Staying home to watch TV on Saturday night was no longer a shameful
admission, thanks to Saturday Night Live. Within months of the show's October
debut, it was far worse to admit missing the zany comedy. Everybody assembled
at the watercooler or outside the classroom Monday morning was exchanging lines
from the hilarious skits. The roster of players read like a comedic Who 's Who:
(left to right, below) Laraine Newman, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner,
Garrett Morris, Dan Ackroyd, and Chevy Chase. The characters they created -- the
Coneheads, the Bees, the Blues Brothers -- were just as well loved. Within
three years, Saturday Night Live had eclipsed The Tonight Show as the
most-watched show of late-night television.
(National Geographic Eye Witness to
the 20th Century)