SNL to Celebrate 40th With 3-Hour Live Special
by Vlada Gelman
4/18/14


"Saturday Night Live" is throwing a party. The veteran NBC sketch comedy series will air a three-hour live special on Feb. 15, 2015 to commemorate its 40th anniversary next season.

The telecast will feature current and past cast members, as well as special guests and musical performers from the show’s run.





“Saturday Night Live is an institution unlike anything else in television history,” NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt said in a statement.

“The many brilliant ‘Not Ready for Primetime Players’ over the years is a who’s who of film and television comedy for the last two generations. The roster includes everyone from the iconic first cast in 1975 to household names ranging from Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Will Ferrell, and Adam Sandler, to Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon, and Seth Meyers — to name only a few.

This brand, which is still one of the highest-rated comedies on television, was the brainchild of Lorne Michaels, who still presides over the whole enterprise today. This special is just one of the many ways we plan to celebrate SNL‘s historic 40th season next year.”



The program’s roster of guests will be determined in the coming months.

http://tvline.com/2014/04/18/saturday-night-live-40th-anniversary-special-nbc/

Will look forward to that. I know it will be great.

"SNL 40" Adds Billy Crystal, Bradley Cooper, Miley Cyrus & Another Half-Hour
by Patrick Hipes
February 12, 2015


More guests have been set for "Saturday Night Live‘s" SNL 40th Anniversary Special on Sunday, and the tent is getting so big that NBC said today it is expanding the show to 3 1/2 hours.

The additions to the guest list are SNL icon Billy Crystal; a couple of current Oscar nominees, Bradley Cooper and Edward Norton; singer Miley Cyrus; and ex-castmembers Kevin Nealon, Ana Gasteyer, Colin Quinn, Joe Piscopo, Tim Meadows and Will Forte.

The show now will air from 8-11:30 PM ET/PT on Sunday.



As for the extra half-hour, an industry observer said that with the show running long, brass did not want to make cuts that could insult some SNL alums.

The network also will get another 10 ad units at least out of the extra time worth more than the cost of extending the special.





Full Guest List:

Fred Armisen
Dan Aykroyd
Alec Baldwin
Jim Carrey
Dana Carvey
Chevy Chase
Dane Cook
Bradley Cooper
Billy Crystal
Jane Curtin
Miley Cyrus
Robert De Niro
Jimmy Fallon
Will Ferrell
Tina Fey
James Franco
Will Forte
Zach Galifianakis
Ana Gasteyer
Bill Hader
Jon Hamm
Tom Hanks
Derek Jeter
Norm Macdonald
Peyton Manning
Steve Martin
Melissa McCarthy
Paul McCartney
Tim Meadows
Seth Meyers
Garrett Morris
Eddie Murphy
Bill Murray
Mike Myers
Kevin Nealon
Laraine Newman
Jack Nicholson
Edward Norton
Joe Piscopo
Amy Poehler
Colin Quinn
Chris Rock
Paul Rudd
Maya Rudolph
Andy Samberg
Adam Sandler
Jerry Seinfeld
Molly Shannon
Martin Short
Paul Simon
David Spade
Emma Stone
Jason Sudeikis
Taylor Swift
Justin Timberlake
Christopher Walken
Kerry Washington
Kanye West
Betty White
Kristen Wiig

http://deadline.com/2015/02/snl-40th-anniversary-guests-full-list-billy-crystal-bradley-cooper-1201372511/

Milk it 'till it dies.

http://variety.com/2015/tv/reviews/snl-40-tv-review-saturday-night-live-40th-anniversary-special-1201434680/

Sure, there were many highlights. But the overlong opening credits was a sign that this was going to be a bloated special. As Brian Lowry put it, "Star studded and nostalgic, the telecast demonstrated the network's determination to milk all things SNL beyond the breaking point creatively speaking, as well as the media's willingness to treat another arbitrary milestone like an event. To paraphrase the Church Lady, sorry, but this just wasn't that special." PLUS: It was a long night of sheer comedy bliss (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/16/snl-40th-anniversary-review-a-long-night-of-sheer-comedy-bliss.html), it nailed the essence of SNL (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/snl-kicks-off-40th-anniversary-musical-performance-article-1.2116512), having 4 musical performances (http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-saturday-night-live-40th-anniversary-special-is-snl-in-microcosm) was unnecessary, the best and worst (http://tvline.com/2015/02/15/snl-40th-anniversary-special-highlights-saturday-night-live-best-worst-moments/) moments, is Chevy Chase okay? (http://defamer.gawker.com/is-chevy-chase-okay-1686010346), how awkward was that Eddie Murphy cameo (http://www.nola.com/tv/index.ssf/2015/02/so_eddie_murphy_on_the_saturda.html)?, watch the auditions (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dzae7_80fg&feature=youtube_gdata) of Jim Carrey, Kevin Hart, Stephen Colbert and Zach Galifianakis, Jerry Seinfeld mocked Brian Williams (http://time.com/3710711/snl-40-jerry-seinfeld-larry-david-dakota-johnson-brian-williams/) — and so did Jim Carrey, the special took a jab at Bill Cosby (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/snl-takes-jab-bill-cosby-celebrity-jeopardy-article-1.2116629), and the whole special was "a bit exhausting, often padded, sporadically dull, frequently pleasurable (http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/columnists/verne-gay/saturday-night-live-draws-big-names-at-40th-anniversary-celebration-1.9942095), sometimes not."

I hear that it was the most watched show that Sunday!

Darryl Hammond?
Horatio Sanz?
Julia-Louis-Dreyfus?
Chris Kattan?

SNL 40 had a few good moments, but overall, it felt like they microwaved a bunch of old skits and characters and served it up as event television.

http://culturecrossfire.com/movies-tv/fatty-falls-down-the-wild-life-and-sudden-death-of-chris-farley/#.VOyNiS4YEmw

#SNL40 inspired this article on the life of Chris Farley and why millions loved him! Hope you'll share some of your favorite Farley memories!

I thought the show was ok. I was never a big SNL fan but I wanted to see the anniversary show. Honestly, I thought it should have been a lot more. I mean far and away, the best part, was the Jeopardy sketch. That was laugh out funny. But to me, there was stuff that shouldnt have been there or just trimmed down.

The Californians sketch went on way too long. Taylor Swift, who seems to be in everything lately, was fine but they should've shortened it.

Weekend Update was fine and it was great seeing Jane Curtain. She kind of gets lost in the shuffle when talking about the great SNL players and WU people. I thought having a fake Stefan and fake Matt Foley was ok but it didnt seem to work with the audience.

I think they shouldnt have had any musical performances as that time should have gone to more famous skits. I mean I love Jerry Seinfeld but I dont think that segment should have been there because Seinfeld wasnt a player on SNL.

Where was Fernando? Gumby? Buckwheat? I mean Eddie Murphy and Chevy Chase were succombed to more or less cameos because of a damn Miley Cyrus song? And why was she in the opening? I mean JT and Fallon were fine and I get they do that Fallon's show but the opening went on too long. Also, the crowd seemed flat. Put fans in the stands and have all the celebrities in the back.


I understand they only had 3 and 1/2 hours but I think they could've cut out a lot and get to the pure essence of SNL.

Much of it felt like they were going through the motions. "Ok, let's go out an do an anniversary show."

The best anniversary show was the 15th anniversary from 1989, the first one. You can't recreate that first time.

I thought it was great, a nice look back at what makes SNL still relevant, I DVR'd it so I skipped most of the songs and the Californian's skit.

Knowing what I now know about Eddie's appearance, I'm not as upset about his brief appearance.

Knowing what I now know about Eddie's appearance, I'm not as upset about his brief appearance.

It reminded me of when a shy person is made to speak to a large group of people. He seemed very uncomfortable up there, like he couldn't wait for it to be over.