Three unique TV and streaming specials will celebrate Saturday Night Live as it returns for its milestone year. Lorne Michael’s variety show has captured viewers on Saturday night for five decades, warranting opportunities to reflect on the genuine accomplishment. The documentaries vary in format and theme, offering something for anyone touched by SNL over its 50 years on television. The anniversary projects will feature live performances and dive into past archives to bring great moments from SNL history to the present.
The documentaries will provide an in-depth BTS look into the production of SNL, providing first-hand perspectives on what it means to maintain the legacy. The specials will surely deliver new insights about the show's productions that revive viewers’ nostalgia for the show, which often happens when viewing favorite sketches or seeing a favorite SNL cast member talk about their time on the series. The specials will air in tandem with the show’s return for SNL season 50, with hosts like David Chapelle and Timothy Chalamet ringing in the new year and the 50th year of SNL.
3 SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
Thursday, January 16, On Peacock
Comedy fans can begin celebrating SNL’s anniversary with SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, a four-part docuseries coming to Peacock on Thursday, January 16. All four episodes will be available simultaneously, covering the audition process, the writer’s room, iconic sketches, and SNL season 11. Executive producer Morgan Neville chose to focus on “The Weird Year,” as the final episode is called, due to what Peacock describes as “the pivotal year that reset the show’s direction and cemented its enduring DNA” in the synopsis. In the trailer for the series, SNL contributors suggest the year almost ended the show (via NBC).
With Academy and Emmy-Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville as executive producer, synthesizing interviews for SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night will undoubtedly offer profound insights.
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night promises interviews with over 60 writers and comedians who contributed to the show. The trailer for the docuseries confirms that interviews with past contributors will candidly reflect how maintaining the show can often be an unpredictable and harrowing experience as the cast and writers navigate the challenges of producing live television. With Academy and Emmy-Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville as executive producer, synthesizing interviews for SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night will undoubtedly offer profound insights. Interviews will include past and current cast members to highlight history alongside the modern era.
2 Ladies & Gentlemen ... 50 Years of SNL Music
Monday, January 27, On NBC
To cap off the month of January, NBC will air Questlove's documentary about the history of musical performances, sketches, and cameos on Saturday Night Live. Directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Oz Rodriguez, Ladies & Gentlemen ... 50 Years of SNL Music is a three-hour special on NBC on January 27 focusing on the show's musical legacy. The broadcast will break down the show's robust music history with over 50 interviews with some of its biggest icons. Modern stars like Bad Bunny and Billie Eilish will feature alongside legends like DMC and Dave Grohl to pay tribute to SNL (via NBC).
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Questlover's project will feature interviews with musical performers as it sifts through the archives of great SNL performances. The broadcast will also hear from current and former members of SNL's creative team, like Fred Armisen, Conan O'Brien, Bill Hader, and Ego Nwodim, who will help explain how SNL established a musical legacy beyond its performances. The project is the perfect way for those who tune into SNL for its musical performances to celebrate. It provides a chance to be nostalgic about the show and reflect on every decade of music that established SNL's legacy.
1 SNL50: The Anniversary Special
Sunday, February 16, On NBC And Peacock
Last but certainly not least, SNL will air a three-hour special on NBC and Peacock to cap off the celebrations of SNL season 50. SNL50: The Anniversary Special will be a three-hour live primetime event on February 16 on NBC and Peacock, advertised as the crown jewel of a big weekend of events highlighting the show's milestone. The variety show also held a special for its 40th anniversary, which featured dozens of past cast members and iconic musical performances, and the 50th special is sure to top it (via NBC).
Catch SNL50: The Anniversary Special on Sunday, February 16, from 8 to 11 pm on NBC And Peacock.
While Morgan Neville's SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night allows viewers to delve into SNL's creative process, and Questlove's documentary will explore its musical archives with icons of the present, SNL50: The Anniversary Special will cap it all off with what the show does best. The three-hour special will be live, providing sketches, performances, and memorable celebrity appearances. There's something for every fan of the show this winter, regardless of what part of Saturday Night Live viewers want to celebrate as the show rounds its milestone.
Source: NBC
The longest-running sketch-comedy/satire show on television, premiering in 1975, Saturday Night Live is a weekly series that features new hosts for each episode, with a core cast of actors and comedians that rotate over time. Episodes feature several skits that are sometimes ad-libbed on the fly, with the hosts engaging in most of them, and also provide musical guest performances that cap off each night.
Release Date October 11, 1975
Franchise snl
Seasons 50
Directors Lorne Michaels
Showrunner Lorne Michaels
English (US) ·