"Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special" (also billed as "SNL50: The Anniversary Special") is a three-hour television special to commemorate the 50th anniversary season of Saturday Night Live. It aired on February 16, 2025, on NBC and Peacock. The special was watched by nearly 15 million viewers.
Contents
Synopsis
The special followed the format of a typical Saturday Night Live episode, extended to 3½ hours instead of the usual 1½, and included a cold open, a monologue, sketches, a short film, commercial parodies, and musical performances.
Cast and crew
Appearances
The initial headliners for the 50th anniversary special were announced on February 6, 2025, 10 days before the broadcast. Several more headliners were spoiled, in a picture The New York Times used, during an interview with executive producer Lorne Michaels. On February 14, it was confirmed that cast alumni Dan Aykroyd and Bill 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. 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. Other alumni who were absent included Dana Carvey (who was suffering from a severe case of influenza), Colin Quinn (who had an engagement booked in North Carolina that night), Dennis Miller and Dick Ebersol. Former notable hosts Elliott Gould, John Goodman, Jim Carrey, Louis C.K., Justin Timberlake, Danny DeVito, Melissa McCarthy, Ariana Grande, Dwayne Johnson, Charles Barkley, Jonah Hill, and Christopher Walken were also absent.
Writers
Several past writers for the show returned to become "staff writers" for the special, including Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, Paula Pell, Emily Spivey, and John Mulaney.
Audience members
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:
Note: former cast members Patrick Weathers and John Milhiser attended the Friday anniversary concert but not the Sunday live show.
Preceding specials
Before the main event, NBC aired three other specials: SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, a four-part documentary debuting on Peacock on January 16; Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music airing on NBC on January 27; and SNL50: The Homecoming Concert on February 14 live on Peacock. NBC also aired the first episode of the show the night before the anniversary special. 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).
and, like the 40th Anniversary Special, was preceded by two hour-long live red carpet specials: one was hosted by Amelia Dimoldenberg for SNL's social media such as YouTube; Willie Geist, Leslie Jones, and Matt 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.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the episode a score of 66 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Joe Berkowitz of Vulture 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." At Entertainment Weekly, Andy Hoglund critiqued the show's cozy relationship with corporate "brand synergy" - as well as its "hypocritical" tribute to Sinéad O'Connor - while recognizing its effective use of lore and returning cast members, particularly Eddie Murphy.