20 Wild Behind-The-Scene Facts About SNL

When Eddie Murphy was on SNL in the early 80s, other cast members often had to go downstairs after shows to catch a cab for him because no cab drivers would stop for a young black man late at night.

George Carlin hosted the very first episode of Saturday Night Live.

The original title of Saturday Night Live was "NBC's Saturday Night", due to the existence of an ABC show titled "Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell". This is why the famous opening phrase is worded "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!."

Saturday Night Live was created because in 1974 Johnny Carson petitioned NBC for more time off.

Saturday Night Live season 6 (1980) saw the entire cast and all but one writer leave. The replacements all flopped. It was all precipitated by Charles Rocket swearing on air. Nearly everyone was fired and new guy Eddie Murphy was one of the only two retained.

In 2007, Kanye West had a skit on SNL about interrupting award ceremonies. This was about 2 years prior to the Taylor Swift MTV Music Video Awards incident.

Jenny Slate got fired from SNL for dropping the F-bomb.

When you do an audition for SNL, regardless if you are chosen and without compensation, SNL owns your characters and likeness after the audition.

Actor Adrian Brody is banned from Saturday Night Live after he did an improvised sketch. This is due to the fact that the producer Lorne Michaels hates unscripted performances.

Sets for Saturday Night Live can be no taller than 9 feet in order to fit into the freight elevators at 30 Rock.