Introduction: situating Saturday night live in American television culture / Nick Marx, Matt Sienkiewicz, and Ron Becker -- Live from New York on NBC. The evolution of Saturday Night / Michele Hilmes -- "Live from New York!" / Susan Murray, Michael O'Donoghue -- Experimental television comedy, and Saturday night live's authorship / Evan Elkins -- Staying alive on Saturday night. Politics and the brand: Saturday night live's campaign season humor / Jeffrey P. Jones -- Speaking too soon: SNL, 9/11, and the remaking of American irony / Matt Sienkiewicz -- Live music: mediating musical performance and discord on Saturday night live / Alyxandra Vesey -- Going backstage: network heritage, industrial identities, and reiterated mediation of Saturday night live's work worlds / Derek Johnson -- Social politics and comedic representation. Bringing the black: Eddie Murphy and African American humor on Saturday night live / Racquel Gates -- "Is this the era of the woman?": SNL's gender politics in the new millennium / Caryn Murphy -- SNL's "Fauxbama" debate: facing off over millennial (mixed-)racial impersonation / Mary Beltrán -- Beyond Saturday Night, beyond television. Skits strung together: performance, narrative, and the sketch comedy aesthetic in SNL films / Nick Marx -- Andy Samberg's digital success story and other myths of the Internet comedy club / Ethan Thompson and Ethan Tussey -- Sketches gone viral: from watercooler talk to participatory comedy / David Gurney.