| "Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special" | |
|---|---|
| Saturday Night Live episode | |
 | |
| Episodeno. | Season 50 |
| Directed by | Liz Patrick |
| Written by |
|
| Narrated by | Darrell Hammond |
| Original air date | February 16, 2025 (2025-02-16) |
| Running time | 209 minutes(with commercials) 152 minutes(without commercials) |
| List of episodes | |
"Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special" (also billed as "SNL50: The Anniversary Special") is a three-hour television special to commemorate the50th anniversary season ofSaturday Night Live. It aired on February 16, 2025, onNBC andPeacock and, like the40th Anniversary Special, was preceded by two hour-long live red carpet specials: one was hosted byAmelia Dimoldenberg forSNL's social media such as YouTube;[1][2][3][4]Willie Geist,Leslie Jones, andMatt Rogers hosted the pre-show on NBC. However, the carpet at the 50th anniversary started only one hour before the show began at 7 p.m. before the 8 to 11:30 p.m. show.[5] The special was watched by nearly 15 million viewers.[6][7]
The special followed the format of a typicalSaturday Night Live episode, extended to 3½ hours instead of the usual 1½, and included acold open, a monologue, sketches, a short film, commercial parodies, and musical performances.[8][9]
| Sketch | Notes |
|---|---|
| Opening Monologue | Steve Martin hosts with featured cameos fromJohn Mulaney andMartin Short, withDavid Letterman appearing in the audience.Mikey Day andDevon Walker appear asICE agents escorting Short off the stage. |
| The Lawrence Welk Show & The Maharelle Sisters | Fred Armisen asLawrence Welk,Will Ferrell asRobert Goulet,Kristen Wiig as Dooneese,Ana Gasteyer as Margaret,Kim Kardashian as Holly, andScarlett Johansson as Janice.Kenan Thompson briefly appears as Florian Trent, a body contortionist. |
| Black Jeopardy! | Kenan Thompson reprises his role asBlack Jeopardy! host Darnell Hayes withLeslie Jones as Shanice,Tracy Morgan as Darius,Eddie Murphy asTracy Morgan,Chris Rock as a Special Guest Clue, andTom Hanks reprising his role as Doug. |
| Physical Comedy clip montage | Emma Stone andMolly Shannon asSally O'Malley present a montage dedicated to physical comedy onSNL. |
| Domingo: Vow Renewal | Martin Short andMolly Shannon as parents of the bride,Chloe Fineman andAndrew Dismukes as the couple,Sabrina Carpenter,Heidi Gardner,Sarah Sherman, andEgo Nwodim as bridesmaids,Andy Samberg,Bowen Yang,Beck Bennett,Kyle Mooney as the Groomsmen,Marcello Hernández as Domingo,Pedro Pascal as Renaldo, andBad Bunny as Santiago. |
| Deep Thoughts byJack Handey | Handey's voice reminisces about 50 years ofSNL, but values his salary above anything. |
| Q&A Segment | Tina Fey andAmy Poehler answer questions from audience membersQuinta Brunson,Tim Meadows,Ryan Reynolds,Nate Bargatze, Donna Richards (host dresser),Jon Lovitz,Julia Louis-Dreyfus,Adam Driver,Cher,Keith Richards,Zach Galifianakis,Jon Hamm,Bad Bunny,Seth Meyers,Al Sharpton,Ray Romano,Jason Momoa,Fred Armisen, andPeyton Manning. |
| SNL Digital Short | Bowen Yang,Andy Samberg,Sarah Sherman,Chris Parnell,Ana Gasteyer,Molly Shannon,Will Forte,Taran Killam,James Austin Johnson,Kenan Thompson,Beck Bennett andKyle Mooney appear in a musical pre-taped digital short about anxiety atSNL. |
| Weekend Update | Colin Jost andMichael Che hostWeekend Update. Che pays tribute to bothNorm Macdonald andO. J. Simpson.[a]Cecily Strong playsThe Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation with at a Party alongsideBobby Moynihan asDrunk Uncle.Seth Meyers introduces "Lorne'sBest Friends from Growing Up" (Vanessa Bayer,Fred Armisen).Bill Murray ranks his favoriteWeekend Update anchors. He makes acallback to earlier material in the sketch by ranking Norm Macdonald a favorite anchor and referring to his jokes about O.J. Simpson. |
| "Close Encounters" sketch | Aidy Bryant andJon Hamm play officials investigating an alien abduction.Kate McKinnon reprises her role asColleen Rafferty withPedro Pascal andWoody Harrelson playing other abductees andMeryl Streep playing Colleen Sr., Rafferty's mother. |
| "The Stagehand" pre-taped sketch | Laraine Newman reminiscences being aroundStudio 8H and meetsChad (Pete Davidson). Cameo fromMikey Day. |
| "Moving to New York" musical sketch | Musical sketch featuringJohn Mulaney asBig Nick,Pete Davidson,David Spade,Adam Driver,Maya Rudolph,Emil Wakim,Alex Moffat,Paul Shaffer,G. E. Smith,Nathan Lane,Chloe Fineman,Jason Sudeikis,Will Forte,Kristen Wiig,Beck Bennett,Kyle Mooney,Scarlett Johansson,Paul Rudd,James Austin Johnson,Kenan Thompson,Cecily Strong,Nick Jonas,Taran Killam, andAna Gasteyer withKate McKinnon reprising her role asRudy Giuliani,Lin-Manuel Miranda reprising his role asAlexander Hamilton,Sarah Sherman asMichael Bloomberg, andDevon Walker asEric Adams. Audience membersJenna Ortega andKevin Costner also take part, perhaps unintentionally, sitting between two of the singers.Natasha Lyonne played the role of aGuardian Angel in the final scene, but was obscured by Driver’s hot dog costume and not visible on camera.[10] |
| Commercial parody clip montage | Alec Baldwin introduces a montage of commercial parodies (withSarah Sherman). |
| "Bronx Beat with Betty & Jodi" Sketch | Amy Poehler andMaya Rudolph as Betty and Jodi withMiles Teller andMike Myers who reprises his role asLinda Richman. |
| In Memoriam to cancelled sketches | Tom Hanks presents an In Memoriam to cancelled characters, stereotypes, jokes in poor taste, or "sketches that have aged horribly." |
| "Debbie Downer" sketch | Jimmy Fallon,Ayo Edebiri,Drew Barrymore, andRobert De Niro appear withRachel Dratch reprising her role asDebbie Downer working as a bartender. |
| "Scared Straight" sketch | Sketch featuringEddie Murphy,Kenan Thompson reprising his role as Lorenzo McIntosh,Will Ferrell,Jason Sudeikis reprising his role as Officer Sikorski,Mikey Day,Michael Longfellow, andMarcello Hernández. |
| "Don't Look Back in Anger" short | Garrett Morris introduces theSchiller's Reel short "Don't Look Back in Anger" starringJohn Belushi. |
| SNL goodnights | Martin Short salutes theoriginal cast and thanksLorne Michaels on-stage as they began the famousSNL goodnights. |
| Presenter | Musicians | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Thecold open | Paul Simon andSabrina Carpenter | "Homeward Bound"[b] |
| Aubrey Plaza | Miley Cyrus andBrittany Howard | "Nothing Compares 2 U" |
| Jack Nicholson | Adam Sandler | "50 Years", a tribute song toSNL written by Sandler |
| Dave Chappelle | Lil Wayne andThe Roots | Medley of "Uproar", "Lollipop", "6 Foot 7 Foot", "Mrs. Officer", and "A Milli" |
| Martin Short | Paul McCartney | "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight"/"The End" |
The initial headliners for the 50th anniversary special were announced on February 6, 2025, 10 days before the broadcast.[11][12][13] Several more headliners were spoiled, in a pictureThe New York Times used, during an interview with executive producerLorne Michaels.[14] On February 14, it was confirmed that cast alumniDan Aykroyd andBill Hader would not be present at the event; Aykroyd preferred to watch the event at home with his children, while Hader declined the invitation due to a schedule conflict.[15] Aykroyd later gave his blessing to the special, stating in a social media post that he "smile(d) from start to finish" watching from home.[16][17] Other alumni who were absent includedDana Carvey (who was suffering from a severe case of influenza),Colin Quinn (who had an engagement booked in North Carolina that night),Dennis Miller andDick Ebersol.[18] Former notable hostsElliott Gould,John Goodman,Jim Carrey,Louis C.K.,Justin Timberlake,Danny DeVito,Melissa McCarthy, andChristopher Walken were also absent.
Several past writers for the show returned to become "staff writers" for the special, includingTina Fey,Seth Meyers,Paula Pell,Emily Spivey, andJohn Mulaney.[19]
Also in attendance were numerous actors, musicians, comedians, media figures, and celebrities, many of whom had appeared on or hosted SNL in the past, with some seen prominently during some sketches. Confirmed as attending (some with partner/spouse) were:[20]
Note: former cast membersPatrick Weathers andJohn Milhiser attended the Friday anniversary concert but not the Sunday live show.
Before the main event, NBC aired three other specials:SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, a four-part documentary debuting onPeacock on January 16;Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music airing on NBC on January 27; andSNL50: The Homecoming Concert on February 14 live on Peacock.[21][22] NBC also aired the first episode of the show the night before the anniversary special.[23] The main special was preceded by a one-hour "red carpet special" featuring interviews with celebrities and past and current cast members (including many participating in that night's show).[4]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 71% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10.[24]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the episode a score of 66 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[25]
Joe Berkowitz ofVulture wrote, "SNL50 had three jobs: capture the significance of the milestone, pay respect to those who made it possible, and be funny. It handily managed all three, often at once."[26] AtEntertainment Weekly, Andy Hoglund critiqued the show's cozy relationship with corporate "brand synergy" - as well as its "hypocritical" tribute toSinéad O'Connor - while recognizing its effective use of lore and returning cast members, particularlyEddie Murphy.[27]
