SNL grew out of Johnny Carson's wish for more time off. NBC needed a Saturday replacement and gave Lorne Michaels the job of building a live comedy show for young viewers.
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Recorded laughter began in radio, and CBS engineer Charley Douglass turned it into a TV tool from 1950, building a machine that added laughs on demand.
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Once a filler break with marching bands, halftime became a star-driven spectacle in the 1990s, after a rival broadcast and Michael Jackson's 1993 show showed the NFL the audience it was losing.
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