“Saturday Night Live,” the late-night NBC comedy-variety show now in its 50th season, generally prefers to mine its material from other people’s dramas and the conflicts of everyday American life — as it is presently doing with its weekly satires of the 2024 presidential race.
But over the years, “S.N.L.” has generated more than enough curiosity, controversy and gossip about its behind-the-scenes operations to fill a small library of books.
For the comedy and showbiz nerds, there are scrupulous accounts of seemingly every day since Oct. 11, 1975, when Lorne Michaels, its creator and longtime executive producer, and the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players first hit the airwaves (a version of which is enacted in the new film “Saturday Night,” which opens in theaters Oct. 11).
Other nonfiction books about “S.N.L.” have focused on discrete eras in its history, or on standout performers and how they exemplified larger trends in popular culture. Members of the show’s cast and creative team have also written memoirs pulling back the curtain on a workplace that can seem like a creative paradise — or like a cutthroat crucible that occasionally produces good comedy, too.
Whether you’ve followed the show obsessively since the 1970s or only tune in these days when you recognize the musical guest, these books that offer a backstage look at “S.N.L.” will keep you happily occupied as you wait for the clock to strike 11:30 on Saturday night.
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