VIDEO: SNL Reveals What Takes Place Between Cold Opening & Host Monologue

Below, take a look at what happens behind-the-scenes of last week's SNL cold opening, featuring Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump and John Goodman as Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, and host Casey Affleck's opening monologue. It will give you a new appreciation for how challenging it is to put on the iconic live comedy show!

"Saturday Night Live," NBC's Emmy Award-winning late-night comedy showcase, enters its 41st season in September for another year of laughs, surprises and great performances.

Since its inception in 1975, "SNL" has launched the careers of many of the brightest comedy performers of their generation. As The New York Times noted on the occasion of the show's Emmy-winning 25th Anniversary special in 1999, "in DEFIANCE of both time and show business convention, 'SNL' is still the most pervasive influence on THE ART OF comedy in contemporary culture." At the close of the century, "Saturday Night Live" placed seventh on Entertainment Weekly's list of the Top 100 Entertainers of the past fifty years.

The program has won 45 Emmy Awards and now holds the title for the most nominated television show in Emmy history with 187 nominations. "SNL" has been honored twice, in 1990 and 2009, with the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award and cited as "truly a national institution." "Saturday Night Live" was inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame by the National Association of Broadcasters, and the show continues to garner the highest ratings of any late-night television program, entertaining millions each week.

To post a comment, you must register and login.