Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a U.S. late night comedy and variety show that first aired on NBC in October, 1975. The show satirizes current events and news personalities through a format of skits and sketches. One example is “Weekend Update,” a sketch that parodies news broadcasts and has helped launch the careers of many famous comedians, such as Dennis Miller and Chevy Chase. Saturday Night Live has been a cornerstone of NBC's late night programming and a model for subsequent late night television comedy shows such as Politically Incorrect and The Daily Show that are becoming more and more popular as alternative sources of political information.

A key impact of the mass media is their ability to inform. The quality of public debate on issues and ...

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