Originally broadcast by generalist cable network tvN, the weekly program ran from 3 December 2011 to 18 November 2017, and aired on Saturdays at 22:50 KST.

Written and directed by filmmaker and playwright Jang Jin,[3] the show was officially announced on November 24, 2011, at a roundtable press conference in Cheongdam-dong.

[5][6] Then-showrunner and head writer Jang Jin spoke about the difficulties in recruiting guests, saying "When you’re offering a film, you give them a script, ask them how it is and if they say no, say that's good and turn around, but to get people to appear in this show, I had to beg.

[16] The sixth season started on February 14, 2015, and stopped on June 20, 2015, for a temporary hiatus for the airing of The Genius: Grand Final.

On February 17, 2021, NBCUniversal Formats and Broadway Video Enterprise announced that SNL Korea will have a new season, produced this time by AStory.

[23] Nearing the conclusion of Season 8 in 2016, an episode that featured the boy band B1A4, SNL Korea released a behind-the-scenes video on their Facebook.

However, shortly after the incident, boy bands INFINITE and Block B released videos on their twitters under the hashtag "SNL_성추행" ('SNL sexual harassment') stating that this behavior was common on the show.

[24][25] A sexual assault case was filed by petition agency, E-People, against comedian Lee Se-young[26] but the charges were eventually dropped.

[27] SNL Korea was met with heavy criticism after airing a sketch that featured a joke about actress Um Aing-ran's chest.