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\u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cSNL50: The Anniversary Special,\u201d a three-hour event celebrating a half-century of comedy sketches, celebrity hosts, musical guests, standup monologues, fake commercials<\/a>, performers losing it on national television<\/a>, driving cats that get into car accidents<\/a> and whatever the heck \u201cTiny Horse\u201d<\/a> is about, will be shown Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern on NBC and Peacock. And yes, it is airing live.<\/p>\n Back when it was simply called \u201cSaturday Night\u201d \u2014 because, at the time, ABC had a variety series called \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d \u2014 the NBC show made its debut on Oct. 11, 1975.<\/p>\n Well, it is currently the 50th season<\/em> of \u201cS.N.L.\u201d Running the special on a Sunday night in February mirrors a strategy from 2015, when \u201cS.N.L.\u201d held its 40th anniversary show<\/a>, and gives \u201cSNL50\u201d its own lane on a Presidents\u2019 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n You can expect venerated \u201cS.N.L.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Well, OK. Once you\u2019re in the \u201cS.N.L.\u201d family, you\u2019re in the family. But \u201cSNL50\u201d will also feature appearances from performers who have taken their places in the show\u2019s pantheon more recently, like Ayo Edebiri, Pete Davidson, Bad Bunny, Quinta Brunson, John Mulaney and Pedro Pascal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n To be honest, we don\u2019t know because NBC hasn\u2019t said and segments are likely being written and rewritten at this very moment. The 40th anniversary special favored big ensemble pieces \u2014 like Weekend Update, \u201cThe Californians\u201d and \u201cCelebrity Jeopardy!\u201d \u2014 that allowed for a wide range of performers to participate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 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<\/a> in June 2014). Presumably, there will be no cameo this time from Kanye West<\/a>. But we\u2019ll hopefully hear more fully from Murphy, who made a brief but long-awaited return to the stage of Studio 8H<\/a> on the last anniversary special and has since hosted an episode<\/a>.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s likely that \u201cS.N.L.\u201d will pay tribute to key players who have died in recent years, like the Weekend Update anchor Norm Macdonald<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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 (\u201cLas Culturistas\u201d<\/a>) as a correspondent.<\/p>\n Also, on the \u201cS.N.L.\u201d YouTube<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, X<\/a> and TikTok<\/a> channels, you can see the \u201cChicken Shop Date\u201d host Amelia Dimoldenberg<\/a> banter with the invited guests and hopefully catch Hanks when the night is young and he\u2019s still full of beans.<\/p>\n NBC has also produced \u201cLadies & Gentlemen \u2026 50 Years of \u2018S.N.L.\u2019 Music,\u201d a fairly comprehensive documentary about the history of musical guests on the show<\/a>, directed by Questlove and Oz Rodriguez. You can continue to watch it on Peacock, along with the documentary series \u201cSNL50: Beyond Saturday Night,\u201d which has episodes on cast members\u2019 efforts to join \u201cS.N.L.,\u201d the \u201cMore Cowbell\u201d sketch<\/a>, the writers\u2019 room and its notoriously strange 11th season (when Hanks made his hosting debut).<\/p>\n A stream of \u201cSNL50: The Homecoming Concert,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhen did \u2018S.N.L.\u2019 broadcast its first episode?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
So \u2018Saturday Night Live\u2019 is celebrating its 50th anniversary on a Sunday months before its actual 50th anniversary?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
Who are some of the other celebrities scheduled to appear?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
Who were some of the guests who appeared in the 40th anniversary special?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
Aren\u2019t those just the same names but in a different order?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
What else can we expect?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
What if three consecutive hours of celebrating \u2018S.N.L.\u2019 still isn\u2019t enough for me, a die-hard fan who owns a bootleg recording of <\/strong>Hanks\u2019s first hosting gig in 1985<\/a><\/strong>?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n