Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special Season 40 episode
| |
|---|---|
| Episode | 4040 |
| Season Episode | 40 |
| Host | Steve Martin |
| Musical Guest(s) | Paul McCartney Miley Cyrus Kanye West Paul Simon The Blues Brothers |
| Song(s) performed by Musical Guest(s) |
Paul McCartney: "Maybe I'm Amazed" Miley Cyrus: "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" Kanye West: Medley of "Jesus Walks", "Only One", and "Wolves" (the latter with Sia and Vic Mensa Paul Simon: "Still Crazy After All These Years" The Blues Brothers: "Everybody Needs Somebody" |
| Previous Episode January 31, 2015 |
Next Episode February 28, 2015 |
The Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special aired live in primetime on Sunday, February 15, 2015. It ran from 8:00 PM-11:30 PM, with an hour of Red Carpet coverage preceding it. The night before, the series premiere with George Carlin aired in the normal SNL timeslot.
The special included a wide array of former cast members and guests. Most notable was Eddie Murphy, who had previously distanced himself from SNL and hadn't participated in any events for thirty years.
Broadcast[]
Two weeks before the special, channel VH1 played every single episode of Saturday Night Live beginning with the most recent one and ending with the series premier at 7pm February 15.
The evening before, NBC aired Saturday Night Live Valentines Special at 9pm, followed by the series premier in the "SNL At 11:30" timeslot. At 7pm on Sunday, NBC ran the Red Carpet Special, hosted by Today's Al Roker and Savannah Guthrie. The special interviewed some of the 80 performers and 132 house guests, all celebrities, for the night.
The show was hosted by Steve Martin, who provided the opening monologue and the Goodnights.
The broadcast went on two hours overshy from it's normal 90 minutes broadcast. Sketches for the night spanned several generations, including "Supe Bass-O-Matic 2150" (1970s), "Celebrity Jeopardy!" (late 1990s/early 2000s), the Californians (late 2000s/early 2010s), as well as the ever-living "Weekend Update", anchored by 2000s cast members Tina Fey & Amy Poehler and original cast member Jane Curtin.
The night also delivered tributes to cast members, such as Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, and Tracy Morgan (who didn't make the show). It also featured a compilation of pre-recorded clips after each tier, showing how SNL was portrayed by each generation. Some compilations included Auditions and a tribute to the late cast members.
Musical Guests for the night included Miley Cyrus, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, and Kanye West.
Cast[]
Performers[]
80 now-and-retired cast members, hosts, and musical guests performed in the show.
House Guests[]
129 celebrities sat as the audience, made up of then-and-retired cast members, hosts, musical guests, SNL and NBC staff.
Sketches and Musical Performances[]
Cold Open Sketch Pre-recorded Weekend Update Music Performance Other
| Title | Image | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Jimmy & Justin Cold Open | 
|
Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon kick off the SNL 40th anniversary special with a musical medley featuring catchphrases from the show's 40-year history. |
| Opening Montage | Imaginary Forces put together the montage, mashing up every SNL generation opening. 80 performers were credited (including Darrell Hammond, who read his own name) as repertory (including current featured players Pete Davidson and Leslie Jones). | |
| Monologue by Steve Martin | Steve Martin performed the opening monologue, with featured appearances from Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Melissa McCarthy, Chris Rock, Peyton Manning, Miley Cyrus, Billy Crystal, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon, with the latter two briefly performing a duet of "I've Just Seen a Face." | |
| Highlight reel | ||
| Super Bass-O-Matic 2051 | Dan Aykroyd and Laraine Newman remake the original sketch | |
| Celebrity Jeopardy | A new version of the old sketch, with Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek, Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery, Kate McKinnon as Justin Bieber, Alec Baldwin as Tony Bennett, Norm Macdonald as Burt Reynolds (as Turd Ferguson), Taran Killam as Christoph Waltz, Jim Carrey as Matthew McConaughey, and Kenan Thompson as Bill Cosby. Eddie Murphy had been tapped to play Cosby, but had refused, saying he wouldn't mock Cosby given the allegations against him. | |
| Audition reel | Included auditions from several celebrities who were not accepted on the show, including Stephen Colbert, Kevin Hart, and an unrecognizable Zach Galifinakis. | |
| New York highlight reel | ||
| Paul McCartney performs "Maybe I'm Amazed | ||
| Politicial highlight reel | Jack Nicholson introduces a look back at SNL's coverage of politics, including impressions of President George H. W. Bush, Sarah Palin, President Bill Clinton and more. | |
| The Californians | Sketch regulars Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, and Vanessa Bayer are joined by Laraine Newman, Bradley Cooper, and Betty White. | |
| Buh-bye | David Spade revives his character with Cecily Strong, standing at the edge of the set and ushering away the actors from the previous sketch. | |
| Weekend Update with Jane Curtin, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler | Featured actors portraying their favorite characters, including Emma Stone as Roseanne Rosannadanna, Edward Norton as Stefon, and Melissa McCarthy as Matt Foley. Also featured the Land Shark (Bobby Moynihan). | |
| Weekend Update reel | ||
| Monologue by Chevy Chase | Garrett Morris joined for the hard of hearing | |
| Colon Blow | Repeat of the Phil Hartman faux-commercial | |
| Musical Sketch Tribute | Martin Short and Maya Rudolph as Beyonce present performances from Fred Armisen and Kristen Wiig as Garth and Kat; Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer as Marty Culp and Bobbi Mohan-Culp; Joe Piscopo as Frank Sinatra; Dana Carvey as Derek Stevens; Adam Sandler as Opera Man; Kenan Thompson as De'Andre Cole and the cast of the What Up With That sketches; Steve Martin as King Tut; Bill Murray as Nick the Lounge Singer backed up by Paul Shaffer on piano; and Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi as the Blues Brothers. | |
| Eddie Murphy Tribute | Chris Rock introduces Eddie Murphy, who calls returning to SNL a magical feeling. | |
| Monologue by Eddie Murphy | ||
| Sports sketch highlight reel | ||
| ESPN Classic | Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte reprise their roles as Peter Twinkle and Greg Stink. | |
| Miley Cyrus performs "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover" | Introduced by Candice Bergen and Win Butler of Arcade Fire. | |
| Audience Q&A | Jerry Seinfeld fields questions from audience members Michael Douglas, John Goodman, James Franco, Larry David, Ellen Cleghorne, Tim Meadows, Dakota Johnson and Sarah Palin. | |
| Mom Jeans | Repeat of the sketch featuring Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Amy Poehler, and Kristen Wiig | |
| Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey discuss Tracy Morgan | Both costarred with Morgan in "30 Rock"; Morgan was unable to attend due to injuries he'd sustained in a horrific traffic accident the previous year. | |
| Kanye West performs a medley of "Jesus Walks", "Only One", and "Wolves" (the latter with Sia and Vic Mensa) | West's inclusion was highly unpopular on social media. The anniversary special came only shortly after the 2015 Grammy Awards, during which West stormed the stage (the second time he'd done so) and spoke badly of Beck, the artist who'd won the award. Introduced by Christopher Walken. | |
| Short film highlight reel | ||
| An SNL Digital Short: That's When You Break | Andy Samberg delivers another installment in his series, with Adam Sandler | |
| In Memoriam | A memorial sketch for those involved with the show who had died. The segment was somewhat awkward as some people received little applause, such as Charles Rocket and several crew members. The segment omitted season 7 announcer Mel Brandt. Included was the very-much-alive Jon Lovitz, a gag carried over from Steve Martin's monologue. | |
| Wayne's World | Mike Myers and Dana Carvey reprise their characters. In an unplanned flub, a piece in the top-ten board becomes stuck, taking Carvey several seconds to remove it, and prompting Mike Myers to remind the audience that the show is live. | |
| Paul Simon performs "Still Crazy After All These Years | Introduced by Jack White. | |
| Goodnights and Closing Credits | Not everyone could fit on the stage. |
| Preceded by: January 31, 2015 |
Saturday Night Live episode | Followed by: February 28, 2015 |