Live from New York, It's Saturday Night!
Encyclopedia
"Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" is the famous line featured on the American
comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live
which runs on the NBC
broadcast network. The line has almost always been used as a way to end a cold opening sketch and lead into the opening titles/montage and cast introductions.
purposes, such as for stars like Brad Pitt
and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or more unusual celebrities like Monica Lewinsky
, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
winner John Carpenter
and Presidential / Vice Presidential hopefuls Bob Dole
on November 16, 1996 (albeit just after the 1996 election), WWE chairman Vince McMahon
on March 18, 2000, Barack Obama
on November 3, 2007, Hillary Clinton on March 1, 2008, Sarah Palin
on October 18, 2008, and John McCain
on November 1, 2008.
The line has been used in every season but one (the 1981-1982 season, the first full season with Dick Ebersol
as producer). The line has also been said in Spanish three times (by Gilda Radner
, Chris Farley
, and the tandem of Will Ferrell
and Julia Stiles
).
The line was first said by Chevy Chase
on SNLs first show on October 11, 1975. For all but two of the first season's 24 episodes, Chase would say the line (which was typically preceded by a pratfall of some kind). (During the show's first season, the show was known simply as Saturday Night, due to the preexistence of another Saturday Night Live
on ABC, which is how the pronouncement received its wording. The announcement remained intact when the ABC's SNL was canceled and Saturday Night adopted the SNL name for itself.)
Gerald Ford
is the only sitting U.S. President to open the show with "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", when Ron Nessen
hosted.
In the first show aired after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the show opened with a sentimental musical number from Paul Simon
, the Simon & Garfunkel song "The Boxer
," Simon standing with cast members and with then Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani
. After the song was over, Giuliani, having been asked "Can we be funny?" by Lorne Michaels
- a remark met by nervous laughter, which gave way to great applause when Giuliani responded, "Why start now?", slowly saying the line with great sentiment and with a loud ovation from the audience as he uttered it.
There have also been a few variations on the line, such as the time when Dana Carvey
(imitating John McLaughlin
) in a McLaughlin Group
parody asked his panelists how the show starts, and after shouting down their recitation of the opening line with a loud "WRONG!!" opened the show with, "Show, show, show. Here we go!" A subsequent installment had Carvey's telling everybody they were wrong, only to then say, "I'm only kidding. Start the show!"
Another notable variation occurred in February 2001, when Jennifer Lopez
hosted her first time; after a cold opening sketch where producer Lorne Michaels
and various male castmembers obsess over Lopez's posterior, Tracy Morgan
shouted, "Live from New York, it's Jennifer Lopez's booty!" (Incidentally, this episode was not live and had to be tape-delayed 45 minutes because of an XFL
game going into double-overtime.)
On the February 28, 1998 program, Will Ferrell
, playing Saddam Hussein
, announced "Live-time from the New York, it's the Saturday fun hour!".
While not as memorable, one variation included Jason Sudeikis, portraying Wolf Blitzer Yelled "Live From New York!" and mumbled the rest of the line.
Another variation would occur on the February 6, 1999 program - Darrell Hammond
's Bill Clinton
, his Senate trial
winding down, gives an Oval Office
address assuring the American public that he "will not gloat" over his certain victory. The images behind him, however - streamers on the windows; Hillary, Al Gore
, Vernon Jordan and Monica Lewinsky
drinking beer; thanks to an "honest mistake" during a tribute to "eloquent" House impeachment manager Henry Hyde
, Clinton holds up a picture of a horse's ass instead of Hyde; Betty Currie
dancing to "Chain of Fools
" - suggest otherwise, and at the end Clinton drops the facade and announces "Live, from New York, it's Gloatin' Time!"
On the October 28, 2006 program, Sacha Baron Cohen
promoted his film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
as Borat, with the line "Alive from New York - home of the Jew - it's Saturday night!"
In 1982, while still a castmember, Eddie Murphy
was asked to host the show in place of his 48 Hrs.
co-star, Nick Nolte
. Murphy altered the line to "Live from New York, it's the Eddie Murphy Show!" While it was probably an accurate depiction of the state of the show at the time, the other castmembers were nonetheless annoyed by this. Two months later, host Lily Tomlin
chided Murphy about this in the cold opening, then proclaimed "Live from New York, it's the Lily Tomlin Show!"
The convention of opening the show with the line has itself been the subject of some of the cold openings. An early case of this was a March 1977 episode where castmember John Belushi
refused to say the line until a list of his demands were met. (His plan was foiled when he was tricked into saying the line while reading a note that had been handed to him.)
The puppet Toonces the Driving Cat
meowed the line, with English subtitles.
Even when the show is not aired on a Saturday, such as the 6 Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday specials aired in 2008 and 2009, the traditional line is used.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
which runs on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
broadcast network. The line has almost always been used as a way to end a cold opening sketch and lead into the opening titles/montage and cast introductions.
Instances used
During the history of the show the line was typically spoken by a host, cast member(s), and/or musical guest; however, in recent years, the line has occasionally been given to a non-host/non-cast member for cameoCameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
purposes, such as for stars like Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or more unusual celebrities like Monica Lewinsky
Monica Lewinsky
Monica Samille Lewinsky is an American woman with whom United States President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an "improper relationship" while she worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996...
, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television quiz show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering 14 consecutive multiple-choice questions of random difficulty. Until 2010, the format required contestants to correctly answer 15 consecutive questions of increasing...
winner John Carpenter
John Carpenter (game show contestant)
John Carpenter became the first millionaire on the United States version of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on November 19, 1999. He held the record for the largest single win in United States game show history, until it was broken by Rahim Oberholtzer who won $1.12 million on...
and Presidential / Vice Presidential hopefuls Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
on November 16, 1996 (albeit just after the 1996 election), WWE chairman Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
on March 18, 2000, Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
on November 3, 2007, Hillary Clinton on March 1, 2008, Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
on October 18, 2008, and John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
on November 1, 2008.
The line has been used in every season but one (the 1981-1982 season, the first full season with Dick Ebersol
Dick Ebersol
Duncan "Dick" Ebersol is an American television executive and a senior adviser for . He had previously been the chairman of NBC Sports, producing large scale television events such as the Olympic Games and National Football League broadcasts....
as producer). The line has also been said in Spanish three times (by Gilda Radner
Gilda Radner
Gilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...
, Chris Farley
Chris Farley
Christopher Crosby "Chris" Farley was an American comedian and actor. Farley was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1995....
, and the tandem of Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
and Julia Stiles
Julia Stiles
Julia O'Hara Stiles is an American actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet...
).
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
on SNLs first show on October 11, 1975. For all but two of the first season's 24 episodes, Chase would say the line (which was typically preceded by a pratfall of some kind). (During the show's first season, the show was known simply as Saturday Night, due to the preexistence of another Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell
Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell was a program that ran on ABC from September 1975 to January 1976, hosted by Howard Cosell and executively produced by Roone Arledge. The series ran for 18 episodes before being cancelled...
on ABC, which is how the pronouncement received its wording. The announcement remained intact when the ABC's SNL was canceled and Saturday Night adopted the SNL name for itself.)
Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
is the only sitting U.S. President to open the show with "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", when Ron Nessen
Ron Nessen
Ronald Harold Nessen was White House Press Secretary for President Gerald Ford from 1974 to 1977. He replaced Jerald terHorst, who resigned in the wake of President Ford's pardon of former president Richard Nixon....
hosted.
In the first show aired after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the show opened with a sentimental musical number from Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
, the Simon & Garfunkel song "The Boxer
The Boxer
"The Boxer" is a folk rock ballad written by Paul Simon in 1968 and first recorded by Simon & Garfunkel. It was released as the follow-up single to their number one hit "Mrs. Robinson", and reached #7 in the US charts. It later appeared on their last studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, along...
," Simon standing with cast members and with then Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
. After the song was over, Giuliani, having been asked "Can we be funny?" by Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
- a remark met by nervous laughter, which gave way to great applause when Giuliani responded, "Why start now?", slowly saying the line with great sentiment and with a loud ovation from the audience as he uttered it.
There have also been a few variations on the line, such as the time when Dana Carvey
Dana Carvey
Dana Thomas Carvey is an American actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for playing the role of Garth in the Wayne's World movies.-Early life:...
(imitating John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (host)
John McLaughlin is an American television personality and political commentator. He created, produces and hosts the long-running political commentary series The McLaughlin Group as well as John McLaughlin's One On One....
) in a McLaughlin Group
The McLaughlin Group
The McLaughlin Group is a syndicated half-hour weekly public affairs television program in the United States, where a group of five pundits discuss current political issues in a round table format. It has been broadcast since 1982, and is currently sponsored by MetLife...
parody asked his panelists how the show starts, and after shouting down their recitation of the opening line with a loud "WRONG!!" opened the show with, "Show, show, show. Here we go!" A subsequent installment had Carvey's telling everybody they were wrong, only to then say, "I'm only kidding. Start the show!"
Another notable variation occurred in February 2001, when Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
hosted her first time; after a cold opening sketch where producer Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
and various male castmembers obsess over Lopez's posterior, Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...
shouted, "Live from New York, it's Jennifer Lopez's booty!" (Incidentally, this episode was not live and had to be tape-delayed 45 minutes because of an XFL
XFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
game going into double-overtime.)
On the February 28, 1998 program, Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
, playing Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
, announced "Live-time from the New York, it's the Saturday fun hour!".
While not as memorable, one variation included Jason Sudeikis, portraying Wolf Blitzer Yelled "Live From New York!" and mumbled the rest of the line.
Another variation would occur on the February 6, 1999 program - Darrell Hammond
Darrell Hammond
Darrell Hammond is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular on Saturday Night Live from 1995 until 2009, the longest tenure of any cast member. Upon his departure, Hammond, at age 53, was the oldest cast member in the show's history...
's Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, his Senate trial
Impeachment of Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton, President of the United States, was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice on December 19, 1998, but acquitted by the Senate on February 12, 1999. Two other impeachment articles, a second perjury charge and a charge of abuse of...
winding down, gives an Oval Office
Oval Office
The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end...
address assuring the American public that he "will not gloat" over his certain victory. The images behind him, however - streamers on the windows; Hillary, Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
, Vernon Jordan and Monica Lewinsky
Monica Lewinsky
Monica Samille Lewinsky is an American woman with whom United States President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an "improper relationship" while she worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996...
drinking beer; thanks to an "honest mistake" during a tribute to "eloquent" House impeachment manager Henry Hyde
Henry Hyde
Henry John Hyde , an American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2007, representing the 6th District of Illinois, an area of Chicago's northwestern suburbs which included O'Hare International Airport...
, Clinton holds up a picture of a horse's ass instead of Hyde; Betty Currie
Betty Currie
Betty Currie is the former personal secretary for Bill Clinton...
dancing to "Chain of Fools
Chain of Fools
Chain of Fools is a 2000 heist comedy/romance film about a hapless barber named Kresk .-Plot:...
" - suggest otherwise, and at the end Clinton drops the facade and announces "Live, from New York, it's Gloatin' Time!"
On the October 28, 2006 program, Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Noam Baron Cohen is an English stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and voice artist. He is most widely known for his portrayal of three unorthodox fictional characters: Ali G, Borat, and Brüno...
promoted his film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, often referred to simply as Borat, is a 2006 mockumentary comedy film directed by Larry Charles and distributed by 20th Century Fox...
as Borat, with the line "Alive from New York - home of the Jew - it's Saturday night!"
In 1982, while still a castmember, Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
was asked to host the show in place of his 48 Hrs.
48 Hrs.
48 Hrs. is a 1982 American action comedy film directed by Walter Hill, starring Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy as a cop and convict, respectively, who team up to catch a cop-killer. The title refers to the amount of time they have to solve the crime. This was Eddie Murphy's film debut , and Joel...
co-star, Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
. Murphy altered the line to "Live from New York, it's the Eddie Murphy Show!" While it was probably an accurate depiction of the state of the show at the time, the other castmembers were nonetheless annoyed by this. Two months later, host Lily Tomlin
Lily Tomlin
Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedienne, writer, and producer. Tomlin has been a major force in American comedy since the late 1960's when she began a career as a stand up comedian and became a featured performer on television's Laugh-in...
chided Murphy about this in the cold opening, then proclaimed "Live from New York, it's the Lily Tomlin Show!"
The convention of opening the show with the line has itself been the subject of some of the cold openings. An early case of this was a March 1977 episode where castmember John Belushi
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
refused to say the line until a list of his demands were met. (His plan was foiled when he was tricked into saying the line while reading a note that had been handed to him.)
The puppet Toonces the Driving Cat
Toonces the Driving Cat
Toonces, the Driving Cat is a fictional sketch character from the NBC television series Saturday Night Live. Toonces was created by SNL writer Jack Handey, with cast member Phil Hartman providing the Disney-esque narration....
meowed the line, with English subtitles.
Even when the show is not aired on a Saturday, such as the 6 Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday specials aired in 2008 and 2009, the traditional line is used.