SNL was must-see TV when I was growing up, but I think it ran from 11:30 PM - 1:00 AM EST so maybe a different perspective if you were on the left coast. In general, once I hit clubbing age I stopped watching SNL
On topic - and I'm 100% cool with sidebars - another one I liked was Pure Massacre by Silverchair. Can't find a link, SNL seems very protective of it's content