Bill Murray's first role was on Saturday Night Live ... but not the one you're thinking of. This was 1975's Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell. Improbably, journalist and sportscaster Cosell had become one of the world's biggest media stars. He became intensely popular not because he was loved, however, but because he was so good at playing the pompous villain. It wasn't all a show, either, as he defended controversial figures like Muhammad Ali (long before he was universally beloved), and was openly tired of sportscasters coddling athletes.
So his boss at Monday Night Football, Roone Arledge, developed a variety show for Cosell. The first episode featured Frank Sinatra, Ted Kennedy, and a performance from the cast of the smash Broadway musical The Wiz. It also featured tennis star Jimmy Connors singing to his then-girlfriend, Chris Evert, accompanied by Paul Anka on piano. A troupe of sketch comedy performers dubbed the Prime Time Players also made their debut. This group included Bill Murray, his brother Brian Doyle-Murray, Christopher Guest, and John Byner. The show was a huge flop, and was canceled after just 18 episodes, in part because it neutered Cosell's cruel spontaneity.
Over at NBC, a late-night show called NBC's Saturday Night debuted the same year. It dubbed its cast the Not Ready For Prime Time Players. NBC bought the rights to the name Saturday Night Live the next year, and the rest is history.
