Netflix Adds Every Episode of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE to Watch Instantly; also Adding BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, MONK, and More

NBC Universal and Netflix have announced a new agreement that will have Netflix adding every episode from all 35 previous seasons of Saturday Night Live to Watch Instantly.  Not only will Netflix have all of SNL, but day-after broadcast of episodes from the upcoming 2010-2012 seasons.  Personally, I can’t wait to re-watch the sketch where Norm Macdonald plays a car crash victim whose spends most of his dying words insulting Sylvester Stallone’s filmography.

Additionally, beginning next week the last seasons of 30 Rock, The Office, Friday Night Lights, and Law & Order: SVU will be going on Watch Instantly (all prior seasons were also renewed).  The deal also puts new shows on Watch Instantly including USA Network’s Psych, Monk, In Plain Sight and SyFy’s Battlestar Galactica, Destination Truth, and Eureka.  All the shows will become available next week.  Hit the jump to read the full press release.

Here’s the press release:

Netflix and NBC Universal Announce Agreement to Stream Prior Season Cable and Broadcast TV Series New to Netflix Members

Deal Includes Prior Season Episodes from NBC, USA and Syfy Series As Well as Day-After Broadcast Of “Saturday Night Live”

NEW YORK and BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ — Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) and NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution today announced an expanded license agreement through which Netflix members can instantly watch a selection of broadcast series from the NBC television network and – for the first time on Netflix – content from some of NBC Universal’s popular cable channels.

The multi-year deal kicks off next week and continues the relationship between Netflix and NBC Universal.

The agreement adds significantly to the growing selection of movies and TV episodes that can bestreamed instantly from Netflix with memberships starting at $8.99 a month.  Among the highlights, Netflix members will be able to instantly watch:

• Episodes from every season of NBC’s signature comedy franchise “Saturday Night Live,” including day-after broadcast of the upcoming 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons plus hundreds of episodes from the first 35 years of “SNL.”
• Every episode from the last season of the multiple Emmy® Award-winning series “30 Rock,” “The Office” and “Law & Order: SVU,” as well as earlier seasons of those shows renewed for streaming from Netflix under the current deal.
• All prior seasons – and eventually next year’s final season – of “Friday Night Lights,” the small-town drama surrounding high-school football in Dillon, Tex.
• All prior seasons of USA Network hits “Psych,” the comedy featuring James Roday as a fake psychic who solves crimes with his best friend, Dule Hill; the drama “In Plain Sight,” starring Mary McCormack as a U.S. Marshal in New Mexico; as well as all seasons of ”Monk,” starring Emmy® Award and Golden Globe® Award winner Tony Shalhoub in the title role.  Prior seasons of all three shows are available to watch instantly at Netflix for the first time.
• More than 75 prior season episodes of Syfy’s mainstay “Battlestar Galactica,” as well as prior seasons of the network’s popular series’ “Destination Truth” and “Eureka” – all streaming from Netflix for the first time.

“We are very pleased to continue our successful relationship with Netflix,” said Frances Manfredi, executive vice president and general sales manager of cable and non-theatrical sales for NBC Universal Domestic TV Distribution, who forged the deal.  “We applaud Netflix for recognizing the value of content like ‘SNL,’ ‘Friday Night Lights,’ ‘Monk,’ and ‘Battlestar Galactica’ to their subscribers.”

“This agreement adds meaningfully to the wide variety of content that can be streamed from Netflix and breaks new ground in our relationship with NBC Universal,” said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix.