The official phrase that starts each episode of Saturday Night Live. The show always starts with one sketch, in which the characters get into a really stupid or unlikely situation. In a moment of mirth, confusion, or panic, one character will say or (preferably) shout this phrase. The Saturday Night Live band is quick to recognize this, and starts the theme song. Don Pardo starts "It's Saturday Night Live!" and reads the names of the cast members and tonight's host and musical guest.
Occasionally, a show will start without this exact phrase being read. When they started the show by describing the call-in vote for the 1984 Democratic Presidential primary, Tim Kazurinsky said, "...and it's live from New York on Saturday Night." When Matt Foley was giving a motivational speech to a family in Spanish, he finished with "En Vivo De Nueva York, Es Sábado Noche!" nebuchadnezzar points out that Darrell Hammond also said it in Spanish while playing Fidel Castro.
In some of the edited-to-60-minute episodes being broadcast on E! and Comedy Central, the opening sketch is cut -- along with the catch phrase -- and the opening credits immediately start to roll.