Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music (TV Special 2025)

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Lorne Michaels

Self - Executive Producer

Lenny Pickett

Self - SNL Musical Director

Howard Shore

Self - SNL Musical Director 1975 - 1980

Paul Shaffer

Self - SNL Band Member 1975 - 1980

Mick Jagger

Self

Jane Curtin

Self - SNL Cast Member 1975 - 1980

Eddie Murphy

Self - SNL Cast Member 1980-1984

Maya Rudolph

Self - SNL Cast Member 2000 - 2007

Eli Brueggemann

Self - SNL Musical Director

Tom Malone

Self - SNL Musical Arranger 1975 - 1985
(as Tom 'Bones' Malone)

Jack White

Self

Adam Sandler

Self - SNL Cast Member 1990 - 1995

Robert Smigel

Self - SNL Writer 1985 - 2013

Fred Armisen

Self - SNL Cast Member 2002 - 2013

Sarah Sherman

Self - SNL Cast Member 2021 - Present

Bill Hader

Self - SNL Cast Member 2005 - 2013

Dave Grohl

Self

Olivia Rodrigo

Self

50 Years of SNL Music - With Some Breaks

This two-hour special, curated by Questlove and company, celebrates Saturday Night Live's legendary musical history. It's a fun watch-but the biggest drawback? The commercials. There are a lot of them. The special is structured around these breaks, disrupting the flow and making it harder to stay fully engaged. I even had to split my viewing over a couple of days.

That said, the behind-the-scenes stories are fascinating-just brief. With SNL's deep well of musical moments, I wanted more. Still, what's there is enjoyable, offering a glimpse into the fast-paced world of making these performances happen. It truly takes a village to pull off a live show like SNL, and the fact that they've done it successfully for 50 years is undeniable.

The opening and closing segments are particularly well-edited. Questlove and company really brought the musicality here-as they should! The scale of talent that has passed through Studio 8H is staggering-and yet, even with two hours, this special only scratches the surface.

Hopefully, one day, we'll get a full docuseries that dives deeper into SNL's musical legacy. It's a fascinating subject. And, of course-it's live!

TL/DR: Worth the watch-but brace yourself for a ton of commercials!

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Trivia
Lorne Michaels comments on the Sinéad O'Connor incident where she rips a picture of Pope John Paul II. 'There was a part of me that just admired the bravery of what she'd done. And also the absolute sincerity of it.' And yet the following week host Joe Pesci had the photo taped back together and said during the opening monologue 'There was an incident on the show last week. Sinéad O'Connor tore up a picture of the Pope. And I thought that was wrong. So I asked somebody to paste it back together.' He then holds up the reconstructed picture and the audience applauded.. 'I think that's a lot better, thank you.' He goes on to say 'but I'll tell you one thing she's very lucky it wasn't my show. 'Cause if it was my show I woulda gave her such a smack!' Again the audience laughed and applauded wildly 'I woulda grabbed her by her ... eyebrows'.