23 Amusing Facts About SNL You Didn’t Know

Numerous Saturday Night Live hosts/guests have been banned from appearing on the show again, including Adrien Brody, Martin Lawrence, Milton Berle, Steven Seagal, and even Chevy Chase.

In 1992, singer Sinéad O'Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II during a performance on Saturday Night Live to protest the abuse of children within the Catholic Church. It was extremely controversial at the time and she was heavily criticized in the media.

The SNL Jeopardy sketch was created by Norm Macdonald purely so that he could show off his Burt Reynolds impression.

Elvis Costello was banned from SNL after switching from "Less than Zero" to "Radio, Radio" mid-performance. SNL's producer gave him the finger for the duration of the song.

In 1996, Rage Against the Machine played Saturday Night Live with host Steve Forbes. In protest of billionaires like Forbes, they hung two upside-down flags from their stage, against the wishes of the staff. After a confrontation with SNL stagehands, they were kicked out before the second song.

When Richard Pryor hosted SNL in 1975, the NBC ordered the show to run on a 5-second delay due to Pryor being too controversial. Engineers later said they didn't do this because nobody knew how to do it.

In 1977, Saturday Night Live had an "Anyone Can Host" contest and the winner was an 80-year old woman named Miskel Spillman.

In a 1982 Saturday Night Live routine, Eddie Murphy had the audience call in to decide if 'Larry The Lobster' would live or be boiled on live TV.

When Paris Hilton was hosting SNL, cast members took bets as to whether or not she would ask anyone a personal question. Seth Meyers said yes and won when she asked if Maya Rudolph was an Italian.

Bill Hader often breaks into laughter while performing "Stefon" because SNL writer John Mulaney will change lines on him, leaving Hader to read the outlandish jokes for the first time on-air.