The craziest live moments in 'Saturday Night Live' history

The Irish singer appeared on a 1992 episode of the program, singing a cover of Bob Marley's "War" as a protest of the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandals. At the end of her performance, she tore apart a photo of Pope John Paul II and spoke directly to the camera, saying, "Fight the real enemy." The incident was actually kept in the West Coast broadcast, but reruns used footage from the dress rehearsal that did not include the pope photo.

In her "SNL" debut, Jenny Slate committed the cardinal sin of slipping and dropping the f-bomb during a sketch. She has been open about the topic in the years since, but it's believed to be a primary reason why Slate only spent one season as a cast member. SNL's loss has been several other shows' and movies' gain, as she's been a highlight whenever she shows up in a new project.

Back in 2004, Ashlee Simpson appeared on the show as the week's musical guest. Her first song, "Pieces of Me," went according to plan, but when it came time to perform her second song, the vocal track for "Pieces of Me" played instead. Unsure of what to do, Simpson performed a dance while the band kept playing prior to leaving the stage before the show could cut to commercial. She later blamed the decision to sing over a backing track on a case of acid reflux.

In 1994, Martin Lawrence hosted the program for the first and last time. During his opening monologue, Lawrence covered a lot of ground, including a section about tabloid sensation Lorena Bobbitt, before he did some now-deleted material about dating and, uh, cleanliness. The lost material was replaced in reruns with a graphic explaining what Lawrence talked about and included a note saying the show was nearly canceled as a result. Lawrence was banned from the show and, allegedly, is not allowed to be mentioned during the show to this date.

Off the suggestion of John Belushi, the punk band Fear was booked for the Halloween 1981 show. The band played two offensive songs and was cut off while performing its third tune because the band and dancers were causing so much damage to the stage. The band was banned from the show, but the legend lives on.

According to the oral history of the show, "Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests," during the first season, NBC executives asked that Richard Pryor host on a delay. The show assured executives that it would but was unable to achieve the effect. Reportedly, two words were deleted from the broadcast, but so far no one's telling what they were.

On an April 1997 edition of "Weekend Update," anchor Norm Macdonald coughed while telling a joke, leading him to pause and then ask himself "what the f*** was that?" Macdonald regained his composure and was applauded by the audience. He ended the segment saying, "Maybe we'll see you next week." The incident is believed, along with his constant hammering of O.J. Simpson, to be part of the reason Macdonald was abruptly fired from the show a few months later.

Robert Smigel is probably best known as the creator of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, but for several years he created animated shorts for "SNL" under the brand TV Funhouse. One such short, "Conspiracy Theory Rock," parodied "Schoolhouse Rock!" while taking on corporate media interests, including NBC and General Electric, implying that corporate masters control the news. The segment was taken out of reruns but is available on a best of TV Funhouse DVD collection.

In a 2003 episode, host Adrien Brody introduced musical guest Sean Paul by ad-libbing for 45 seconds in a Jamaican patois while wearing fake dreadlocks. It's an extremely weird and uncomfortable clip to see. He was banned by the show for his actions.

During a 2007 episode hosted by Rainn Wilson, cast members Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte and Bill Hader reminisce with the host about favorite memories that the song "Danny's Song" reminds them of. Hader's memory includes a memorable day at the park along with the lines, "It was the first day that I ever thought to myself: 'I have a dad. And not that I have a dad with Down syndrome.'" After the CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society criticized the show, later broadcasts bleeped the words "Down Syndrome."

In a 1992 episode, Nirvana appeared as the musical guest, bringing its sound fully into the mainstream. The band left another mark on the show during the closing credits where the band members kissed each other while host Rob Morrow was speaking. Future reruns edited out the kisses.

In a second-season episode, in a sketch called "Samurai Stockbroker" (seen around the 0:55 mark in this video), John Belushi accidentally sliced host Buck Henry on the head with a sword. Henry, who hosted the show 10 times, took the cut like a champ, quickly walking off stage and bandaging his head before going on with the show. This is why you need to watch what happens live.