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NBC and Don Mischer Productions announced that Bill Cosby (The Cosby Show, I Spy, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids) will be honored with the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence at the American Comedy Awards, which airs Thursday, May 8 from 9-11pm ET/PT on NBC (and tapes this Saturday, April 26 in NYC). The Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence is presented to an individual who, over the course of their lifetime, has made an extraordinary contribution to comedy and whose impact and innovations have changed the landscape and inspired future generations of entertainers. The American Comedy Awards will honor those who have achieved new heights during the past year in both film and television, as well as pay tribute to some of comedy's most enduring personalities. The telecast will acknowledge the work of stand-ups, those who specialize in movies and the actors and actresses who are seen by millions on TV every week. View the full nominations for the 2014 American Comedy Awards.

NBC will air a three-hour live special on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015 in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the iconic franchise Saturday Night Live. Past and present cast members, as well as special and musical guests from the show's incredible five-decade run, will appear on the telecast, with the specific lineup of guests to be determined in the coming months. The roster of talent over 40 years includes everyone from the iconic first cast in 1975 to household names ranging from Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Will Ferrell, and Adam Sandler, to Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon, and Seth Meyers - to name only a few. This special is just one of the many ways SNL plans to celebrate SNL's historic 40th season next year. Saturday Night Live has won 40 Emmy Awards, the most for any show in television history. Saturday Night Live also holds the title for the most nominated television show in Emmy history with 171 nominations. Saturday Night Live has been honored twice, in 1990 and 2009, with the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award and cited as "truly a national institution."

Saturday Night Live was inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame by the National Association of Broadcasters. The show continues to garner the highest ratings of any late-night television program, entertaining millions each week. Broadcast live from NBC's famed Studio 8H in New York City's Rockefeller Center, Saturday Night Live premiered Oct. 11, 1975. The program is a production of Broadway Video in association with SNL Studios. Lorne Michaels is the executive producer.