Lisa Loopner: Last News

“Saturday Night Live” normally sets up big laughs in its traditional cold opens, but occasionally it faces tragedy head-on.Amid 50 years of gut-busting comedy, Lorne Michaels’ iconic sketch show has replaced humor with heartache during tear-inducing tributes to 9/11, mass shootings, wars and more, offering somber reflections to stir its Studio 8H audience and home viewers.Here are some of the most memorable cold open moments when jokes were jettisoned and heartstrings were pulled. A post shared by Saturday Night Network (@thesnlnetwork)When original cast member Gilda Radner died from ovarian cancer on Saturday, May 20, 1989, it shocked many — as well as oft-scene mate Steve Martin, who was set to host that night’s episode when he learned of her passing at age 42.“You know, I’ve been coming here to do ‘Saturday Night Live’ since 1976, and the thing … that brings me back to the show is the people you get to work with,” said an emotional Martin, fighting back tears, as he kicked off the episode.

Franne Lee, a Tony-winning costumer and set designer who joined the fledgling Saturday Night Live and created the looks of some of the NBC’s late-night show’s most iconic characters, including the Coneheads, the Nerds, the Killer Bees and the Blues Brothers, died August 27 in Atlantis, Florida, following a brief illness. She was 81.

confirmed to Variety. The comic was one of the first — and few — female writers on staff as “SNL” launched in 1975.