Saturday Live was a British television comedy and music show broadcast by Channel 4 from 1985 to 1987, and in 1988 as Friday Night Live. Influenced by the American show Saturday Night Live, it was produced by Paul Jackson. The series made stars of Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, and featured appearances by Patrick Marber, Morwenna Banks, Chris Barrie, Emo Philips, Craig Ferguson, Craig Charles and many others. The show featured comic duo Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall in their act The Dangerous Brothers. All episodes were transmitted live, although some material was pre-recorded. Recordings of shows were edited into compilation repeats, retitled Saturday Almost Live. The show was succeeded by Friday Night Live, a shorter and slightly more tightly-formatted show with Elton as the permanent host, which ran for a single series in 1988. The show's titles consisted of reforming clay animations, highly comparable to early MTV idents.
Saturday Live (Season 0)
Pilot - Lenny Henry (Episode 1)
Air date: 1985-01-12
The Best of Saturday Live (Episode 2)
Air date: 1986-01-04
Saturday Almost Live 1 - Episode 1 (Episode 3)
Air date: 1986-09-13
Saturday Almost Live 1 - Episode 2 (Episode 4)
Air date: 1986-09-20
Saturday Almost Live 1 - Episode 3 (Episode 5)
Air date: 1986-09-27
Saturday Almost Live 1 - Episode 4 (Episode 6)
Air date: 1986-10-04
Saturday Almost Live 1 - Episode 5 (Episode 7)
Air date: 1986-10-11
Saturday Almost Live 1 - Episode 6 (Episode 8)
Air date: 1986-10-18
Saturday Almost Live 2 - Episode 1 (Episode 9)
Air date: 1987-10-03
Saturday Almost Live 2 - Episode 2 (Episode 10)
Air date: 1987-10-10
Saturday Almost Live 2 - Episode 3 (Episode 11)
Air date: 1987-10-17
Saturday Almost Live 2 - Episode 4 (Episode 12)
Air date: 1987-10-24
Saturday Almost Live 2 - Episode 5 (Episode 13)
Air date: 1987-10-31
Saturday Almost Live 2 - Episode 6 (Episode 14)
Air date: 1987-11-07
Saturday Almost Live 2 - Episode 7 (Episode 15)
Air date: 1987-11-14
Saturday Almost Live 2 - Episode 8 (Episode 16)
Air date: 1987-11-21
Saturday Live Again (Episode 17)
Air date: 2007-12-01
Saturday Live: The Best of Series 1 (Part 1) (Episode 18)
Air date: 2007-04-16
Runtime: 120 min
Saturday Live: The Best of Series 1 (Part 2) (Episode 19)
Air date: 2007-04-16
Runtime: 120 min
Saturday Live: The Best of Series 2 (Part 1) (Episode 20)
Air date: 2008-02-04
Runtime: 120 min
Saturday Live: The Best of Series 2 (Part 2) (Episode 21)
Air date: 2008-02-04
Runtime: 120 min
The Very Best of Friday Night Live (Part 1) (Episode 22)
Air date: 2008-06-02
Runtime: 120 min
The Very Best of Friday Night Live (Part 2) (Episode 23)
Air date: 2008-06-02
Runtime: 120 min
Saturday Live: Fry and Laurie, Harry Enfield and Ben Elton (Part 1) (Episode 24)
Air date: 2009-10-05
Saturday Live: Fry and Laurie, Harry Enfield and Ben Elton (Part 2) (Episode 25)
Air date: 2009-10-05
Saturday Live: Fry and Laurie, Harry Enfield and Ben Elton (Part 3) (Episode 26)
Air date: 2009-10-05
Friday Night Live (Channel 4's 40th anniversary show) (Episode 27)
Air date: 2022-10-21
Runtime: 95 min
Overview: A one-off show commissioned to celebrate 40 years of Channel 4 which began broadcasting in November 1982.
Seasons
Episodes 10
Episodes 10
Episodes 10
Episodes 26