28 ‘SNL’ Bits That Never Saw the Light of Day

Saturday Night Live is responsible for its fair share of iconic moments — e.g., Tom Hanks in a Halloween novelty suit, Sinead O’Connor ripping up a photo of the Pope and plenty of accidental F bombs. But if you've ever watched the last half hour of the show, it can begin to feel like almost anything the writers throw up against the wall will make it to air. Anyone who’s ever worked in studio 8H knows full well that nothing could be further from the truth — an overwhelming number of ideas, both good and bad, have never made it past the pitching stage because they were too weird, too controversial or not appealing enough to a celebrity host’s sensibilities. 

And that’s only concerning what gets on the air Saturday nights. Wait until you hear about all of the SNL movies that were nearly made.