National Comedy Center Preserves ‘Saturday Night Live’ Early Writing Materials (EXCLUSIVE)

As “Saturday Night Live” celebrates 50 years of being on air, the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, NY will preserve a collection of the show’s creative papers from the first five years of its history.

Original “SNL” cast member Laraine Newman and original writer Alan Zweibel will guest curate the collection of the original writers’ room documents.

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The script for the first “SNL” episode, which was hosted by George Carlin, will go into the collection along with drafts for Weekend Update segments among other features and sketches. Early versions of the John Belushi samurai sketches, and the Gilda Radner character known as Roseanne Roseannadanna are also included.

“These papers are a rare encapsulation of the creative chaos and revolutionary spirit of ‘SNL’s formative years, when so many classic sketches and memorable characters were first brought to life. It was a watershed moment in comedy history that I was fortunate to be a part of, and I’m grateful to know that our contributions are being preserved by the National Comedy Center’s Carl Reiner Department of Archives and Preservation,” Zweibel, who is also a National Comedy Center Advisory Board member, said in a statement.

“SNL” will mark its 50th anniversary with multiple celebrations, including a star-studded special. The National Comedy Center has its own tribute to the show planned: “SNL” writer and cast member Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidell will participate in a stage dialogue to recognize that the “Washington’s Dream” sketch’s cue cards have been added to the Center’s archives.

“This singular collection offers a glimpse into the inner workings of ‘Saturday Night Live’’s storied writers’ room at the moment of its genesis, when iconic characters and sketches first found their form,” Journey Gunderson, National Comedy Center’s executive director, said in a statement. “The extraordinary work represents the wild experimentations, artistic breakthroughs, and, sometimes, failures of a pioneering team of creative artists intent on charting a new course for comedy.”

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