NBC PRESENTS "SNL VINTAGE" BEGINNING SATURDAY, SEPT. 27 AT 10 P.M.

One Classic Show From Each of the Last 40 Years to Air Saturdays to Commemorate Anniversary

NEW YORK - Sept. 24, 2014 - "Saturday Night Live" celebrates its 40th season with "SNL Vintage," a weekly look back at iconic episodes throughout its storied history.

Airing on Saturdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT, the first classic episode will be telecast Sept. 27 and return audiences to "SNL's" debut season in 1975 with an episode hosted by Richard Pryor and musical guest Gil Scott-Heron. Then on Oct. 4, an episode from the 25th season with host Christopher Walken and musical guest Christina Aguilera will be shown.

Since its inception in 1975, "SNL" has launched the careers of many of the brightest comedy performers of their generation. The program has won 45 Emmy Awards and now holds the title for the most nominated television show in Emmy history with 187. "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," which premiered Oct. 11, 1975, is broadcast live from NBC's famed Studio 8H in New York City's Rockefeller Center. The program is a production of Broadway Video in association with SNL Studios. Lorne Michaels is the creator and executive producer.