Britannica On This Day October 11 2023

This Day in History: October 11

Featured Event

1975







The TV sketch comedy and variety show Saturday Night Live debuted on NBC and became a landmark in American television.


Saturday Night Live
American television program




Saturday Night Live (SNL), original name (1975–77) NBC’s Saturday Night, American sketch comedy and variety television series that has aired on Saturday nights on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) network since 1975, becoming one of the longest-running programs in television. The series is a fixture of NBC programming and a landmark in American television.
NBC developed Saturday Night Live as an edgy comedy series designed to appeal to viewers ages 18 to 34, and, notwithstanding a few slumps, the show has consistently attracted new viewers who have entered that demographic group while remaining a favourite with many who have moved out of it. The 90-minute program was created by Dick Ebersol and Lorne Michaels, the latter of whom continues as a writer and executive producer of the show, after having taken a brief hiatus in the early 1980s. Each episode features the show’s regular ensemble of comedic actors, as well as a guest host and a musical guest. The show always begins with an opening sketch that ends with the signature phrase, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” Filming before a studio audience and broadcasting live (with Western time zones viewing a tape delay) has given the show its without-a-net edge and has led to many memorable moments, as well as a few controversies and missteps (perhaps most notably, in 1992, Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor ripping up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on camera, prompting an outraged response from thousands of viewers).


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Featured Biography

Eleanor Roosevelt
American diplomat, humanitarian and first lady






Eleanor Roosevelt, in full Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, (born October 11, 1884, New York, New York, U.S.—died November 7, 1962, New York City, New York), American first lady (1933–45), the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd president of the United States, and a United Nations diplomat and humanitarian. She was, in her time, one of the world’s most widely admired and powerful women.
Eleanor was the daughter of Elliott Roosevelt and Anna Hall Roosevelt and the niece of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States. She grew up in a wealthy family that attached great value to community service. Both her parents died before she was 10, and she and her surviving brother (another brother died when she was 9) were raised by relatives. The death of Eleanor’s father, to whom she had been especially close, was very difficult for her.


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