Deep Thoughts: When Fridays Challenged Saturday Night Live
From The Not Ready for Prime Time Project: An SNL Retrospective by Two Pints Productions, Inc.
April 14, 2026 · 54 min
About this episode
This episode discusses the competition between Saturday Night Live and the ABC show Fridays in the spring of 1980.
In the spring of 1980, Saturday Night Live finally met its first competitor. Desperate to steal a piece of the late night comedy pie, ABC premiered its own late night sketch comedy show as SNL was nearing the end of its fifth season. That show was Fridays. Fridays would repackage almost all of SNL's key components—it would air live, it would have sketch comedy from an unknown troupe, there would be a fake news segment, and there would be musical guests. But to be different, the show would be ...
Topics covered
- late night comedy
- SNL history
- Fridays show
- sketch comedy
- television competition
Keywords
- Saturday Night Live
- Fridays
- late night
- sketch comedy
- 1980
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Saturday Night Live, ABC
Books & works: Fridays
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