"Saturday Night Live," NBC's Emmy Award-winning late-night comedy showcase, entered its 42nd season in October for another year of laughs, surprises and great performances.

Since its inception in 1975, "SNL" has launched the careers of many of the brightest comedy performers of their generation. As The New York Times noted on the occasion of the show's Emmy-winning 25th Anniversary special in 1999, "in defiance of both time and show business convention, 'SNL' is still the most pervasive influence on the art of comedy in contemporary culture." At the close of the century, "Saturday Night Live" placed seventh on Entertainment Weekly's list of the Top 100 Entertainers of the past 50 years.

The program has won 53 Emmy Awards, the most for any show in television history. "SNL" also holds the title for the most nominated television show in Emmy history with 219 nominations. "SNL" has been honored twice, in 1990 and 2009, with the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award and cited as "truly a national institution." "Saturday Night Live" was inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame by the National Association of Broadcasters, and the show continues to garner the highest ratings of any late-night television program, entertaining millions each week.

"SNL" is making headlines and influencing the political dialogue while skewering it at the same time. Beyond politics, the show's cast of recurring characters and its take on pop culture targets remains spot-on. The addition of the show's Emmy Award-winning SNL Digital Shorts continues to keep the show as current today as it was when it debuted.

"Saturday Night Live," which premiered October 11, 1975, is broadcast live from NBC's famed Studio 8H in New York City's Rockefeller Center. The program is a production of Broadway Video in association with SNL Studios. Lorne Michaels is the executive producer.

CREDITS

Starring

Vanessa Bayer, Beck Bennett, Aidy Bryant, Michael Che, Pete Davidson, Mikey Day, Leslie Jones, Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Bobby Moynihan, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, Sasheer Zamata, Melissa Villaseñor

Executive Producer

Lorne Michaels

Produced By

Steve Higgins and Erik Kenward

Director

Don Roy King

Supervising Producer

Ken Aymong

Head Writers

Chris Kelly, Sarah Schneider and Bryan Tucker

Writers

James Anderson, Kristen Bartlett, Jeremy Beiler, Zack Bornstein, Joanna Bradley, Megan Callahan, Michael Che, Anna Drezen, Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, Nick Kocher, Dave McCary, Brian McElhaney, Dennis McNicholas, Drew Michael, Lorne Michaels, Josh Patten, Katie Rich, Streeter Seidell, Will Stephen, Julio Torres

Film Producer

Justus McLarty

Musical Directors

Lenny Pickett, Leon Pendarvis, Eli Brueggemann

Musicians

The Saturday Night Live Band

Production Designers

Eugene Lee, Akira Yoshimura, Keith Ian Raywood, N. Joseph DeTullio

Costume Designers

Tom Broecker, Eric Justian

Announcer

Darrell Hammond

Production

Produced by SNL Studios in association with Universal Television and Broadway Video

Origination

NBC Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center