NEW YORK (AP) — “Saturday Night Live” was built with a cast of young no-names performing countercultural comedy. Fifty years later, it is firmly part of the culture, dictating mainstream comedy instead of throwing spitballs from the margins.

NEW YORK (AP) — Tune into the Oct. 11, 1975 premiere episode of “Saturday Night Live” — then without “live” in its name — and you may be instantly surprised at some of the bones of the show that are still intact today.

But on February 16th “Saturday Night Live” ( SNL) will celebrate its 50th birthday on air, 979 episodes after its launch. A slew of tributes is also filling the airwaves. A new film, “Saturday Night”,

Live" celebrates its 50th anniversary this weekend, it's likely many viewers won't tune into NBC's "SNL50" special at all, instead discovering clips via YouTu

The 50th anniversary celebration of “Saturday Night Live” is so big, it's not even on Saturday. Just over 50 years ago, paleontologist Donald Johnson unearthed the remains of "Lucy," an ancient human relative who lived more than 3 million years ago.