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Saturday Night Live Is Celebrating 50 Years with a Three-Hour Primetime Special

Block off your calendars for a huge SNL 50 celebration this February.

By Christopher Rudolph

Live from New York it's... Sunday night!

How to Watch

Watch Saturday Night Live Saturdays at 11:30/10:30c on NBC and next day on Peacock.  

NBC has revealed the first of its plans for celebrating Saturday Night Live's upcoming 50th season, and a half century of the trailblazing sketch show.he news came as part of the schedule for the 2024-2025 season, alongside the announcement of new series like Brilliant Minds starring Zachary Quinto, and the return of annual favorites like Christmas in Rockefeller Center and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

RELATED: Zachary Quinto Returns to NBC with Medical Drama Brilliant Minds: Everything to Know

Mikey Day, Molly Kearney, James Austin Johnson, Sarah Sherman, Chloe Fineman, Bowen Yang, Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim posing for photos in a hallway.

How to watch the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special

SNL will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a weekend-long look back at the late-night sketch series, culminating in a three-hour live primetime special. The program will air Sunday, February 16 from 8-11 p.m. E.T. on NBC.

There will be more announcements in the coming months with additional info about SNL's historic 50th anniversary celebration — so block off your calendars for February 2025 now. SNL is currently closing out its strong 49th season with a three-week run of new episodes hosted by Dua Lipa, Maya Rudolph, and Jake Gyllenhaal

RELATED: Why the First Saturday Night Live Cast Were Called The Not Ready for Prime Time Players

NBC announces SNL 50th Season special, The Americas event series, and more Deal or No Deal Island

Aside from the SNL special news, other midseason highlights premiering on NBC in 2025 include a 10-part event series, The Americas, narrated by Tom Hanks, a new reality competition series, Destination X, procedural drama The Hunting Party starring Manifest's Melissa Roxburgh, and a new season of Deal or No Deal Island.

Chris Kattan, Will Ferrell, Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz, and Christopher Walken during the Behind the Music skit.

RELATED: Watch Maya Rudolph's SNL Sketches and "Mother" Monologue from May 11

The star-studded SNL 40th Anniversary Special, which aired back in February 2015, featured dozens of current and past cast members, a celebrity-filled audience, and musical performances by legends such as Paul McCartney and Paul Simon. You can only imagine what the show has planned for the milestone half-century celebration.