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On Oct. 11, 1975, America witnessed the birth of a late-night television show that broke all the rules. NBC's "Saturday Night Live", which exposed a group of comedians called The Not Ready For Prime Time Players, changed not only the face of the medium, but Saturday night itself. Now, live from your local bookstore comes the hard-cover book: "Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live" (Beech Tree/Morrow, $ 17.95). The 510-page tome, co-written by Jeff Weingrad and Doug Hill, traces the history of the decade-old show from its conception. It touches upon what the authors describe as the...

Sitting at home watching "Saturday Night Live," that's the easy part. Something strikes you as funny -- from Dan Aykroyd's crazy Beldar Conehead in the 1970s to Chris Kattan's manic Mango today -- you laugh. You giggle, you enjoy. But inside "SNL," being part of America's long-running late night humor machine, creating those irreverent laughs, that's a different thing. Kind of like being chained to a runaway comedy train, working on "SNL" appears to be thrilling and scary, happy and harrowing. That's the fascinating, behind-the-scenes feeling you get from "Biography Close-Up: Saturday Night Live" at 9 tonight on A&E. The...

Live From New York is alive with pungent quotes from the show's makers and shakers. Here's a starter kit: BODY: *"Comedians and comedy writers and people in show business in general aren't the most disciplined people, so the idea of putting the writing off until you had to, and then staying up all night, was an attractive one. And then having this drug that kept you awake in an enjoyable way was kind of tempting, too. But I only did cocaine to stay awake to make sure nobody else did too much cocaine. That was the only reason I ever...

Recovery no fun, but ... that's OK Many viewerscan identify with `SNL' character While he was struggling to lose 130 pounds in Overeaters Anonymous, poor Stuart Smalley couldn't bring himself to buy a new belt for his wildly fluctuating waistline. So he joined another 12-step recovery group, Debtors Anonymous, because he wasn't able to spend money on himself. He's also in Al-Anon, for friends and family of alcoholics. Now, as host of a "Saturday Night Live" segment called "Daily Affirmations," Stuart finds himself a cult hero, satirizing the growing American obsession with 12-step groups. And his creator, writer-performer Al Franken,...

(Paula Zahn sitting in for Chung) ZAHN: Well, with more than a quarter century of stars, egos and pressure, "SNL" has generated more than its share of behind-the-scenes legends. And that was before the two authors of a new book on "SNL" got unprecedented access and cooperation from the principals behind the show. Earlier, I spoke with the authors of "Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live." (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ZAHN: And joining me now, the authors of "Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live": Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller. Congratulations, gentlemen....

Admit it. More than once, after watching an episode of "Saturday Night Live," you scratch your head and ask, "When did the quality leave this show?" Fans aren't the only ones who have questioned the show's quality, as reiterated many times over in "Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live." "It wasn't consistently wonderful," agrees "SNL" writer Margaret Oberman, speaking in particular of the years Dick Ebersol stepped in as producer of the show during ""SNL"" creator Lorne Michaels' absence during the early 1980s. "But I don't know if it was ever consistently wonderful since the...

<p>NEW YORK — A federal judge on Friday denied Fox News Channel's request for an injunction to block humorist Al Franken's (search) new book, which uses the Fox slogan "fair and balanced."</p> <p>U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said Fox's claim was "without merit, both factually and legally."</p>

Liberal hatchet man Al Franken has written a letter of apology to Attorney General John Ashcroft, a frequent target of the self-styled satirist, admitting that he had tried to mislead Ashcroft and trick him into confiding his pre-marriage sexual history. "In the letter, I indicated that I wanted your story for a book about abstinence-only sex education entitled 'Savin' It!' I claimed that I had already received testimonies from several conservative leaders, which I had not," he admitted, according to Fox News. "The letter was sent as part of a satirical book I'm working on, which will contain only...

Al Gore chose the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes to announce Sunday night that he had "come to closure" on his quest for the presidency. The telecast garnered an 11.9 rating and an 18 share and was the highest-rated program of the night. (The strong ratings helped CBS win Sunday night, despite the fact that its Sunday Night Movie, The Man Who Saved Christmas averaged a third-place 7.6/11 from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.) Gore's announcement came only one day after he appeared on a "therapy session" skit on Saturday Night Live and said to his reflection in a mirror,...

Just wondering how many people saw John McCain Saturday Night as the host of this week's Saturday Night Live show and what you thought? I watched only the beginning and a couple of skits of the show because I have been suffering from allergy problems and taking Benadryl which makes me sleepy. Could not find this on any other thread so I thought I would post this for comments. Brad