How featuring the rushed and imperfect work of brilliant, stressed-out comics made SNL a comedy bastion.

The news parody has launched comedy careers and courted controversy. Here, Lorne Michaels, Chevy Chase, Tina Fey, Michael Che and others recount its influential history.

“All my life, men have tried to put their beastly hands on me,” she confesses to Alonzo backstage, amid the sawdust and ...