional...The [classic Hollywood lighting] gives a little more contrast, and if I use edge lights and then light the background, it goes farther and farther back. I try to achieve that depth as much as I can."[136] Matthews is also responsible for taking cast photos, behind the scenes images, documenting rehearsals, and promotional photos. As of 2010, she has also been involved in directing videos, including the show title sequence.[136]

text: Broadcast[edit]

text: The show usually begins at 11:29:30 p.m. (Eastern Time),[137] unless a delay occurs (more commonly, due to sporting events that run past 11:00 pm. Eastern, delaying local newscasts that lead into that week's SNL broadcast on most NBC stations). The show broadcasts for 92 minutes (counting commercial breaks), ending at 1:02 a.m. For the Mountain except for KSNG, KSNK, and KQCD, and Pacific time zones, NBC airs the prerecorded live show usually unedited, mistakes notwithstanding.

text: Since the first opening in 1975 with Michael O'Donoghue, Chevy Chase, and John Belushi, the show has normally begun with a cold open sketch which ends with one or more cast members breaking character and proclaiming "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", segueing into the opening credits that start immediately after.[7]

text: In February 2013, NBC began airing shortened hour-long repeats on Saturday evenings at 10:00 pm. Eastern Time during the regular season; the episodes scheduled are sometimes rebroadcasts of the previous week's episode if it originally aired as a first-run broadcast.[138] Since the 2014–15 season, the show's 40th anniversary, the prime time rebroadcasts have been a selection of episodes from throughout the show's run under the title SNL Vintage.

text: NBC and Broadway Video both hold the underlying rights to the show, while the copyright to every episode lies solely with NBC. From 1990 until 2004, and again since 2015, Comedy Central and its predecessor Ha! re-aired reruns of the series, after which E! Entertainment Television signed a deal to carry reruns.[139] Abbreviated 30- and 60-minute versions of the first five seasons aired as The Best of Saturday Night Live in syndication beginning in the 1980s, and later on Nick at Nite in 1988. In September 2010, reruns of most episodes made from 1998 onward began airing on VH1.[140] Starting in February 2016, VH1 and Comedy Central's sister channel Logo began airing reruns of the show on Sunday nights, launching its broadcast as counterprogramming for Super Bowl 50 and branding it the "Live From New York, It's Satur-Gay Night!" marathon. The reruns are mostly from 2006 onward.

text: On March 16, 2017, NBC announced that it would air the final four episodes of the 42nd season live in all mainland U.S. time zones for the first time in its history. NBC executive Robert Greenblatt explained that the show's significant viewership had made it part of the "national conversation", and thus they felt that it would be appropriate for the entire country to be "in on the joke at the same time".[141] NBC announced on September 19, 2017 that all of the 43rd season's episodes will air live coast-to-coast in the U.S., making it the first ever regularly scheduled non-sports prime time television program to be broadcast live simultaneously on both coasts in the U.S., and the first American show to air live on prime time in the West Coast at the same time with East Coast.[142]

text: International versions[edit]

text: Because SNL has been a huge success in the United States, channels in other countries have created their own versions of the show, including in the Middle East and North Africa region, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Philippines, Japan, Canada, Finland, France, Italy and Poland.[143][144]

text: SNL in its original American version airs in Israel since the early 2000s and it is broadcoast by satellite provider yes. There was a local SNL-based show named Am Israel Hai (People of Israel Live) back in 2002 but it was cancelled after one season. There is another SNL-esque show in Israel named Eretz Nehederet (A Wonderful Country) that has been aired ever since 2003 and still runs because of high ratings.

text: SNL is also aired in the Middle East and North Africa, OSN First HD every Saturday night, one week after it airs in the US.[145]

text: In India and Sri Lanka, Saturday Night Live! airs on Comedy Central, in an hour long version, one week after the US broadcast.[146]

text: Spain's version of the show was short-lived, only lasting a few episodes which aired on Thursdays and not Saturdays as the title suggested. This version copied heavily from the American version, in that they did their own versions of sketches that were already done on the original series.[143] Italy's Saturday Night Live From Milan aired for four seasons and used original material.[143][147]

text: On December 3, 2011, South Korea's SNL Korea premiered on cable channel tvN.[148][149][150][151] As of July 20, 2013, it is in its fourth consecutive season, with 20 episodes.[152]

text: The Japanese version Saturday Night Live JPN, which ran for six months in 2011, was created in part with Lorne Michaels' production company, Coca-Cola, Broadway Video and broadcast on Fuji TV networks. The show followed the same format with a few minor differences, being only 45 minutes long and hosted by a permanent host. The cast was made up of seasoned comedians who take center stage and newcomers who play the background roles. It was broadcast once a month, and ended after six episodes, as planned from the start.[143][147][153][154][155][excessive citations]

text: In 2014, two 90-minute specials were broadcast in French on Télé-Québec in the Canadian province of Quebec under the title SNL Québec; the specials were broadcast on February 8 and March 22, 2014. hosted by Louis-José Houde and Stéphane Rousseau, and is the same format and length as the original SNL series.[156] Certain sketches from the original program, such as Debbie Downer and Schweddy Balls, were adapted into French, while other sketches were original material written directly for the Quebec series. On May 13, 2014, SNL Quebec was renewed for another eight episodes to be broadcast monthly over the 2014–15 season ending with a "Best of" compilation.[157] Télé-Québec announced in May 2015 that the series would not be renewed due to funding cutbacks,[158] and Télévision de Radio-Canada subsequently signed the show's production team and cast to produce a new series, Le nouveau show, for that network.[159]

text: The French channel M6 launched the pilot episode of its SNL adaptation, Le Saturday Night Live, in January 2017.

text: The Polish division of Showmax video-on-demand streaming service launched the first season of its SNL adaptation, SNL Polska on December 2, 2017. The show received favorable reviews and is most likely to be renewed for season 2 sometime in 2018.

text: SNL program items are available from the NBC website and YouTube in the US, but are blocked to many overseas (non-US) viewers. Some local television and cable companies outside the US broadcast the show as well, either in live broadcast or as a VOD recording, due to its world-wide reputation. This reputation grew significantly during the 42nd season, when Alec Baldwin's impression of the United States president Donald Trump became world wide famous and viral.

text:
Country
Name
Station
Broadcast
Language

 Canada
SNL Québec
Télé-Québec
February 8, 2014 – March 21, 2015
French

 China
TBA
Youku
2018
Chinese

 France
Le Saturday Night Live
M6
January 5, 2017 – present
French

 Italy
Saturday Night Live from Milano
Saturday Night Live
Italia 1
TV8
2006 – 2011
April 7, 2018 – present
Italian

 Japan
サタデーナイトライブ JPN
Saturday Night Live JPN
Fuji TV
October 27, 2012 – November 17, 2012
Japanese

 Poland
SNL Polska
Showmax
December 2, 2017 – present
Polish

 South Korea
SNL 코리아
Saturday Night Live Korea
TVN
December 3, 2011 – present
Korean

 Spain
Saturday Night Live
Cuatro
February 5, 2009 – May 13, 2009
Spanish

 Arab
ساترداي نايت لايف بالعربي
Saturday Night Live Arabic
OSN
February 20, 2016 – present
Arabic

text: Delays[edit]

text: The episode scheduled for October 25, 1986, hosted by Rosanna Arquette, was not aired until November 8 due to NBC broadcasting Game 6 of the 1986 World Series between the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox; the game entered extra innings, causing that night's broadcast of SNL to be canceled. The show was recorded for the studio audience starting at 1:30 am Eastern Time, and broadcast two weeks later with an "apology" by Mets pitcher Ron Darling.[160]

text: The episode scheduled for February 10, 2001, hosted by Jennifer Lopez, aired 45 minutes late due to an XFL game. Lopez and the cast were not told they were airing on a delay. Michaels was so upset by the delay that the episode was rerun a mere three weeks later, and the fledgling league actually changed the rules in order to speed up play, and a deal was reached where the feed to future games would be cut off (whether the game had been decided or not) when SNL started so that no such incident would happen again.[161]

text: US Television Ratings[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Start Date
End Date
Viewers (Mil.)
Overall Rating[162]
18-49 Rating

1975-76
24
October 11, 1975
July 31, 1976
N/A
6.4
N/A

1976-77
22
September 18, 1976
May 21, 1977
N/A
7.9
N/A

1977-78
20
September 24, 1977
May 20, 1978
N/A
9.8
N/A

1978-79
20
October 7, 1978
May 26, 1979
N/A
13.1
N/A

1979-80
24
October 13, 1979
May 24, 1980
N/A
13.5
N/A

1980-81
13
November 15, 1980
April 11, 1981
N/A
9.5
N/A

1981-82
20
October 3, 1981
May 22, 1982
N/A
8.0
N/A

1982-83
20
September 25, 1982
May 14, 1983
N/A
7.4
N/A

1983-84
19
October 8, 1983
May 12, 1984
N/A
7.4
N/A

1984-85
17
October 6, 1984
April 13, 1985
N/A
7.5
N/A

1985-86
18
November 9, 1985
May 24, 1986
N/A
7.1
N/A

1986-87
20
October 11, 1986
May 23, 1986
N/A
7.6
N/A

1987-88
13
October 17, 1987
February 27, 1988
11.77
8.4
6.4

1988-89
20
October 8, 1988
May 20, 1989
10.73
7.9
5.5

1989-90
20
September 30, 1989
May 19, 1990
11.09
8.1
5.8

1990-91
20
September 29, 1990
May 18, 1991
10.55
7.5
5.7

1991-92
20
September 28, 1991
May 16, 1992
12.37
8.8
6.8

1992-93
20
September 26, 1992
May 15, 1993
12.67
9.2
7.1

1993-94
20
October 11, 1993
May 23, 1994
11.32
8.2
6.3

1994-95
20
October 11, 1994
May 23, 1995
9.87
7.2
5.4

1995-96
20
October 11, 1995
May 23, 1996
7.40
5.6
3.8

1996-97
20
September 28, 1996
May 17, 1997
9.08
6.7
4.8

1997-98
20
September 27, 1997
May 9, 1998
9.18
6.6
5.0

1998-99
19
September 26, 1998
May 15, 1999
8.44
6.1
4.5

1999-2000
20
October 2, 1999
May 20, 2000
8.32
6.0
4.4

2000-01
20
October 7, 2000
May 19, 2001
8.88
6.7
4.6

2001-02
20
September 29, 2001
May 18, 2002
8.78
6.7
4.4

2002-03
20
October 5, 2002
May 17, 2003
8.34
6.7
4.1

2003-04
20
October 4, 2003
May 15, 2004
8.09
5.5
3.8

2004-05
20
October 2, 2004
May 20, 2005
7.77
5.1
3.6

2005-06
19
October 1, 2005
May 20, 2006
6.96
4.7
3.2

2006-07
20
September 30, 2006
May 19, 2007
6.90
4.6
3.0

2007-08
12
September 29, 2007
May 17, 2008
6.87
4.9
3.0

2008-09
22
September 13, 2008
May 16, 2009
9.17
5.8
3.9

2009-10
22
September 26, 2009
May 15, 2010
8.41
5.2
3.5

2010-11
22
September 25, 2010
May 21, 2011
8.46
5.2
3.4

2011-12
22
September 24, 2011
May 19, 2012
8.38
5.4
3.3

2012-13
21
September 15, 2012
May 18, 2013
8.46
5.4
3.4

2013-14
21
September 28, 2013
May 17, 2014
8.46
5.2
3.3

2014-15
21
September 27, 2014
May 16, 2015
8.46
4.6
2.7

2015-16
21
October 3, 2015
May 21, 2016
8.46
4.9
2.9

2016-17
21
October 1, 2016
May 20, 2017
8.46
5.6
3.5

2017-18
TBD
September 39, 2017
May 19, 2018
TBD
TBD
TBD

text: Reception[edit]

text: In 2002, SNL was ranked tenth on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time,[163] while in 2007 it was honored with inclusion on Time magazine's list of "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME."[137][164] In June 2013, the show was placed at number 25 on the list of the 101 best written shows of all time by the Writers Guild of America, assessing series from the previous 70 years.[165] In December 2013, TV Guide ranked it #18 on their list of the 60 Greatest Shows of All Time.[166] It is currently[when?] the 40th longest running television show in the US.[citation needed]

text: In 2016, a New York Times study of the 50 television shows with the most Facebook likes found that SNL "is very much an urban show. It's most popular in cities throughout the country, and college towns. Amherst, Mass.; Madison, Wis.; and Ithaca, N.Y. are all among the top 10".[167]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: Saturday Night Live has won numerous awards since its debut, including 64 Primetime Emmy Awards,[1] four Writers Guild of America Awards,[2] and two Peabody Awards.[3] In 2009, it received a total of 13 Emmy nominations for a lifetime total of 126, breaking the record for the most award nominated show in Primetime Emmy Award history, previously set with 124 by hospital drama ER.[168][169] As of July 2017, it has received a record total of 231 Primetime Emmy Award nominations.[137][170]

text: Twenty cast members have received individual Primetime Emmy Award nominations in the show's history. These nominations were mostly in the category of Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program before that award was discontinued; since then, nominations have been in the Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress categories for comedy series. Of the 36 total nominations for these 20 performers, five have won: Chevy Chase (1976), Gilda Radner (1978), Dana Carvey (1993), Kate McKinnon (2016–2017), and Alec Baldwin (2017).[1]

text: Electoral effect[edit]

text: SNL has also had an effect on American elections – most commonly presidential elections. Voters have reported that political sketches that were shown on the program influenced them in the voting booth. The so-called SNL Effect was observed during the 2008 presidential campaign, according to Mike Dabadie. Two-thirds of voters who responded to a poll said they had seen a broadcast of politically charged content on SNL, with ten percent saying that it had made a difference in their decision. Barack Obama was the beneficiary of the political content, with 59 percent saying they did in fact cast a vote for the Democratic then-nominee.[171]

text: Chevy Chase's bumbling impression of then-president Gerald Ford during the 1976 presidential election was cited as an influence on the election, and a quote commonly attributed to 2008 vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin stating "I can see Russia from my house" was actually spoken by SNL cast member Tina Fey while portraying Palin.[172] Several politicians have appeared on SNL, including President Gerald Ford (in 1976, during the show's first season), then-Senator Barack Obama (2007), Senator John McCain (2002 and 2008), Senator Hillary Clinton (2008 and 2015), and Governor Sarah Palin (2008), who appeared alongside Fey's Palin impression, resulting in the show's largest audience in 14 years with 14 million viewers.[173][174] Senator Obama's appearance occurred in part because Hillary Clinton abandoned her scheduled appearance.[174] The political content was abandoned briefly following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack in New York, with Poehler saying that the writers did not want to produce politicized material; highly political content would be absent for the next four years.[174]

text: Controversies[edit]

text: Due to the show's live factor, a number of technical problems, performer mishaps, intentional acts of sabotage by performers, protests, and cuts to dead air have occurred throughout the show's run. One incident that garnered widespread media coverage was the October 3, 1992, appearance by singer Sinéad O'Connor, in which she ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II during her performance.[175][176] On April 13, 1996, the alternative metal band Rage Against the Machine made a statement about the host, billionaire Steve Forbes, by hanging two upside-down American flags from their amplifiers. On October 23, 2004, Ashlee Simpson appeared as a musical guest, and there was a lip synching mishap. Her first performance, "Pieces of Me", was performed without incident, but when she began her second song, "Autobiography", the vocals for "Pieces of Me" were heard again through the speakers, even before she had raised the microphone to her mouth. Simpson began to do an impromptu jig, and then left the stage.[177]

text: In other media[edit]

text: Home media[edit]

text: Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Lions Gate Entertainment hold video rights to the series. Universal has issued complete season DVD sets of the first few seasons, while Lionsgate's share of the rights are a result of prior contracts with NBC struck before the NBC Universal merger. A majority of Lionsgate's SNL DVDs are "Best Of..." compilations.

text: Books[edit]

text: Saturday Night Live, the first authorized book about the series, was published by Avon Books in 1977 and edited by Anne Beatts and John Head, with photography by Edie Baskin;[178] all three worked for SNL at the time the book was published. The oversized illustrated paperback included the scripts for several sketches by the 1975–1980 cast.[179] In 1986, Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad authored Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live, a behind-the-scenes look at the first ten seasons.[180] Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years, by Michael Cader, was released in 1994, and presented information about the cast, characters, and other memorable moments seen on the show from 1975 to 1994.[181][182]

text: Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, as Told By Its Stars, Writers and Guests was released in 2002.[183] The book, written by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller, consists of interviews from people who have worked on the show. The interviews reveal personal experiences from what happened backstage and the difficulty of getting the show on air each week.[184] In 2004, former cast member Jay Mohr released his memoir Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live[185] about his struggles during his two seasons on the show between 1993 and 1995, dealing with getting sketches on air and the intense work schedule. Former cast member Bobby Moynihan described the book as "a handbook on what NOT to do at SNL."[186]

text: Films[edit]

text: SNL has made several efforts to develop some of the more popular sketches into feature-length films, with varying degrees of commercial and critical success. The first foray into film came with the successful Aykroyd and Belushi vehicle, The Blues Brothers (1980), which earned over $115 million on a $27 million budget.[187]

text: In 1990, Michaels oversaw the writing of a sketch anthology feature film titled The Saturday Night Live Movie with many of the show's then-current writing staff, including Al Franken, Tom Davis, Greg Daniels, Jim Downey, Conan O'Brien, Robert Smigel, and George Meyer, contributing. The screenplay only got as far as a Revised First Draft dated July 26, 1990 before being abandoned.[188]

text: The success of Wayne's World (1992) encouraged Michaels to produce more film spin-offs, based on several popular sketch characters. Michaels revived 1970s characters for Coneheads (1993), followed by It's Pat (1994); Stuart Saves His Family (1995); A Night at the Roxbury (1998); Superstar (1999) and The Ladies Man (2000). Some did moderately well, though others did not—notably, It's Pat, which did so badly at the box office that the studio that made the film, Touchstone Pictures (owned by The Walt Disney Company, which also owns NBC's rival ABC), pulled it only one week after releasing it,[189] and Stuart Saves His Family, which lost $14 million. Many of these films were produced by Paramount Pictures. The films based on The Blues Brothers were produced by Universal Studios, which merged with NBC in 2004 to form NBC Universal (Universal also has a joint venture with Paramount for international distribution of the two studios' films).

text:
Film
Release date
(United States)
Budget
(estimated)
Box office revenue

United States
Elsewhere
Worldwide

The Blues Brothers
19800620 !June 20, 1980
$27 million
$57,229,890
$58,000,000
115229890 !$115,229,890

Wayne's World
19920214 !February 14, 1992
$20 million
$121,697,323
$61,400,000
183097323 !$183,097,323

Coneheads
19930723 !July 23, 1993
$33 million
$21,274,717
N/A
021274717 !$21,274,717

Wayne's World 2
19931210 !December 10, 1993
$40 million
$48,197,805
N/A
048197805 !$48,197,805

It's Pat
19940826 !August 26, 1994
$8 million[190]
$60,822
N/A
000060822 !$60,822

Stuart Saves His Family
19950414 !April 14, 1995
$15 million
$912,082

000912082 !$912,082

Blues Brothers 2000
19980206 !February 6, 1998
$28 million
$14,051,384
N/A
014051384 !$14,051,384

A Night at the Roxbury
19981002 !October 2, 1998
$17 million
$30,331,165
N/A
030331165 !$30,331,165

Superstar
19991008 !October 8, 1999
$14 million
$30,636,478
N/A
030636478 !$30,636,478

The Ladies Man
20001013 !October 13, 2000
$24 million
$13,616,610
$126,602
013616610 !$13,743,212

MacGruber
20100521 !May 21, 2010
$10 million
$8,525,600
$797,295
009259314 !$9,259,314

text: The character Bob Roberts from the Tim Robbins film of the same name (1992), first appeared on SNL in a short film about the conservative folk singer.

text: In addition, the 1999 comedy film Office Space originated from a series of animated short films by Mike Judge that aired on SNL in 1993.[191]

text: The fictitious American folk music trio The Folksmen first appeared on SNL, performing the song "Old Joe's Place" before later appearing in the film A Mighty Wind (2002). The three members of the Folksmen were the same three comedians: Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, and Christopher Guest, who also appeared on the same episode as the rock group Spinal Tap. At the time of the appearance (the 1984–85 season), Shearer and Guest were cast members.

text: Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures is based off the Mr. Bill sketches from early seasons of SNL.[192][193]

text: Music[edit]

text: In 2005, the comedy troupe The Lonely Island, consisting of SNL members Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone, gained national exposure after joining the show and debuting their comedic music video "Lazy Sunday", written with fellow cast member Chris Parnell. The song became a surprise hit,[194] and convinced Michaels to encourage the troupe to develop more comedy songs. Further successes with songs including "Like a Boss, "Jizz in My Pants", "I'm on a Boat", "We Like Sportz", "Boombox", and "Dick in a Box"—which won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics in 2007[195]—saw The Lonely Island go on to release two albums, Incredibad (2009)[196] and Turtleneck & Chain (2011), containing SNL-developed songs and original works. The albums were released by Universal Republic Records who were provided with a license to the SNL songs by NBC and Broadway Video.

text: A cast album was released in 1976 on the Arista label including the song "Chevy's Girls" and comedy bits from the show (Weekend Update, "Emily Litella", "Gun Control"); it was later re-issued on CD and MP3 download.

text: Other[edit]

text: Several programs have documented the behind-the-scenes events of the show. A 60 Minutes report taped in October 2004 depicted the intense writing frenzy that goes on during the week leading up to a show, with crowded meetings and long hours. The report particularly noted the involvement of the guest host(s) in developing and selecting the sketches in which they will appear. Similarly, there has been an A&E episode of Biography which covered the production process, as well as an episode of TV Tales in 2002 on E!. In 2010, Saturday Night, a 94-minute documentary by actor James Franco in his directorial debut, was released; it follows the production process of the December 6, 2008, episode hosted by John Malkovich, from the concept stage to the episode actually airing live. Although it originated as a five-minute short film for Franco's New York University film class, Michaels granted Franco access to the process, allowing the project to be expanded.[120] On February 15, 2015, NBC aired a 3 1⁄2-hour special on Saturday Night Live's 40th anniversary. The program included a mix of clips, new performances of classic characters from previous cast members and special guest appearances from previous hosts.[197]

text: In September 2011, ice cream company Ben & Jerry's released a limited-edition ice cream called "Schweddy Balls", inspired by a 1998 sketch of the same name starring Alec Baldwin, Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon.[198][199] According to the company, the ice cream became their fastest-selling limited-edition flavor.[200][not in citation given] The ice cream was also subject to criticism and boycotts by One Million Moms, a project of the American Family Association, over the "vulgar" name.[198][201] Some retail chains chose not to sell the flavor, but declined to say if the decision was at their own discretion or based on the One Million Moms boycotts.[201][202] In June 2014, two new flavors inspired by SNL sketches were introduced—Lazy Sunday, based on a sketch of the same name featuring Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell, and Gilly's Catastrophic Crunch based on the recurring Gilly sketches featuring Kristen Wiig.[203] Two Wild and Crazy Pies, based on the catchphrase of the recurring Festrunk Brothers, was introduced in September 2014,[204] followed by Wayne'Swirled inspired by the eponymous Wayne's World in February 2015.[205]


document_title: A Walk to Remember

question_text: who plays jamie in a walk to remember

question_tokens: who plays jamie in a walk to remember

root

text: A Walk to Remember

text: Plot[edit]

text: This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (February 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: In Beaufort, North Carolina, popular and rebellious teenager Landon Carter and his friends have been fond of underage drinking on school grounds. They seriously injure another student during a prank gone wrong. The principal gives Landon the choice of being expelled or atoning for his actions by tutoring fellow students, helping the janitor, and participating in the school play. Choosing and doing the latter, Landon notices Jamie Sullivan, who he has known since kindergarten and is the local minister's daughter. He has seldom paid any attention to her, as she is labeled as an outsider and a geek because of her interest in astronomy.

tag: p

text: Landon has trouble learning his lines for the play, so Jamie, who is also in the play, agrees to help him on one condition: for him to not fall in love with her, and he laughs it off and dismisses it as a foolish idea. They begin practicing together at her house after school, but Landon remains wary of ruining his image by being friendly with an outsider like her. At one point he makes the insulting suggestion that they be "secret friends", and Jamie's hurt but mature response embarrasses Landon. He then stops being dismissive of Jamie and treats her like a friend. They get to know each other and a spark of romance buds between them.

text: On the opening night of the play, Jamie astounds Landon and the audience with her voice and beauty. When Jamie finishes singing towards the end, Landon kisses her, which is not a part of the play. Afterwards, Jamie avoids Landon until his friends play a cruel prank on her. In opposition to his friends, he protects her and she eventually warms up to him again. Landon asks Jamie on a date, but Jamie says her father will not let her date. Landon asks her father for permission, bringing up that he is looking for a chance at redemption with her and at life through her. Jamie's father is initially hesitant but agrees.

text: On their first date, Landon helps Jamie to fulfill her list of things she wants to achieve in life. On another date, where Jamie is silent and unfocused, she confesses she isn't making any plans for the future because she has leukemia and hasn't been responding to treatment. A desperate Landon asks for his father's help in curing her, but is disappointed by his reply and takes a long drive home thinking about Jamie. Landon's friends become aware of the tragedy looming, and give him their support. Jamie's condition grows worse and gets sent to the hospital. While there, Jamie gives Landon a book that once belonged to her deceased mother and tells him that maybe God sent Landon to her to help her through the rough times and that Landon is her angel. Unbeknownst to Landon, Jamie is given private home care by Landon's estranged father to relieve her father's financial burden. Landon visits his dad, tearfully thanking him for his help, embracing and reuniting.

text: Landon builds a telescope for Jamie to see a one-time comet in the springtime. Jamie's father helps him get it finished in time and it is brought to her on the balcony where she gets a beautiful view of the comet. It is then that Landon asks her to marry him. Jamie tearfully accepts, and they get married in the church where her mother got married. They spend their last summer together filled with strong love. Jamie's leukemia ends up killing her when summer ends.

text: Four years later, Landon has finished college and been accepted into medical school. He visits Reverend Sullivan to return Jamie’s precious book. Landon apologizes to the Reverend for Jamie not witnessing a miracle, but the Reverend disagrees saying that in fact she did and that her miracle was Landon. Landon visits the docks contemplating the belief that although Jamie is dead, she is with him. It is then he understands love is like the wind; you can't see it, but you can feel it.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Shane West as Landon Carter
Mandy Moore as Jamie Elizabeth Sullivan-Carter
Peter Coyote as Reverend Hegbert Sullivan
Daryl Hannah as Cynthia Carter
Lauren German as Bellinda
Clayne Crawford as Dean Thomas
Al Thompson as Eric
Paz de la Huerta as Tracy
David Lee Smith as Dr. Carter
Jonathan Parks Jordan as Walker
Matt Lutz as Clay Gephardt

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: The inspiration for A Walk to Remember was Nicholas Sparks' sister, Danielle Sparks Lewis, who died of cancer in 2000. In a speech he gave after her death in Berlin, the author admits that "In many ways, Jamie Sullivan was my younger sister". The plot was inspired by her life; Danielle met a man who wanted to marry her, "even when he knew she was sick, even when he knew that she might not make it".[3] Both the book and film are dedicated to Danielle Sparks Lewis.

text: It was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, at the same time that Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) and the TV show Dawson's Creek were being filmed there. Many of the sets were from Dawson's Creek (1998) – particularly the school, hospital and Landon's home.[4] The total shooting time was only 39 days, despite Moore being able to only work 10 hours a day because she was a minor.[4] Daryl Hannah, who wore a brown wig as her character, had received a collagen injection in her lips, which went awry and caused noticeable swelling. By the end of filming, however, the symptoms were less obvious.[5]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Director Shankman wanted the lead characters to be portrayed by young actors: "I wanted young actors with whom teenagers could connect", he said.[6] Shankman arranged a meeting with Shane West after he saw him in a magazine. He was looking for someone who could transition from being very dark to very light. He described his choice as "an instinct" he had about West, who would appear in almost every scene and had "to be either incredibly angry and self-hating or madly in love and heroic."[6] West said: "I don't generally read love stories, but after reading the screenplay, I knew I couldn't wait to read the book so I could truly understand Nicholas Sparks' story and how he envisioned the character of Landon. It's a beautiful story and the characters are very believable, which is what attracted me to the project.[6]

text: Shankman said of Moore that she "has the voice and the face of an angel" and added that she is luminous.[6] Moore explained that she was moved by the book: "I had such a visceral reaction to it that I remember not being able to read because I was almost hyperventilating while I was crying." Commenting on the film, she said: "It was my first movie and I know people say it may be cliche and it's a tearjerker or it's cheesy, but for me, it's the thing I'm most proud of."[7]

text: Comparisons to novel[edit]

text: While there are many similarities to the novel by Nicholas Sparks, many changes were made. On his personal website, Sparks explains the decisions behind the differences. For example, he and the producer decided to update the setting from the 1950s to the 1990s, worrying that a film set in the 50s would fail to draw teens. "To interest them," he writes, "we had to make the story more contemporary."[8] To make the update believable, Landon's pranks and behavior are worse than they are in the novel; as Sparks notes, "the things that teen boys did in the 1950s to be considered a little 'rough' are different than what teen boys in the 1990s do to be considered 'rough.'"[8]

text: Sparks and the producer also changed the play in which Landon and Jamie appear. In the novel, Hegbert wrote a Christmas play that illustrated how he once struggled as a father. However, due to time constraints, the sub-plot showing how he overcame his struggles could not be included in the film. Sparks was concerned that "people who hadn't read the book would question whether Hegbert was a good father", adding that "because he is a good father and we didn't want that question to linger, we changed the play."[8]

text: A significant difference is that at the end of the novel, unlike the film, it is ambiguous whether Jamie died. Sparks says that he had written the book knowing she would die, yet had "grown to love Jamie Sullivan", and so opted for "the solution that best described the exact feeling I had with regard to my sister at that point: namely, that I hoped she would live."[9]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
A Walk to Remember: Music from the Motion PictureSoundtrack album by Various artistsReleased
January 15, 2002 (2002-01-15)Genre
Pop, contemporary Christian, post-grungeLength
52:01 (Standard)62:32 (2003 Special Expanded Edition)Label
Epic/Sony Music SoundtraxProducer
Jon Leshay
Singles from A Walk to Remember: Music from the Motion Picture

"Cry"Released: November 4, 2001

text: The film's soundtrack was released by Moore's first label Epic Records and Sony Music Soundtrax on January 15, 2002.[10] It features six songs by Moore and others by acts Switchfoot, Rachael Lampa and many more.

text: The lead single "Cry" was originally released on Moore's self-titled third studio album in 2001. The soundtrack also includes two versions of Switchfoot's song "Only Hope" including the version Moore sang in the film.

text: Moore's manager, Jon Leshay, the musical supervisor for the film, "instantly wanted" Switchfoot's music to be a vital part of the film after hearing them. He later became Switchfoot's manager.[11] When they were approached to do the film, the band was unfamiliar with Moore or her music (despite her status as a pop star with several hits on the charts). Before their involvement with A Walk to Remember, Switchfoot was only recognized in their native San Diego and in Contemporary Christian music circles, but have since gained mainstream recognition, with their double platinum fourth album, The Beautiful Letdown (2003) which included hits such as "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move".

text: The soundtrack was re-released on October 21, 2003[12] as a special expanded edition and featured three songs that were not originally included on the first release of the soundtrack but were featured in the film. The song "Only Hope" by Moore had dialogue added that featuring Shane West as his character Landon Carter taken from the scene from where the song is featured in the film, as well as West's narration at the end of the film.

text: Standard editionNo.TitleRecording artist(s)Length1."Dare You to Move"Switchfoot4:092."Cry"Mandy Moore3:433."Someday We'll Know" (cover of New Radicals)Moore and Jonathan Foreman3:524."Dancin' in the Moonlight" (cover of King Harvest)Toploader3:525."Learning to Breathe"Switchfoot4:366."Only Hope" (cover of Switchfoot)Moore3:537."It's Gonna Be Love"Moore3:518."You"Switchfoot4:149."If You Believe"Rachael Lampa3:4910."No One"Cold3:1711."So What Does It All Mean?"West, Gould, & Fitzgerald3:0012."Mother, We Just Can't Get Enough"New Radicals5:4513."Only Hope"Switchfoot4:14Total length:52:01

text: show2003 Special Expanded EditionNo.TitleRecording artist(s)Length1."Dare You to Move"Switchfoot4:092."Cry"Moore3:433."Someday We'll Know" (cover of New Radicals)Moore and Foreman3:524."Dancin' in the Moonlight" (cover of King Harvest)Toploader3:525."Learning to Breathe"Switchfoot4:366."Only Hope" (cover of Switchfoot)Moore as Jamie Sullivan with dialogue by Shane West as Landon Carter3:537."It's Gonna Be Love"Moore3:518."You"Switchfoot4:149."If You Believe"Rachael Lampa3:4910."No One"Cold3:1711."So What Does It All Mean?"West, Gould, & Fitzgerald3:0012."Mother, We Just Can't Get Enough"New Radicals5:4513."Cannonball" (2003 Special Expanded Edition bonus track)The Breeders3:3714."Friday on My Mind" (2003 Special Expanded Edition bonus track)Noogie3:1415."Empty Spaces" (2003 Special Expanded Edition bonus track)Fuel3:2616."Only Hope"Switchfoot4:1617."Cry" (Music Video) (Multi-media track)Moore3:41Total length:62:32

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: A Walk to Remember grossed $41,281,092 in North America and $6,213,824 in other territories for a worldwide total of $47,494,916.[2][13]

text: In its opening weekend, the film grossed $12,177,488, finishing third at the box office behind Black Hawk Down ($17,012,268) and Snow Dogs ($13,079,373).[2]

text: Critical reception [edit]

text: The film received generally negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 27% based on reviews from 103 critics, with an average rating of 4.1/10. The site's critical consensus says: "Though wholesome, the Mandy Moore vehicle A Walk to Remember is also bland and oppressively syrupy."[14] Metacritic, another review aggregator which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 35, based on 26 reviews, which indicates "generally unfavorable".[15] Entertainment Weekly retitled the film "A Walk to Forget".[16] In 2010, Time named it one of the 10 worst chick flicks ever made.[17]

text: The film found a warmer reception with the general public, particularly in the Christian community due to the film's moral values; as one reviewer from Christianity Today approvingly noted, "The main character is portrayed as a Christian without being psychopathic or holier-than-thou".[18] Chicago Sun-Times' film critic Roger Ebert praised Moore and West for their "quietly convincing" acting performances.[19] The Chicago Reader felt that the story "has a fair amount of nuance and charm".[20] The San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Octavio Roca found the film "entertaining" and wrote: "The picture is shamelessly manipulative, but in the best melodramatic sense."[21] S. Williams of Momzone magazine felt that the movie was "everything a chick flick should be" and praised Shankman's direction. Us Weekly deemed it one of the 30 most romantic movies of all time.[22]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Year

Ceremony

Category

Recipient(s)

Result

2002

MTV Movie Awards

Best Breakthrough Female Performance

Mandy Moore

Won

Teen Choice Awards

Choice Movie: Breakout Actress

Mandy Moore

Won

Choice Movie: Chemistry

Mandy Moore and Shane West

Won

Choice Movie: Liplock

Mandy Moore and Shane West

Nominated

text: Home media[edit]

text: A Walk to Remember was released by Warner Home Video on DVD on July 9, 2002. The DVD contains two commentaries (one featuring Shane West, Mandy Moore, and director Adam Shankman; the second featuring screenwriter Karen Janszen and author Nicholas Sparks), the music video for Moore's single "Cry", and the film's theatrical trailer.[23][24] A "Family-Edited Version" was later released on December 24, 2002.[25]

text: In other media[edit]

text: In the HBO television series Entourage, the character of Vincent Chase was credited as having a small supporting role in the film. In the fictional Entourage universe, Chase has an on-set relationship with Moore during the filming of A Walk to Remember.


document_title: Coon cheese

question_text: where did the name coon cheese come from

text: Coon cheese

text: Makers[edit]

text: Coon cheese is named after its American creator, Edward William Coon (1871–1934) of Philadelphia, who patented a method, subsequently known as the Cooning process, for fast maturation of cheese via high temperature and humidity.[1][2][3][4][5] Former manufacturer Kraft, and later Dairy Farmers and National Foods, have vigorously defended the trademark.

text: E. W. Coon was the grandson of Amherst Coon (1795–1877), a farmer born in Russia, New York, who married Sally Betsey Treat in 1822. His sons Mattison (b. 1823) and Ephraim Coon (b. 1832) were described in 1893 as having been in the butter and cheese business together at 29 South Water Street, Philadelphia, for more than thirty years. Ephraim's son Edward Willie Coon was born on 30 July 1871, and had taken out at least one cheese patent by 1912.[6][7]

text: In August 1923, The Journal and Republican of Lowville, New York, reported the sale by "E. W. Coon of Philadelphia, maker and shipper of cheese", of five milk plants in villages around Watertown to the Dairymen's League Co-operative Association, Inc. It also stated that

text: While no announcement is made as to which of the numerous Coon plants in northern New York have been bought by the League, it is understood that the big Cape Vincent plant is not among those transferred... The Coon chain of plants include stations at Brownville, Chaumont, Rosiere, Cape Vincent, Clayton and La Fargeville, with several cheese factories in the surrounding territory... Mr Coon's business has been cheese making primarily...[8]

text: On 27 February 1926 Coon filed an application for a Process for Ripening Cheese. Patent No 1579196 was issued on 30 March 1926.[9] Coon's patent claimed:

text:
A process for ripening cheese, consisting of supplying, through suitable means, humidified air to a room or chamber set aside for the purpose, the humidified air to have a range of temperature from 45° to 75° F., and a moisture percentage of from 65% to 95%.
A process for ripening cheese having an original moisture percentage of 36% to 40% and subjecting it to a temperature of 55° F., to 70° F., in combination with a humidity percentage of from 75% to 90%.[9]

tag: ol

text: From 1933 a cheese was marketed by Fred Walker as Red Coon, and was coated with red wax. The wax was later replaced with cellophane and the red stripe in the logo is a residual reference to the original packaging.[1]

text: After selling his processing plants, Edward W. Coon became a cheese dealer in Philadelphia. He died in 1934, aged sixty-two.[10] Coon was working at the Philadelphia office of the Kraft-Phoenix Cheese Corporation at the time of his death according to The Journal and Republican in Lowville, New York.[11]

text: Alternative account[edit]

text: The accuracy of the account of the origin of the brand name has been challenged by anti-racism campaigner Stephen Hagan. In spite of much contrary evidence, Hagan claims he has been unable to find evidence that Edward Coon was a famous cheese maker, contending that the name came instead from a black wraparound in which it was originally sold.[12] In 2008 he was reported to be "questioning the makers of Coon cheese about the origin of the brand name". Hagan claimed that Edward Coon was an obscure factory hand who was induced to subscribe his name to the patent for cheese manufacture, yet had no explanation for Edward Coon's ownership of many dairy factories.[13]

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: Black British comedian Stephen K. Amos regularly performs a skit on Coon Cheese as part of his live show, due to the word "Coon" also being an ethnic slur used for black people.[14]


document_title: Weekend at Bernie's

question_text: who played gwen in weekend at bernie's

question_tokens: who played gwen in weekend at bernie 's

text: Weekend at Bernie's

text: Plot[edit]

text: Larry Wilson (Andrew McCarthy) and Richard Parker (Jonathan Silverman) are two low-level financial employees at an insurance corporation in New York City. While going over actuarial reports, Richard discovers a series of payments made for the same death. Richard and Larry take their findings to the CEO, Bernie Lomax (Terry Kiser), who commends them for discovering insurance fraud and invites them to his Hamptons island beach house for the Labor Day weekend. Unbeknownst to Larry and Richard, Bernie is behind the fraud. Nervously meeting with his mob partner Vito (Louis Giambalvo), Bernie asks to have Larry and Richard killed. However, after Bernie leaves, Vito decides Bernie has been attracting too much attention with his greed and his relationship with Vito's girlfriend, Tina (Catherine Parks), and orders that he be killed instead.

text: Bernie arrives at the island before Larry and Richard and plans the murders with Paulie (Don Calfa), the hitman, on the phone, unaware the conversation is being recorded on his answering machine. Bernie then plants cash and a fake confession note implicating Larry and Richard in the insurance fraud. Paulie arrives, killing Bernie with a drug overdose. When Larry and Richard arrive at Bernie's house, they find Bernie's body. Before they can call the police, guests arrive for a party that Bernie used to host every weekend. To Larry and Richard's amazement, the guests are too engrossed in their partying to notice he is dead, with the dopey grin from the fatal injection and his sunglasses concealing his lifeless state. Fearing implication in Bernie's death, and wanting to enjoy the luxury of the house for the weekend, Larry proposes he and Richard maintain the illusion that Bernie is still alive, a notion that Richard finds absurd. Only the arrival of Richard's office crush, Gwen Saunders (Catherine Mary Stewart), a summer intern for the company, convinces him to go along with Larry's plan.

text: Later that night, Tina arrives at the house, and has Larry and Richard direct her to Bernie. There, she also fails to realize he is dead. At that moment, Marty, one of Vito's mobsters witnesses the two of them apparently making love. Fooled into thinking Bernie's assassination failed, he notifies Paulie. The next morning, Richard is appalled to discover Larry furthering the illusion of Bernie being alive by manipulating his body's limbs. Richard attempts to call the police but instead activates the phone message detailing Bernie's plot against them. Unaware of the circumstances of Bernie's death, they mistakenly believe they are still the targets of a mob hit and decide to use Bernie's corpse as a prop for protection. Richard and Larry make various attempts to leave the island. All attempts are thwarted, as they repeatedly misplace and recover Bernie's body. Finally, Larry and Richard are forced to return to Bernie's home. Meanwhile, Paulie, unhinged at his apparent failure to kill Bernie, returns to the island.

text: At the house, Gwen confronts Larry and Richard, who confess that Bernie has been dead since their arrival. Paulie then appears and opens fire at Bernie, then turns his attention to Larry, Richard, and Gwen. Chasing after the trio, Paulie corners Larry, who clumsily manages to subdue him with a phone cord and a punch. The police eventually arrive and place Paulie under arrest, taking him away in a straitjacket as he continues to insist Bernie is still alive. Bernie is loaded into an ambulance, however, his gurney rolls away and topples off the boardwalk, dumping him onto the beach right behind Richard, Larry, and Gwen, who run away after noticing him. Eventually, a young boy comes along and starts to "play" with Bernie, scooping buckets of sand over his body.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Andrew McCarthy as Lawrence "Larry" Wilson
Jonathan Silverman as Richard Parker
Terry Kiser as Bernie Lomax
Catherine Mary Stewart as Gwen Saunders
Don Calfa as Paulie
Catherine Parks as Tina
Eloise Broady as Tawny
Gregory Salata as Marty
Louis Giambalvo as Vito
Ted Kotcheff as Mr. Parker
Margaret Hall as Lomax's secretary
Jason Woliner as Bratty kid

text: Reception[edit]

text: The film received mixed reviews from critics, holding a 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[2] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called the film "tasteless" and "crude" and felt that in the end it was impossible to "drag one tired joke around for nearly two hours. Like Bernie, the movie ends up dead on its feet."[3] Roger Ebert echoed this sentiment, arguing that movies centered on dead bodies are rarely funny. Ebert gave the film 1 out of 4 stars overall.[4]

text: Nevertheless, the film was a financial success, grossing US$30 million at the box office, and was profitable on home video, as well as becoming a cult classic.[5][6]

text: Sequel[edit]

text: The film's commercial success inspired a 1993 sequel, Weekend at Bernie's II.

text: Lawsuit[edit]

text: On January 24, 2014, director Ted Kotcheff and screenwriter Robert Klane filed a lawsuit against Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and 20th Century Fox for breach of contract for profits they claimed were due from the film.[7][8][9]


document_title: Do the Right Thing

question_text: she played spike lee's girlfriend in do the right thing

question_tokens: she played spike lee 's girlfriend in do the right thing

text: Do the Right Thing

text: Plot[edit]

text: Mookie (Spike Lee) is a 25-year-old delivery man living in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn with his sister, Jade (Joie Lee). He and his girlfriend, Tina (Rosie Perez), have a son. He works at the local pizzeria, but lacks ambition. Sal (Danny Aiello), the pizzeria's Italian-American owner, has been in the neighborhood for 25 years. His older son Pino (John Turturro) intensely dislikes blacks, and does not get along with Mookie. Because of this, Pino is at odds with both his father, who refuses to leave the increasingly African-American neighborhood, and his younger brother Vito (Richard Edson), who is friendly with Mookie.

text: The neighborhood is full of distinct personalities, including Da Mayor (Ossie Davis), a friendly local drunk; Mother Sister (Ruby Dee), who watches the neighborhood from her brownstone; Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), who blasts Public Enemy on his boombox wherever he goes; and Smiley (Roger Guenveur Smith), a mentally disabled man, who meanders around the neighborhood trying to sell hand-colored pictures of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

text: While at Sal's, Mookie's trouble-making b-boyish friend, Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito), questions Sal about his "Wall of Fame", a wall decorated with photos of famous Italian-Americans. Buggin' Out demands that Sal put up pictures of black celebrities since Sal's pizzeria is in a black neighborhood. Sal replies that it is his business, and that he can have whomever he wants on "The Wall of Fame". Buggin' Out attempts to start a protest over the Wall of Fame. Only Radio Raheem and Smiley support him.

text: During the day, the heat and tensions begin to rise. The local teenagers open a fire hydrant and douse the street, before police officers intervene. Mookie and Pino begin arguing over race, which leads to a series of scenes in which the characters spew racial insults into the camera. Pino and Sal talk about the neighborhood, with Pino expressing his hatred, and Sal insisting that he is not leaving. Sal almost fires Mookie, but Jade intervenes, before Mookie confronts her for being too close to Sal.

text: That night, Buggin' Out, Radio Raheem, and Smiley march into Sal's and demand that Sal change the Wall of Fame. Raheem's boombox is blaring and Sal demands that they turn the radio off, but they refuse. Buggin' Out calls Sal and sons guineas while saying that they're closing down the pizzeria for good until they change the Wall of Fame. Sal, in a fit of frustration, tells him he will "tear his nigger ass", then destroys the boombox with a baseball bat. Raheem attacks Sal, leading to a huge violent fight that spills out into the street, attracting a crowd. While Radio Raheem is choking Sal, the police arrive. They break up the fight and apprehend Radio Raheem and Buggin' Out. Despite the pleas of his fellow officers and the onlookers, one officer refuses to release his chokehold on Raheem, killing him. Realizing that Raheem has been killed in front of onlookers, the officers place his body in the back of a squad car, and drive off, leaving Sal, Pino, and Vito unprotected.

text: The onlookers, enraged about Radio Raheem's death, blame Sal and his sons. Mookie grabs a trash can and throws it through the window of Sal's pizzeria, sparking the crowd to rush into the restaurant and destroy it, with Smiley finally setting it on fire. Da Mayor pulls Sal, Pino, and Vito out of the mob's way. Firemen and riot patrols arrive to put out the fire and disperse the crowd. After police issue a warning, the firefighters turn their hoses on the rioters, leading to more fighting and arrests. Mookie and Jade sit on the curb, watching in disbelief. Smiley wanders back into the smoldering building and hangs one of his pictures on what is left of Sal's Wall of Fame.

text: The next day, after having an argument with Tina, Mookie returns to Sal, who feels that Mookie betrayed him. Mookie demands his weekly pay, leading to an argument. They cautiously reconcile, and Sal finally pays him. Mister Señor Love Daddy (Samuel L. Jackson), a local DJ, dedicates a song to Raheem.

text: The film ends with two quotations expressing different views about violence, one from Martin Luther King and one from Malcolm X, before fading to a photograph of them shaking hands. Prior to the credits, Lee dedicates the film to the families of six victims of police brutality: Eleanor Bumpurs, Michael Griffith, Arthur Miller, Jr., Edmund Perry, Yvonne Smallwood, and Michael Stewart.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Spike Lee as Mookie
Danny Aiello as Sal
Ossie Davis as Da Mayor
Ruby Dee as Mother Sister
Giancarlo Esposito as Buggin' Out
Bill Nunn as Radio Raheem
John Turturro as Pino
Richard Edson as Vito
Roger Guenveur Smith as Smiley
Rosie Perez as Tina
Joie Lee as Jade
Steve White as Ahmad
Martin Lawrence as Cee
Leonard L. Thomas as Punchy
Christa Rivers as Ella
Robin Harris as Sweet Dick Willie
Paul Benjamin as ML
Frankie Faison as Coconut Sid
Samuel L. Jackson as Mister Señor Love Daddy (credited as Sam Jackson)
Steve Park as Sonny
Rick Aiello as Officer Gary Long
Miguel Sandoval as Officer Mark Ponte
Luis Antonio Ramos as Stevie
John Savage as Clifton
Frank Vincent as Charlie
Richard Parnell Habersham as Eddie
Ginny Yang as Kim
Nicholas Turturro (extra) (uncredited)

text: Production[edit]

text: Spike Lee wrote the screenplay in two weeks.[9] The original script of Do the Right Thing ends with a stronger reconciliation between Mookie and Sal. Sal's comments to Mookie mirror Da Mayor's earlier comments in the film and hint at some common ground and perhaps Sal's understanding of why Mookie was motivated to destroy his restaurant. It is unclear why Lee changed the ending.[10]

text: The film was shot entirely on Stuyvesant Avenue between Quincy Street and Lexington Avenue in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The street's color scheme was heavily altered by the production designer, who used a great deal of red and orange paint in order to help convey the sense of a heatwave.

text: Spike Lee campaigned for Robert De Niro as Sal the pizzeria owner, but De Niro had to decline due to prior commitments. The character of Smiley was not in the original script; he was created by Roger Guenveur Smith, who was pestering Spike Lee for a role in the film.[11] Four of the cast members were stand-up comedians: Martin Lawrence, Steve Park, Steve White, and Robin Harris.

text: Controversies[edit]

text: The film was released to protests from many reviewers, and it was openly stated in several newspapers that the film could incite black audiences to riot.[12] Lee criticized white reviewers for implying that black audiences were incapable of restraining themselves while watching a fictional motion picture.[13] In a 2014 interview Lee stated "That still bugs the shit out of me," calling the remarks "outrageous, egregious and, I think, racist," and further elaborating, "I don't remember people saying people were going to come out of theatres killing people after they watched Arnold Schwarzenegger films." [14]

text: One of many questions at the end of the film is whether Mookie "does the right thing" when he throws the garbage can through the window, thus inciting the riot that destroys Sal's pizzeria. Critics have seen Mookie's action both as an action that saves Sal's life, by redirecting the crowd's anger away from Sal to his property, and as an "irresponsible encouragement to enact violence".[15] The question is directly raised by the contradictory quotations that end the film, one advocating nonviolence, the other advocating violent self-defense in response to oppression.[15]

text: Spike Lee has remarked that he has only ever been asked by white viewers whether Mookie did the right thing; black viewers do not ask the question.[16] Lee believes the key point is that Mookie was angry at the death of Radio Raheem, and that viewers who question the riot's justification are implicitly failing to see the difference between property and the life of a black man.[13]

text: In June 2006, Entertainment Weekly magazine placed Do the Right Thing at No. 22 on its list of The 25 Most Controversial Movies Ever.[17]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2016)

text: Do the Right Thing was met with acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 93%, based on 68 reviews, with an average rating of 8.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Smart, vibrant and urgent without being didactic, Do the Right Thing is one of Spike Lee's most fully realized efforts – and one of the most important films of the 1980s."[18] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 91 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim", and placing it as the 68th highest film of all-time on the site.[19]

text: Both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert ranked the film as the best of 1989 and later ranked it as one of the top 10 films of the decade (#6 for Siskel and #4 for Ebert).[20] Ebert later added the film to his list of The Great Movies.[21] According to online film resource They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?, Do the Right Thing is the most acclaimed film of 1989.[22]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
List of awards and nominations

Award
Date of ceremony
Category
Recipients and nominees
Result

Academy Awards
March 28, 1990
Best Supporting Actor
Danny Aiello
Nominated

Best Original Screenplay
Spike Lee

Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics
1990
Grand Prix

Boston Society of Film Critics
1990
Best Supporting Actor
Danny Aiello
Won

Cannes Film Festival[23]
May 23, 1989
Palme d'Or
Spike Lee
Nominated

Chicago Film Critics Association
1990
Best Picture

Won

Best Director
Spike Lee

Best Supporting Actor
Danny Aiello

Golden Globe Awards
January 20, 1990
Best Motion Picture – Drama

Nominated

Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Danny Aiello

Best Director – Motion Picture
Spike Lee

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Los Angeles Film Critics Association
December 16, 1989
Best Film

Won

Best Supporting Actor
Danny Aiello

Best Director
Spike Lee

Best Screenplay
2nd place

Best Music
Bill Lee
Won

MTV Movie Awards
June 6, 2006
Silver Bucket of Excellence

NAACP Image Awards
December 11, 1989
Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
Ruby Dee

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Ossie Davis

National Society of Film Critics Awards
January 8, 1990
Best Director
Spike Lee
3rd place

New York Film Critics Circle
January 14, 1990
Best Film

5th place

Best Screenplay
Spike Lee
4th place

Best Cinematography
Ernest Dickerson
Won

The 20/20 Awards
2010
Best Picture

Nominated

Best Director
Spike Lee
Won

Best Supporting Actor
Danny Aiello
Nominated

John Turturro

Best Original Screenplay
Spike Lee

Best Film Editing
Barry Alexander Brown
Won

Best Original Song
"Fight the Power"
Music and Lyrics by Chuck D, Hank Shocklee, Eric Sadler, and Keith Shocklee

text: American Film Institute lists

text:
AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:

"Fight the Power" – No. 40

AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – No. 96

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text: The film's score (composed and partially performed by jazz musician Bill Lee, father of Spike Lee) and soundtrack were both released in July 1989 on Columbia Records and Motown Records, respectively. The soundtrack was successful, reaching the number eleven spot on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and peaking at sixty-eight on the Billboard 200.[24] On the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, the Perri track "Feel So Good" reached the fifty-first spot, while Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" reached number twenty, and Guy's "My Fantasy" went all the way to the top spot. "My Fantasy" also reached number six on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart, and sixty-two on Billboard's Hot 100. "Fight the Power" also charted high on the Hot Dance Music chart, peaking at number three, and topped the Hot Rap Singles chart.[25][26]

text: Score[edit]

text:
Do the Right Thing: Original Motion Picture Score

Film score by Bill Lee

Released
1989

Recorded
December 12, 1988 – December 16, 1988

Genre
Film score

Length
35:36

Label
Columbia

Producer
Spike Lee (exec.)

text:
No.
Title
Length

1.
"Mookie Goes Home"
1:21

2.
"We Love Roll Call Y-All"
1:40

3.
"Father to Son"
4:24

4.
"Da Mayor Drinks His Beer"
1:03

5.
"Delivery for Love Daddy"
1:08

6.
"Riot"
1:08

7.
"Magic, Eddie, Prince Ain't Niggers"
1:58

8.
"Mookie [Septet]"
6:45

9.
"How Long?"
3:43

10.
"Mookie [Orchestra]"
6:32

11.
"Da Mayor Loves Mother Sister"
1:23

12.
"Da Mayor Buys Roses"
1:14

13.
"Tawana"
1:31

14.
"Malcolm and Martin"
1:46

15.
"Wake Up Finale"
7:26

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
Do the Right Thing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Soundtrack album by Various artists

Released
1989

Genre
Soundtrack

Length
53:14

Label
Motown Records

Producer
Gregory "Sugar Bear" Elliott (exec.), Ted Hopkins (exec.), Mark Kibble (exec.), Spike Lee (exec.), Johnny Mercer (exec.)

Singles from Do the Right Thing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

"Fight the Power"
Released: June 1989

text:
No.
Title
Music
Producer(s)
Length

1.
"Fight the Power"
Public Enemy
Hank Shocklee, Carl Ryder, Eric Sadler
5:23

2.
"My Fantasy"
Teddy Riley, Guy
Teddy Riley, Gene Griffin
4:57

3.
"Party Hearty"
E.U.
Kent Wood, JuJu House
4:43

4.
"Can't Stand It"
Steel Pulse
David R. Hinds, Sidney Mills
5:06

5.
"Why Don't We Try?"
Keith John
Vince Morris Raymond jones larry decarmine
3:35

6.
"Feel So Good"
Perri
Paul Laurence, Jones
5:39

7.
"Don't Shoot Me"
Take 6
Mervyn E. Warren
4:08

8.
"Hard to Say"
Lori Perry, Gerald Alston
Laurence
3:21

9.
"Prove to Me"
Perri
Jones, Sami McKinney
5:24

10.
"Never Explain Love"
Al Jarreau
Jones
5:58

11.
"Tu y Yo/We Love [Jingle]"
Rubén Blades
Blades
5:12