Saturday Night Live will receive a special award in the annual Bafta honours for the show’s influence on comedy.
The sketch show has been broadcast since 1975 and will be recognised for launching the careers of countless comedians.
Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy and John Belushi have all starred on the NBC programme in its four-decade history.
Huge news! Next month we're giving Saturday Night Live @nbcsnl a Special Award in honour of the show’s incredible global influence on TV comedy! The award will be presented live in New York to SNL’s creator Lorne Michaels at an event for cast & crew, in partnership with @Cadillac pic.twitter.com/l4r1ipUfdA
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) September 21, 2018
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) will present a Special Award to the creator of the show, Lorne Michaels.
Amanda Berry, chief executive of Bafta, said: “Saturday Night Live has discovered, nurtured and celebrated generations of comedy talents.
“We are delighted to be presenting this hugely popular show with a Special Award, one of the Academy’s highest honours.”
Since it first broadcast in 1975 @NBCSNL has been a launchpad for American & British comedy talent alike & featured Brits as hosts & performers from season 1! This week the show won Outstanding Variety Sketch Series at the #Emmys 👏🏆Find out more ➡️ https://t.co/MT8LwNNPDW pic.twitter.com/vGcOZP2cbb
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) September 21, 2018
Dan Aykroyd, Chris Rock, and Mike Myers all had early success on the show, and former cast members will be in attendance on Thursday when the award is presented at a ceremony in New York.
Downton Abbey and the Monty Python team were recent recipients of the Bafta Special Award.
Alec Baldwin has recently appeared as a guest star in the role of US President Donald Trump, and the show was honoured with an Emmy Award this week.