[1] The show was later remembered by its director Don Mischer as "one of the greatest disasters in the history of television", largely because Cosell and Arledge—both veterans of sports broadcasting—did not have any experience with comedy and variety programming.

[1] Despite having highly notable celebrities both as cast members and guests, Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell has never been made available on home video.

[2] The premiere episode featured celebrity guests Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Paul Anka, Siegfried and Roy, Yogi Berra, the cast of the Broadway musical of The Wiz opened up the show as they danced out of the Majestic Theatre onto a yellow brick road as they sang their pop hit "Ease on Down the Road" straight to the Ed Sullivan Theater as they met and escorted Howard Cosell on stage, tennis pro Jimmy Connors (who sang, while profusely sweating, Anka's "Girl, You Turn Me On" as a dedication to his girlfriend Chris Evert.

[4] The show featured Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Christopher Guest as regular comedy performers, dubbed "The Prime Time Players".

He recalled one particular episode wherein executive producer Roone Arledge discovered that jazz icon Lionel Hampton was in New York City, and invited the musician to appear on the show an hour before airtime.