NBC has extended the contract of "Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels through 2012.

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Michaels has been with NBC since the creation of "Saturday Night Live" in 1975. NBC said the contract renewal makes Michaels' tenure at the network one of the longest in the history of network television.

"The network has benefited immeasurably from our long relationship with Lorne," NBC Universal Television Group president Jeff Zucker said Friday.

"Simply put, Lorne Michaels is a comedic genius," said Bob Wright, vice chairman of General Electric and chairman and chief executive officer of NBC Universal.

"NBC has been my professional home for almost all of my career," Michaels said. "The truth is, there's no place I'd rather be."

Now in its 30th year on the air, "SNL" has won 15 Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. Michaels has won 10 Emmys as a writer and producer and was honored in 2004 with the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for humor.