45 years of Saturday Night Live
October 11 sees 45 years since the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live first aired.
Created and produced by Lorne Michaels, the show helped catapult the careers of some of the cast including Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Amy Poehler, Mike Myers and Tina Fey to name a few. Various hosts across the entertainment industry and politics have made guest appearances.
We take a look through our archive when Associated Press photographers were on set to capture the back stage action.
Paul Simon poses in NBC's Studio 8H with his girlfriend actress Shelley Duvall, left, and comedian Gilda Radner of the Not Ready For Prime Time Players, on the set of NBC's Saturday Night Live, Dec. 1, 1977. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm)
Minnesota quarterback Fran Tarkenton, left, and John Belushi, a regular on NBC's Saturday Night Live, show their legs during a break, January 29, 1977. Tarkenton is the host for the night's show, which airs from New York. In the background are the Not Ready For Prime Time Players Bill Murray, Laraine Newman (obscured), and Gilda Radner. (AP Photo)
Julian Bond, Georgia State Senator, in tennis shirt, rehearses an appearance on Saturday Night Live, April 7, 1977. With him on set is cast member Garrett Morris, left, and standing at right is producer Lorne Michaels. (AP Photo/Dave Pickoff)
Mick Jagger, left, of the Rolling Stones, joins musician Peter Tosh in duet during rehearsal for NBC-TV’s Saturday Night Live, Friday, Dec. 16, 1978 in New York. The two were rehearsing for the live program, which is to be broadcast from New York City on Saturday night. (AP Photo)
This is a February 24, 1978 photo showing O.J. Simpson as he appeared on NBC's Saturday Night Live with Gilda Radner, left, and Jane Curtin. (AP Photo/Dave Pickoff)
Olivia Newton-John chats with producer Dick Ebersol during a break in New York for Saturday Night Live, May 21, 1982. Newton-John, in addition to being the host, will be a musical guest for the show. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm)
Ron Howard entertains cast members of Saturday Night Live during a break in rehearsals at NBC-TV studios in New York City, Thursday, Oct. 7, 1982. From left are, Robin Duke, Mary Gross, Howard, who will host Saturday, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm)
Burt Reynolds is shown on the set with cast members of NBC's Saturday Night Live, in New York, April 12, 1980. From left to right; Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman, Gilda Radner, Reynolds, and Bill Murray. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis)
Child actress Drew Barrymore, center, is shown with the Saturday Night Live cast members, from left, actors Tim Kazurinsky, Gary Kroeger, Brad Hall and Joe Piscopo on Thursday, Nov. 18, 1982 in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Comedian Lily Tomlin rehearses her punk act as Agnes Angst in New York, Thursday, January 19, 1983. She was rehearsing for a Saturday Night Live show. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Comedienne Joan Rivers, left, hugs Joe Piscopo on the set of Saturday Night Live in New York on Thursday, April 8, 1983. Rivers will be the guest host for the show running on April 9. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Jim Belushi, right, brother of the late comedian John Belushi, rehearses a skit with comedian John Candy for Saturday Night Live in New York, prior to going on air, Oct. 22, 1983. Belushi made his debut appearance on the show. (AP Photo/David Bookstaver)
Shown from left are writer Brad Hall, actress Mary Gross, actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actor Sid Caesar, comedian Eddie Murphy and actor Gary Kroeger on the set of Saturday Night Live, February 1983 in New York. (AP Photo/David Bookstaver)
Comedian Flip Wilson stars as the Rev. LeRoy of the Church of What's Happening Now, during a promotional spot for NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live, Dec. 9, 1983, in New York. Regular cast members, from left to right: Brad Hall, Mary Gross, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Robin Duke. (AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett)
Robin Williams, center, takes time out from rehearsal at NBC's Saturday Night Live with cast members Eddie Murphy, left, and Joe Piscopo, February 10, 1984. Williams will appear as guest host on the show. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis)
Saturday Night Live actor Billy Crystal, in character as "Fernando," center, is flanked by host Alex Karras and musical guest Tina Turner during a rehearsal, January 31, 1985, in New York. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Actor Robin Williams, left, plays a harmonica as singer Paul Simon plays a guitar on the set of NBC's Saturday Night Live in New York, Nov. 21, 1986. The two performers are rehearsing for this Saturday’s show, which they will co-host. (AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett)
Rock star Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones watches a television monitor backstage on the set of NBC’s Saturday Night Live with the show’s executive producer Lorne Michaels in New York, February 15, 1986. Jagger’s girlfriend Jerry Hall was the show’s host on Saturday. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm)
Rock star Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, left, joins his girlfriend Jerry Hall, center, and actor John Lovitz, right on the stage of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, February 15, 1986, New York. Hall was the host of the special Valentine show. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm)
The cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live, clockwise, from left: Nora Dunn, Jan Hooks, Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, Dennis Miller, Jon Lovitz, Victoria Jackson, and Kevin Nealon, pose together, Dec. 9, 1986. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Steve Martin, Randy Newman and Chevy Chase rehearse a musical number at the NBC studios in New York's Rockefeller Center, Dec. 5, 1986, in preparation for their reunion on Saturday Night Live. Chase was one of the original stars of the program. They have also been working on a new movie "Three Amigos." (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana, left, Debbie Harry, former lead singer of the musical group Blondie, center, and Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton share a laugh during a rehearsal for NBC-TVs Saturday Night Live, Thursday, January 22, 1987, New York. Montana and Payton will be co-host and Harry will be the musical guest for the January 24 show. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Eleven-year-old actor Macaulay Culkin and Saturday Night Live comedian Rob Schneider point at each other and laugh during a rehearsal for the show in New York City, Thursday, Nov. 22, 1991. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Singer Dolly Parton does promotion for this week’s Saturday Night Live show, which she is hosting, at the show’s Rockefeller Center studios in New York on Thursday, on April 13, 1989. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Actor Mel Gibson rehearses his role as host of NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live at Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center in New York City on Thursday, March 30, 1989. Gibson makes his debut Saturday as host of the comedy show. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Actor Patrick Swayze, right, and musical guest Mariah Carey rehearse Friday, Oct. 26, 1990 in New York for the Saturday, Oct. 27 broadcast of Saturday Night Live in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Bill Murray, left, sings a tune as musician Sting smiles broadly during rehearsal for NBC's Saturday Night Live, in New York, February 18, 1993. (AP Photo/Chrystyna Czajkowsky)
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld shares a laugh with Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels in New York on April 16, 1992, during rehearsal for the April 18 edition of SNL. (AP Photo/Susan Ragan)
Donald Trump makes a sweeping gesture as he tapes a guest appearance for a Mothers Day episode on NBC's Saturday Night Live, in New York, April 13, 1993. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Sharon Stone holds an ice pick to Dana Carvey's, right, face as Mike Myers stands by during a taping of promotionals for Saturday Night Live in New York, Thursday, April 9, 1992. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)