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The Saturday Night Live Collection is a digital
collection that documents the writing and production of each episode of Saturday Night Live’s first 49 seasons, which aired
between 1975 and 2024. The collection includes scripts, schedules, credits, timing
rundowns, correspondence, and a range of other production documents unique to the
late-night show’s production process. The digital files themselves are dated from
2021 or 2023, likely the years of compilation rather than creation, except for files
relating to Season 49, which are dated 2023-2024. The materials consist mostly of
two file formats: PDF and Word Document. Many of the PDFs present are scans of
physical documents, though some in the later years are exported from born-digital
files. A limited number of script files are in the FDX format, which is associated
with the Final Draft screenwriting software. |
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The collection is organized into one series which is broken down by season and
episode number. In addition to its number in the season, each episode has a
sequential 'show number.' For example, Episode 2 of
Season 11 is show number 444, because it represents the 444th time that Saturday Night Live was broadcast. Show numbers also
account for repeat episodes that are aired during the summer and on 'dark weeks' with no live taping. Special episodes,
which fall outside the standard numbering scheme, are inserted into the container
list chronologically according to air date. |
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For each episode, three document subgroups reflect the original directory names found
on the NBC hard drive: Scripts, Documents, and Rundowns. Season 41 is an exception
as it also includes Photographs. The volume of material varies by season, with the
greatest amount in Seasons 1-7 and 18-49. Despite this variability concerning which
materials were preserved, their organization reflects a consistency of approach to
the production of the show since it began. Materials are arranged according to
chronological activity, beginning with scripts and ending with timing rundowns
produced for syndication purposes. |
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The Scripts folders document the show’s writing and revision process and are
described chronologically from earliest to latest draft. The writing schedule for
Saturday Night Live has remained consistent since
the early years of the show. From Monday to Wednesday, members of the writing staff
create rough drafts for the week’s incoming host. These early drafts are presented
to the producers, cast members, and host on Wednesday at a table read named 'Read-thru.' On Wednesday evening, the Executive
Producer, Producers, the weekly Host, the production team, and the Director
collaborate to pick sketches that will be staged during rehearsals on Thursday.
These picks are present in the 'as of Thursday
morning' grouping. |
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Rewrites are made during and after rehearsals, culminating in a batch of scripts
labeled 'as of Friday morning,' as this is the moment that these new drafts are
reviewed before being compiled and collated to produce the production script that
will be used for further rehearsal. These labels are adapted and simplified from the
original description of the materials, which were stylized in several ways,
including 'Thursday,' 'Thursday morning,' 'Thursday AM,' 'Thursday Friday,' 'Thursday
[scissors emoji] Friday,' 'Friday morning,' and 'Friday AM.' The above groupings
describe newly printed script pages or born-digital documents, and as a result do
not typically bear handwritten annotations. From Seasons 36 to 49, drafts for both
'Read-thru' and 'As of
Friday morning' can sometimes be found in FDX format. |
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The next two important script checkpoints are the dress rehearsal and air. Scripts
from these moments reflect the state of the show at 8:00 P.M. and 11:00 P.M. on
Saturday night, respectively. Dress and air scripts are digitized scans of working
paper documents, and as such usually bear handwritten revisions. Between the dress
rehearsal and the aired show, more sketches may be cut. Where it is present in the
collection, cut material bears a stamp indicating at what point in the process this
occurred—typically after dress or after 'Read-Thru,'
though last-minute cuts can also be made while the show is on air. |
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The remaining script materials are marked by the original labels 'DS' and 'AB'. 'DS' scripts are associated with the Director and are
typically annotated with stage maps, director's notes, camera blocking, and line
updates. Scripts marked 'AB' reflect the actual
aired product—'as broadcast'—and are annotated with
changes made during the airing of the episode. For most seasons, these annotations
are handwritten on the physical document but beginning in Season 46-47 they appear
digitally in the comment layer of the PDF document. As broadcast scripts are
prefaced with timing rundowns which include a list of sketches cut after dress
rehearsal. |
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The Documents files contain a wide assortment of materials related to other parts
of
the production process, including but not limited to Saturday
Night Live band rundowns, sketch categories, credits, floor maps,
musical guest production packets, rehearsal and studio schedules, and synopses. For
Seasons 1 through 7, production documents are organized into one 'show folder' PDF resembling a production binder. The
show folders are labeled as belonging to Audrey Peart Dickman, who was a producer
on
the show for its first two decades. Documents for Season 8 onwards are separated by
format. In the later seasons, the Documents folder is sometimes accompanied or
replaced by a folder labeled Misc. |
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Some key production documents unique to Saturday Night
Live have idiosyncratic names. A 'cast
breakdown' is a matrix that indicates which cast members are featured in
which live show element, sometimes with notes indicating what role is being played.
The format labeled 'categories' is a cumulative list
of every character, sketch, and thematic category that recurs within a given season,
along with a record of which segments in each episode fall under each of those
headings. The 'floor map' is a rough map of the
studio 8H stages annotated with the names of elements that will be performed on each
stage. |
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The Rundowns grouping, depending on the episode, may contain production rundowns with
or without timing information, taken from different points in the production
process—e.g. preliminary, dress rehearsal, or as broadcast—or may contain those made
for a different cut of the episode, especially for syndication purposes. These
documents always include the show number, air date, host, musical guest, and special
guests. |
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A limited number of casting documents in the collection contain private information
including Social Security numbers and tax identification numbers. These files are
restricted during the lifetime of the individuals mentioned, and a redacted copy of
the document is provided. |
