How to Watch ‘Saturday Night Live’ 50th Anniversary Special, ‘SNL50’ Docs

Get ready to kick, stretch and kick! Saturday Night Live turns 50!

The legendary sketch show, which premiered on October 11, 1975, is celebrating its anniversary early by serving SNL fans a feast of excess that even Debbie Downer would be hard-pressed to deny.

There are documentaries with never-before-seen footage and dozens of new interviews, a curated YouTube playlist featuring highlights from each season, a streamable origin film, an exciting awesome experience in New York, a new biography on the series’ creator hitting shelves, and a three-hour live primetime special featuring a host of beloved cast members, fan-favorite guest hosts and more. It is enough to make SNL the nerd’s cone head explodes!

Oh, and in the meantime, the show continues its current 50th season with new episodes starting in January hosted by Dave Chappelle and Timothée Chalamet (you do double duty as the musical guest).

Read on for more details on all SNL anniversary programming, including how to tune in.

SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night

What is it? A four-part docuseries featuring rare footage and interviews with more than 60 contributors, including cast, writers and executives. Episode 1 focuses on the casting process with never-before-seen audition footage and first-hand stories from cast members and those who decide who makes the cut. Episode 2 offers a behind-the-scenes look inside the writers’ room to show how pitches are approved and everything involved in making sketches a reality. Episode 3 takes a deep dive into the iconic “More Cowbell” sketch starring Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken. And episode 4 explores SNL‘s very strange season 11, with the return of show creator Lorne Michaels and the ambitious yet flawed casting of 17-year-old Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey Jr., Randy Quaid, Damon Wayans and more.

Who is involved? Executive produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (20 feet from Stardom), the docuseries features interviews with Fred Armisen, Dana Carvey, Stephen Colbert, Pete Davidson, Tina Fey, Al Franken, Heidi Gardner, Bill Hader, Darrell Hammond, Tom Hanks, Chris Kattan, Seth Meyers, Tracy Morgan, John Mulaney, Cheri Oteri, Joe Piscopo, Amy Poehler, Bob Odenkirk, Jay Pharaoh, Molly Shannon, Sarah Silverman, Robert Smigel, David Spade, Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang and many more.

How can you see? All four episodes of SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night will be available to stream on Peacock beginning Thursday, January 16.

Watch the trailer below:

Ladies & Gentleman … 50 Years of SNL Music

What is it? A feature length documentary celebrating five decades of Saturday Night Lives legendary musical performances and musical-comedy sketches. The three-hour broadcast will include interviews with musical guests, cast, writers, producers and more.

Who is involved? Co-directed by Grammy and Oscar-winning musician and filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Emmy-winning SNL video shorts director Oz Rodríguez, Ladies and gentlemen includes interviews with musicians such as Bad Bunny, Elvis Costello, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Dave Grohl, Debbie Harry, Mick Jagger, Dua Lipa, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Kacey Musgraves, Paul Simon, Justin Timberlake, Jack White and more. Also interviewed are Jane Curtin, Jimmy Fallon, Eddie Murphy, Ego Nwodim, Conan O’Brien, Maya Rudolph, Paul Shaffer, Sarah Sherman, various SNL band members, Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone and more.

How can you see? Ladies and gentlemen … 50 years of SNL music premieres on Monday 27 January at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC and will stream the next day on Peacock.

SNL50: The Anniversary Special

What is it? A three-hour live primetime special celebrating half a century Saturday Night Live. Details are scarce, but if it’s anything like the show’s 40th anniversary special in 2015, expect exciting cast reunions, revived fan-favorite characters and skits, tributes to those no longer with us, and more.

Who is involved? No contestants have been formally announced, but so many former cast members, guest hosts and other close friends of the show are expected to Michaels declared years in advance, that most invitees will not be allowed a plus-one.

How can you see? SNL50: The Anniversary Special will be broadcast on Sunday 16 February from 8-11 PM ET on NBC and Peacock.

Watch a teaser below:

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Saturday evening

What is it? A feature film that debuted at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival before hitting theaters last October, Saturday evening is an elevated account of the 90 minutes leading up to SNL‘s first live broadcast in 1975. In it, a very green Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) must contend with finicky cast members and writers, a falling-apart set, meddling with network executives and threats from Hollywood icons.

Who is involved? Directed by Jason Reitman SNL biopic portrays the show’s original Not Ready for Primetime Players – Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), John Belushi (Matt Wood), Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris), Jane Curtin (Kim Matula), Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn) and Michael O’Donoghue (Tommy Dewey) – also various others involved, such as Jim Henson (Nicholas Braun), Andy Kaufman (also Braun), George Carlin (Matthew Rhys), Billy Crystal (Nicholas Podany), Paul Shaffer (Paul Rust), Milton Berle (JK Simmons), writers Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott) and Alan Zweibel (Josh Brener) and more.

How can you see? Saturday evening is now available to watch on Blu-ray and Digital and will be released on Netflix on Saturday, January 25.

Watch the trailer below: