SNL generally has four periods that are in contention (https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/16y3gru/rank_the_supposed_golden_ages_of_snl/) for the show (https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/n9wvjx/i_love_the_history_of_snl_so_i_made_a_spreadsheet/)’s greatest era (https://www.vulture.com/2017/05/saturday-night-live-best-era-ever.html), usually lasting in a 5-7 year period (https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/a71fet/comment/ec1t3u9/) where SNL manages (https://www.quora.com/When-was-your-favorite-era-of-SNL) to uphold a considerably consistent quality (https://www.openculture.com/2021/06/when-was-the-pinnacle-of-saturday-night-live.html).


The Not Ready for Primetime Players (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Saturday_Night_Live_(1975%E2%80%931980)) (1975 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_1)-80 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_5))

1986 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_12)-1993 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_18) (The Second (https://www.cracked.com/article_38834_10-unpopular-opinions-about-saturday-night-live-according-to-reddit.html) Golden Era (https://www.onesnladay.com/2019/05/21/february-25-1989-glenn-close-the-gipsy-kings-s14-e14/))

1995 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_21)-2002 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_27) (The Ferrell & McKay / Tina Fey Era (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Saturday_Night_Live_(1995%E2%80%932000)#:~:text=The%201995%E2%80%9396%20season%20almost,Colin%20Quinn%2C%20and%20Fred%20Wolf.))

The Digital Shorts Era (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNL_Digital_Short) (2005 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_31)-13 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_38))