List of Saturday Night Live episodes (seasons 1–30)

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Current logo of Saturday Night Live since season 50 Saturday Night Live 2024.svg
Current logo of Saturday Night Live since season 50

Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a late-night sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. It premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the title NBC's Saturday Night. The show often satirizes contemporary American popular culture and politics. Saturday Night Live features a two-tiered cast: the repertory members, also known as the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players," and newer cast members, known as "Featured Players." Each week, the show features a host, often a well-known celebrity, who delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast. A musical guest is also invited to perform several sets (usually two, occasionally more). Every so often a host or musical guest fills both roles. With the exception of season 7 and several other rare cases, the show begins with a cold open that ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

Contents

Saturday Night Live is one of the longest-running network programs in American television history, with more than 900 episodes broadcast over five decades. A number of the show's sketches have been developed into feature films, including The Blues Brothers , Wayne's World , A Night at the Roxbury , Superstar , Coneheads , It's Pat , The Ladies Man and MacGruber .

Seasons 1 through 5 are available on DVD in Region 1. Various Saturday Night Live sketches are available in several new media formats, including streaming on Hulu and Netflix. YouTube SNL playlists of individual sketches and segments are available for many SNL episodes, via the show's official YouTube channel. [1] Best-of compilations are for sale through digital video retailers.[ citation needed ] As of October 1, 2020, the full catalogue of Saturday Night Live episodes is available on the streaming service Peacock, updated actively as new episodes release.

Seasons: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | Specials | References

SeasonEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast released
1 24October 11, 1975 (1975-10-11)July 31, 1976 (1976-07-31)
2 22September 18, 1976 (1976-09-18)May 21, 1977 (1977-05-21)
3 20September 24, 1977 (1977-09-24)May 20, 1978 (1978-05-20)
4 20October 7, 1978 (1978-10-07)May 26, 1979 (1979-05-26)
5 20October 13, 1979 (1979-10-13)May 24, 1980 (1980-05-24)
6 13 [a] November 15, 1980 (1980-11-15)April 11, 1981 (1981-04-11)
7 20October 3, 1981 (1981-10-03)May 22, 1982 (1982-05-22)
8 20September 25, 1982 (1982-09-25)May 14, 1983 (1983-05-14)
9 19October 8, 1983 (1983-10-08)May 12, 1984 (1984-05-12)
10 17 [b] October 6, 1984 (1984-10-06)April 13, 1985 (1985-04-13)
11 18November 9, 1985 (1985-11-09)May 24, 1986 (1986-05-24)
12 20October 11, 1986 (1986-10-11)May 23, 1987 (1987-05-23)
13 13 [c] October 17, 1987 (1987-10-17)February 27, 1988 (1988-02-27)
14 20October 8, 1988 (1988-10-08)May 20, 1989 (1989-05-20)
15 20September 30, 1989 (1989-09-30)May 19, 1990 (1990-05-19)
16 20September 29, 1990 (1990-09-29)May 18, 1991 (1991-05-18)
17 20September 28, 1991 (1991-09-28)May 16, 1992 (1992-05-16)
18 20September 26, 1992 (1992-09-26)May 15, 1993 (1993-05-15)
19 20September 25, 1993 (1993-09-25)May 14, 1994 (1994-05-14)
20 20September 24, 1994 (1994-09-24)May 13, 1995 (1995-05-13)
21 20September 30, 1995 (1995-09-30)May 18, 1996 (1996-05-18)
22 20September 28, 1996 (1996-09-28)May 17, 1997 (1997-05-17)
23 20September 27, 1997 (1997-09-27)May 9, 1998 (1998-05-09)
24 19September 26, 1998 (1998-09-26)May 15, 1999 (1999-05-15)
25 20October 2, 1999 (1999-10-02)May 20, 2000 (2000-05-20)
26 20October 7, 2000 (2000-10-07)May 19, 2001 (2001-05-19)
27 20September 29, 2001 (2001-09-29)May 18, 2002 (2002-05-18)
28 20October 5, 2002 (2002-10-05)May 17, 2003 (2003-05-17)
29 20October 4, 2003 (2003-10-04)May 15, 2004 (2004-05-15)
30 20October 2, 2004 (2004-10-02)May 21, 2005 (2005-05-21)
31 19October 1, 2005 (2005-10-01)May 20, 2006 (2006-05-20)
32 20September 30, 2006 (2006-09-30)May 19, 2007 (2007-05-19)
33 12 [d] September 29, 2007 (2007-09-29)May 17, 2008 (2008-05-17)
34 22September 13, 2008 (2008-09-13)May 16, 2009 (2009-05-16)
35 22September 26, 2009 (2009-09-26)May 15, 2010 (2010-05-15)
36 22September 25, 2010 (2010-09-25)May 21, 2011 (2011-05-21)
37 22September 24, 2011 (2011-09-24)May 19, 2012 (2012-05-19)
38 21September 15, 2012 (2012-09-15)May 18, 2013 (2013-05-18)
39 21September 28, 2013 (2013-09-28)May 17, 2014 (2014-05-17)
40 21September 27, 2014 (2014-09-27)May 16, 2015 (2015-05-16)
41 21October 3, 2015 (2015-10-03)May 21, 2016 (2016-05-21)
42 21October 1, 2016 (2016-10-01)May 20, 2017 (2017-05-20)
43 21September 30, 2017 (2017-09-30)May 19, 2018 (2018-05-19)
44 21September 29, 2018 (2018-09-29)May 18, 2019 (2019-05-18)
45 18 [e] September 28, 2019 (2019-09-28)May 9, 2020 (2020-05-09)
46 20October 3, 2020 (2020-10-03)May 22, 2021 (2021-05-22)
47 21October 2, 2021 (2021-10-02)May 21, 2022 (2022-05-21)
48 18 [f] October 1, 2022 (2022-10-01)April 15, 2023 (2023-04-15)
49 20October 14, 2023 (2023-10-14)May 18, 2024 (2024-05-18)
50 20September 28, 2024 (2024-09-28)May 17, 2025 (2025-05-17)
51 TBAOctober 4, 2025 (2025-10-04) [2] TBA

Episodes

Season 1 (1975–76)

No.
overall
No. in
season
HostMusical guest(s)Original release date
11 George Carlin Janis Ian & Billy Preston October 11, 1975 (1975-10-11)
22 Paul Simon Randy Newman, Phoebe Snow, Art Garfunkel & Jessy Dixon Singers October 18, 1975 (1975-10-18)
33 Rob Reiner noneOctober 25, 1975 (1975-10-25)
44 Candice Bergen Esther Phillips November 8, 1975 (1975-11-08)
55 Robert Klein ABBA & Loudon Wainwright III November 15, 1975 (1975-11-15)
66 Lily Tomlin Tomlin with Howard Shore & the All Nurse Band November 22, 1975 (1975-11-22)
77 Richard Pryor Gil Scott-Heron December 13, 1975 (1975-12-13)
88 Candice Bergen Martha Reeves & The Stylistics December 20, 1975 (1975-12-20)
99 Elliott Gould Anne Murray January 10, 1976 (1976-01-10)
1010 Buck Henry Bill Withers & Toni Basil January 17, 1976 (1976-01-17)
1111 Peter Cook & Dudley Moore Neil Sedaka January 24, 1976 (1976-01-24)
1212 Dick Cavett Jimmy Cliff January 31, 1976 (1976-01-31)
1313 Peter Boyle Al Jarreau February 14, 1976 (1976-02-14)
1414 Desi Arnaz Desi Arnaz & Desi Arnaz Jr. February 21, 1976 (1976-02-21)
1515 Jill Clayburgh Leon Redbone & The Idlers February 28, 1976 (1976-02-28)
1616 Anthony Perkins Betty Carter March 13, 1976 (1976-03-13)
1717 Ron Nessen Patti Smith April 17, 1976 (1976-04-17)
1818 Raquel Welch Phoebe Snow & John Sebastian April 24, 1976 (1976-04-24)
1919 Madeline Kahn Carly Simon May 8, 1976 (1976-05-08)
2020 Dyan Cannon Leon and Mary Russell May 15, 1976 (1976-05-15)
2121 Buck Henry Gordon Lightfoot & Garrett Morris May 22, 1976 (1976-05-22)
2222 Elliott Gould Leon Redbone, Harlan Collins & Joyce EversonMay 29, 1976 (1976-05-29)
2323 Louise Lasser Preservation Hall Jazz Band July 24, 1976 (1976-07-24)
2424 Kris Kristofferson Rita Coolidge July 31, 1976 (1976-07-31)

Season 2 (1976–77)

No.
overall
No. in
season
HostMusical guest(s)Original release date

Notes

  1. Number of episodes reduced due to executive producer Lorne Michaels taking a year off and the 1981 Writers Guild of America strike
  2. Only 17 episodes were produced due to a writers' strike and budget constraint
  3. Number of episodes reduced due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike
  4. Number of episodes reduced due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike
  5. Number of episodes reduced due to the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic
  6. Number of episodes reduced due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike

References

  1. SNL 49 16 YouTube
  2. "'SNL' Sets Return For Season 51 Premiere". July 28, 2025. Retrieved July 29, 2025.
  3. Shales & Miller 2002, pp. 278–280.

Works cited