Saturday Night Live is a long-standing sketch comedy show that has been running on NBC for a half-century now. The satirical show has captivated viewers year after year with its witty commentary on the political and social changes of the time. The show is extremely selective and only hires the best of the best comedians who often go on to create prominent careers for themselves. SNL has produced famous names such as Will Ferrall, Jimmy Fallon, Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey and countless others.
This year marks SNL’s 50th season, and they are making sure that this is a season worth remembering. SNL is hosting its anniversary show on February 16th in studio 8H, the infamous studio that hosts the show every Saturday night at 11 pm. For the lead-up to the actual show, SNL is offering special tours and experiences of the studio. For the next few weekends, fans can visit the studio and sign up for time slots to host their own version of the show for their own enjoyment.
The SNL team has also been previewing this year’s pivotal 50th-year event, with new promotional content containing never-before-seen footage of many of the famous cast member’s auditions, as well as some behind-the-scenes videos of life on set. They portray the studio as a fun-loving work environment filled with new ideas and laughter. Countless interviews with cast members in lieu of the SNL 50 event have confirmed just that. Cast members on the show have to spend hours upon hours each week perfecting their performances for that Saturday, but it is this dedication that makes it the most popular sketch comedy show in TV history.
The current cast, as well as past cast members also shot a magazine cover with New York Magazine, and the publication is running multiple stories about this year’s event, as well as the history of SNL. The New York Magazine is known for its colorful and often artistic magazine covers that give the magazine its own unique flair. So for the SNL shoot, they made sure it was filled with color and laughter just like the show itself. The magazine is getting lots of publicity for bringing all of these famous names together for the magazine shoot who otherwise would never be in the same room together.
As for the event itself, the show on February 16th is set to run like most other episodes of SNL, but with multiple surprise guests, new sketches and throwbacks to other influential seasons. The details of the special are mostly being kept a secret to add to the build-up of the whole show, but many famous cast members have hinted that there is a lot in store and that it’s going to be an outstanding performance.
To keep the public entertained until then though, SNL is releasing a miniature docuseries on Peacock titled, “SNL 50: Beyond Saturday Night.” The docuseries is four episodes long and hopes to share with the world the creative process of SNL and what it’s like to be in studio 8H with all the greats. With all the promotion going on with SNL for their big 50th birthday event, SNL is hoping to display to the public, that no matter what’s going on in the world, or what’s going on behind the scenes, there’s always a way to find the laughter.
SNL promotional poster. (nbcnews.com)