Beginning in September, Yahoo! will become the exclusive online home of “Saturday Night Live’s” massive 38-year archive of shows. That’s roughly 742 episodes, not including the promised additions of behind-the-scenes clips, rehearsal video and selected live musical performances.
For those with any kind of interest in “SNL’s” comedy legacy, who want to dip into its archives but have no idea where to begin, the prospect of all 38 years online can be a daunting one.
There are so many ways into the show. Follow your favorite performer? Learn all about the original cast? Or what about the casts from the show’s less-successful years, when Lorne Michaels was not at the helm?
One way in is to only watch the best stuff, as determined by the voting members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
“SNL” has picked up 36 prime-time Emmy awards in various categories.
“SNL’s” first Emmys: Won for the writing on the Jan. 10, 1976, episode hosted by Elliot Gould.
This episode is also notable as Lorne Michaels’ first appearance on the show he helped create.
Show director Dave Wilson won a directing award for the Oct. 18, 1975, episode hosted by Paul Simon.
And Lorne Michaels picked up one for producing for1975-76.
“Chevy Chase was the show’s first star, and solidified that rep with an individual Emmy win in 1976.
The late Gilda Radner picked up an individual performance Emmy for her work in the third season.
Betty White’s triumph: The show’s second Emmy win in the category of guest actress in a comedy series was for the White-hosted episode May 8, 2010.
Tina Fey won the category first for playing Gov. Sarah Palin in a prime-time special in 2008.
Justin Timberlake can’t lose: The song-and-dance man hosted “SNL” five times, beginning in 2003. Two of his hosting jobs, on May 9, 2009, and May 21, 2011, won Emmys for performance by a guest actor in a comedy series.
Timberlake also won Emmys for outstanding original music and lyrics for his Dec. 16, 2006, performance of “… in a Box.”
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