“Saturday Night Live” is celebrating its golden anniversary this weekend with a star-studded special in its Studio 8H at 30 Rock. You have questions? We have answers.
When is the big ‘Saturday Night Live’ anniversary special?
“SNL50: The Anniversary Special,” a three-hour event celebrating a half-century of comedy sketches, celebrity hosts, musical guests, standup monologues, fake commercials, performers losing it on national television, driving cats that get into car accidents and whatever the heck “Tiny Horse” is about, will be shown Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern on NBC and Peacock. And yes, it is airing live.
When did ‘S.N.L.’ broadcast its first episode?
Back when it was simply called “Saturday Night” — because, at the time, ABC had a variety series called “Saturday Night Live” — the NBC show made its debut on Oct. 11, 1975.
So ‘Saturday Night Live’ is celebrating its 50th anniversary on a Sunday months before its actual 50th anniversary?
Well, it is currently the 50th season of “S.N.L.” Running the special on a Sunday night in February mirrors a strategy from 2015, when “S.N.L.” held its 40th anniversary show, and gives “SNL50” its own lane on a Presidents’ Day weekend following the hoopla of the Grammys and the Super Bowl, and ahead of the Oscars (March 2). Airing in prime time allows the special to reach a wider viewership and to wrap up in time for Tom Hanks to get his beauty rest.
Who are some of the other celebrities scheduled to appear?
You can expect venerated “S.N.L.” alums, veteran hosts and friends of the show including Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Chevy Chase, Amy Poehler, Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short and Robert De Niro, according to NBC.
Who were some of the guests who appeared in the 40th anniversary special?
The 2015 celebration included sketches and tribute segments featuring Robert De Niro, Martin Short, Maya Rudolph, Chris Rock, Steve Martin, Amy Poehler, Chevy Chase, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler.
Aren’t those just the same names but in a different order?
Well, OK. Once you’re in the “S.N.L.” family, you’re in the family. But “SNL50” will also feature appearances from performers who have taken their places in the show’s pantheon more recently, like Ayo Edebiri, Pete Davidson, Bad Bunny, Quinta Brunson, John Mulaney and Pedro Pascal.
What else can we expect?
To be honest, we don’t know because NBC hasn’t said and segments are likely being written and rewritten at this very moment. The 40th anniversary special favored big ensemble pieces — like Weekend Update, “The Californians” and “Celebrity Jeopardy!” — that allowed for a wide range of performers to participate.
This year, you should get to see more of Tracy Morgan (who in February 2015 was still recovering from his injuries after his luxury van was hit by a tractor-trailer in June 2014). Presumably, there will be no cameo this time from Kanye West. But we’ll hopefully hear more fully from Murphy, who made a brief but long-awaited return to the stage of Studio 8H on the last anniversary special and has since hosted an episode.
And it’s likely that “S.N.L.” will pay tribute to key players who have died in recent years, like the Weekend Update anchor Norm Macdonald.
What if three consecutive hours of celebrating ‘S.N.L.’ still isn’t enough for me, a die-hard fan who owns a bootleg recording of Hanks’s first hosting gig in 1985?
NBC has you covered: The network will have its own red-carpet coverage starting Sunday at 7 p.m., that will be shown on NBC, E! and Peacock. It will be hosted by Willie Geist and Leslie Jones, and feature the comedian Matt Rogers (“Las Culturistas”) as a correspondent.
Also, on the “S.N.L.” YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok channels, you can see the “Chicken Shop Date” host Amelia Dimoldenberg banter with the invited guests and hopefully catch Hanks when the night is young and he’s still full of beans.
NBC has also produced “Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of ‘S.N.L.’ Music,” a fairly comprehensive documentary about the history of musical guests on the show, directed by Questlove and Oz Rodriguez. You can continue to watch it on Peacock, along with the documentary series “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night,” which has episodes on cast members’ efforts to join “S.N.L.,” the “More Cowbell” sketch, the writers’ room and its notoriously strange 11th season (when Hanks made his hosting debut).
A stream of “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert,” which was held Friday night at Radio City Music Hall and featured Lady Gaga, Post Malone, Bad Bunny, Arcade Fire, the Roots, Bonnie Raitt, David Byrne and Brandi Carlile, among others, will also continue to be shown on Peacock.