Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!

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"Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" is the famous line featured on the American comedy skit show, Saturday Night Live which runs on the NBC broadcast network. The line is always used as a way to end a cold opening sketch and lead into the opening titles/montage and cast introductions.

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 SNL's 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.)

Gerald Ford is the only U.S. President to open the show with "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", when Ron Nessen hosted.

During the history of the show the line was typically spoken by a host, castmember(s), and/or musical guest; however, in recent years, the line has occasionally been given to a non-host/non-castmember for cameo purposes, such as for stars like Brad Pitt or more unusual celebrities like Monica Lewinsky, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire winner John Carpenter and Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama on November 3, 2007 and Hillary Clinton on March 1, 2008.

In the first show aired after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the show opening with a sentimental musical number from Paul Simon, the Simon & Garfunkel song "The Boxer," standing with cast members and with then Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giulani. After the song was over, Giulani slowly said the line with a great sentiment and with a loud ovation of the audience as he slowly 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 is 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!"

On the February 28, 1998 program, Will Ferrell, playing Saddam Hussein, announced "Live-time from the New York, it's the Saturday fun hour!".

On the October 28, 2006 program, Sacha Baron Cohen promoted his film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan in character 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 Hours 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, 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.)

But perhaps the most unusual recitation of the line was by the puppet Toonces the Driving Cat, who meowed the line, complete with English subtitles.

[edit] References

List of who said "Live from New York..." up to 2001-02 season