Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special

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. Sketches 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, and Christopher Walken were also absent. • Fred Armisen • Alec Baldwin • Nate Bargatze • Drew Barrymore • Vanessa Bayer • Beck Bennett • Quinta Brunson • Aidy Bryant • Dan Bulla • Bad Bunny • Sabrina Carpenter • Dave Chappelle • Michael Che • Cher • Miley Cyrus • Pete Davidson • Mikey Day • Robert De Niro • Andrew Dismukes • Rachel Dratch • Adam Driver • Ayo Edebiri • Jimmy Fallon • Wally Feresten • Will Ferrell • Tina Fey • Chloe Fineman • Will Forte • Zach Galifianakis • Heidi Gardner • Ana Gasteyer • Jon Hamm • Tom Hanks • Woody Harrelson • Marcello Hernández • Brittany Howard • Scarlett Johansson • James Austin Johnson • Nick Jonas • Leslie Jones • Colin Jost • Kim Kardashian • Taran Killam • Nathan Lane • Julia Louis-Dreyfus • Michael Longfellow • Jon Lovitz • Natasha Lyonne • Lil Wayne • Peyton Manning • Steve Martin • Paul McCartney • Kate McKinnon • Tim Meadows • Seth Meyers • Lin-Manuel Miranda • Alex Moffat • Jason Momoa • Kyle Mooney • Garrett Morris • Tracy Morgan • Bobby Moynihan • John Mulaney • Eddie Murphy • Bill Murray • Mike Myers • Laraine Newman • Jack Nicholson • Ego Nwodim • Ashley Padilla • Chris Parnell • Pedro Pascal • Aubrey Plaza • Amy Poehler • Ryan Reynolds • Donna Richards • Keith Richards • Chris Rock • Ray Romano • The Roots • Gena Rositano • Paul Rudd • Maya Rudolph • Andy Samberg • Adam Sandler • Akiva Schaffer • Paul Shaffer • Molly Shannon • Al Sharpton • Sarah Sherman • Martin Short • Paul Simon • G. E. Smith • David Spade • Meryl Streep • Emma Stone • Cecily Strong • Jason Sudeikis • Jorma Taccone • Miles Teller • Kenan Thompson • Emil Wakim • Devon Walker • Jane Wickline • Kristen Wiig • Bowen Yang 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: • J. J. Abrams • Adria Arjona • Aziz Ansari • Awkwafina • Judd Apatow • Kevin Bacon • Hilaria Baldwin • Lake Bell • Jim Belushi • Jim Breuer • Matthew Broderick • Bill Burr • Steve Buscemi • David Byrne • Brandi Carlile • Steve Carell • Chevy Chase • Ellen Cleghorne • Sacha Baron Cohen • Stephen Colbert • Kevin Costner • Billy Crystal • Jane Curtin • Tish Cyrus • Claire Danes • Larry David • Laura Dern • Zooey Deschanel • Denny Dillon • Amelia Dimoldenberg • Peter Dinklage • Robin Duke • Nora Dunn • Alexander 'A.E' Edwards • Dean Edwards • Abby Elliott • Ari Emanuel • Paul Feig • Arcade Fire • Chris Fischer • Al Franken • James Franco • Jim Gaffigan • Lady Gaga • Whoopi Goldberg • Grace Gummer • Anthony Michael Hall • Brad Hall • Halsey • Darrell Hammond • David Harbour • Jack Harlow • Marielle Heller • Ed Helms • Siobhan Fallon Hogan • Melanie Hutsell • Victoria Jackson • Olivia Jean • Dakota Johnson • Nancy Juvonen • Anya Taylor-Joy • Chris Kattan • Tim Kazurinsky • Caroline Kennedy • Anthony Kiedis • David Koechner • Gary Kroeger • Donna Langley • David Letterman • Dan Levy • Riki Lindhome • Lucy Liu • Blake Lively • Natasha Lyonne • Chris Martin • Gail Matthius • John McEnroe • Malcolm McRae • Camryn Manheim • Dennis Miller • Finesse Mitchell • Jay Mohr • Marcus Mumford • Olivia Munn • Kevin Nealon • Joanna Newsom • Don Novello • Conan O'Brien • Mike O'Brien • Bob Odenkirk • Catherine O'Hara • Sandra Oh • Jenna Ortega • Guy Oseary • Cheri Oteri • Ashley Padilla • Keke Palmer • Sarah Jessica Parker • Jay Pharoah • Nasim Pedrad • Paula Pell • Chris Pine • Joe Piscopo • Questlove • Bonnie Raitt • Judge Reinhold • Jeff Richards • Rob Riggle • Tim Robinson • Robyn • Mark Ronson • Seth Rogen • Lauren Miller Rogen • Jonathan Roumie • Susan Saint James • Horatio Sanz • Diane Sawyer • Rob Schneider • Amy Schumer • Liev Schreiber • Jonathan Scott • Kyra Sedgwick • Jerry Seinfeld • Jessica Seinfeld • Mike Shoemaker • Sarah Silverman • Robert Smigel • J. B. Smoove • Steven Spielberg • Harper Steele • Ben Stiller • St. Vincent • Julia Stiles • Julia Sweeney • Terry Sweeney • Jorma Taccone • Christine Taylor • Tyga • Eddie Vedder • Melissa Villaseñor • Jack White • Casey Wilson • Rita Wilson • Susan Yeagley • Ramy Youssef • Sasheer Zamata • Alan Zweibel 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). 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==

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. Accolades ==Notes==