Friday night is the start of a star-studded weekend of TV festivities celebrating the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, which aired its first episode Oct. 11, 1975.
SNL50: The Homecoming Concert will stream live from Radio City Music Hall Friday night on Peacock. Hosted by former cast member Jimmy Fallon, it will include performances by Backstreet Boys, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Coldplay‘s Chris Martin, Post Malone, Jelly Roll, Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder and Bonnie Raitt.
Asked why he thinks SNL has lasted for five decades, Fallon tells ABC Audio, “I think the constant change, [the] evolution, there’s always a new cast. There are always new guest hosts, there’s new musical guests.”
“It’s always going with the times,” he adds. “And they never stopped. They never slowed down. They always kept moving. And a rolling stone gathers no moss.”
On Feb. 15, NBC will rebroadcast the documentary Ladies and Gentleman … 50 Years of SNL Music, then air the very first SNL episode at 11:30 p.m. ET.
On Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET, SNL50: The Anniversary Special airs live on NBC and streams on Peacock, featuring dozens of cast members past and present, as well as various celebrities who’ve appeared on the show over the years.
Guests include Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Fallon, Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Pete Davidson, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Kim Kardashian, Martin Short, Steve Martin, Tom Hanks and Scarlett Johansson.
Former cast member Kyle Mooney says SNL has lasted so long because of its “incredibly special live component” and suggests creator Lorne Michaels is “just very good about finding young, cool, creative talent and incredibly funny people.”
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