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As much excellence as we see onscreen on “Saturday Night Live,” which just wrapped its historic 50th season, some of the best stories from the cast and crew, that illuminate how much work goes into making the weekly late night staple, are about the sketches or parts of sketches that got cut.

Take the viral “Maybelline” sketch for example, with a trio of performers including host Ariana Grande doing their best Jennifer Coolidge impression. During a Usg University Panel featuring Hair Department Head Jodi Mancuso, Makeup Department Head Louie Zakarian, and cast member Chloe Fineman “Saturday Night Live” director Liz Patrick revealed that there was supposed to be a fourth Jennifer Coolidge in the scene. “Sarah [Sherman] was in there also,” she said, describing the first draft of “Maybelline” she’d read. “I was like, ‘Oh my god. How are we gonna do four people?’ But I was open and ready for the challenge.

Before he was a Ghostbusterand an Oscar-nominee, Bill Murray was a cast member on Saturday Night Live, where he entertained late-night audiences from 1977 to 1980. Now, the Golden Globe-winning Lost in Translation star, who attended the 50th anniversary of SNL on Feb. 16, is reflecting on what the experience was like.

Per Entertainment Weekly, Murray appeared on SiriusXM’s Sway in the Morning with host Sway Calloway and talked about what the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live meant to him. “It was surprisingly emotional. I wept three times in the show. It really got to me,” Murray said.

When Calloway asked what he wept for, Murray started off by telling a joke, “Oh, there were sketches that were dying,” he said. “No, I’m kidding.”

Related'He Was a Tough Nut': Bill Murray Recalls Working With Gene Hackman on The Royal Tenenbaums

Bill Murray starred with Gene Hackman in the 2001 Wes Anderson...

Over four decades later, veteran actor and Ghostbusters star Bill Murray has addressed the literary treatment of his late friend and collaborator John Belushi by Bob Woodward, calling the latter's work "completely inaccurate." The legendary comedian, actor, and musician Belushi was one of the original Saturday Night Live cast members and died in 1982, aged 33, from an overdose of cocaine and heroin.

Murray aired his opinion of Woodward's 1984 biography Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. "If he did this to Belushi, what he did to Nixon is probably soiled for me too. I can't take it," he said. "You could have two sources and everything like that, but the two sources that he had, if he had them for the Wired book, were so far outside the inner circle that it was criminal, cruel."

RelatedErnie Hudson Reflects on Harold Ramis'...

Saturday Night Live actor Bowen Yang was accused by an extra who's worked on the NBC series of getting Shane Gillis fired back in 2019. However, Yang has spoken out on the allegation to note how that's not the case.

Six years ago, Yang and Gillis had both been hired to join SNL as new performers. Problematic jokes Gillis had made about Asians on his comedy podcast resurfaced soon after his casting was announced, boosting a social media movement for SNL to cut ties with the risqué comedian. The SNL team ultimately acquiesced by firing Gillis, though the bridges have been rebuilt, with Gillis having since appeared on the show as guest host. Ahead of his second guest-hosting stint on March 1, comic and SNL extra Michelle Best posted a comment on an Instagram video shared by NBC to "acknowledge" that Yang was allegedly responsible for Gillis' firing.

Related'Don't Negotiate With Terrorists':...

New York's hottest club is Saturday Night Live, but only if you've hosted it at least five times. That gets you entry to SNL's exclusive "Five-Timers Club". Now that Saturday Night Live has celebrated 50 years of laughs, we're taking a look at one of its most consistent yet difficult to attain inside jokes/accolades, The Five-Timers Club. Besides the obvious honor of being a late-night regular, what does this comedic membership entail? And what other entertainment icons have made the cut?

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Saturday Night LiveTV-14ComedyNewsMusicRelease DateOctober 11, 1975NetworkNBCShowrunnerLorne MichaelsCastSee All

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Adam McKay Self / Various

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Directors  Dave Wilson, Don Roy King, Liz Patrick, Andy Warhol, Linda Lee Cadwell, Matthew Meshekoff,...

Can a joke be considered in poor taste if you – well, mostly your spouse – are going through a massive public legal battle? That's the position that Ryan Reynolds found himself in during a headline-making moment during Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary special. Reynolds' wife, Blake Lively, is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Justin Baldoni over It Ends With Us, but that didn't stop the couple from being all smiles in the audience at SNL50. While that has been met with its own criticism, it was a joke obviously referencing the legal fight that has garnered the most attention. As it turns out, the joke was (unsurprisingly) all Reynolds' idea.

During an appearance on the Fifi, Fev & Nick podcast, Chris "Wally" Feresten, also known as SNL's Cue Card Wally, revealed that Reynolds changed the original line they rehearsed for the moment. In the sketch that aired, Tina Fey asked the actor,...

Pete Davidson became a regular fixture of Saturday Night Live with an eight-year long run on the show, becoming the series’ youngest cast member at the age of 20 and an instant hit thanks to his “Weekend Update” appearances, among other sketches. However, his return for the show’s 50th anniversary celebration had fans talking for a reason other than his comedic talents – the reducing number of his trademark collection of tattoos.

Davidson, who is currently starring as one of the many big-name voices in the animated hit movie Dog Man, has become well-known as a walking scrapbook of inked designs with around 200 tattoos adorning his body. Almost all the actor’s pieces of body art have some kind of personal significance to either his life or his career, but while appearing on SNL50 many fans noticed that he is not as tatted up as he used to be.

During a...

Saturday Night Live recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary, with (almost) every notable name in the show's history and Hollywood as a whole coming together for the event. The long-running show brought back many of its iconic sketches for the occasion, with Black Jeopardy being one of them. Eddie Murphy, Tracy Morgan, and Leslie Jones returned to the stage for the fake quiz show, but it was Oscar-winner Tom Hanks' appearance that became the most talked about – and perhaps not in the way he would have liked.

Hanks appeared as a contestant on the fictional Black version of Jeopardy, a sketch the series has made famous over the years. In the skit, he plays a satirical version of a Trump voter – a role he played in a previous episode. But a specific incident during the segment is drawing backlash on right-wing social media. The host, played by longtime star Kenan Thompson,...

Tom Hanks stepped back onto the Saturday Night Live stage just days after staging a “walk out” at the weekend’s Homecoming Concert. While the actor and his wife, Rita Wilson, appeared to be disgruntled at there being no awards getting handed out at the event, it was, of course, all part of the show. This meant that it was not a surprise to see Hanks back on the show for its 50th anniversary special, where he introduced a special montage of sketches that have aged as well as a Hollywood star without a good surgeon.

Hanks joined a segment dedicated to what SNL executives and cast members have termed “canceled characters.” The legendary actor, who is part of the show’s “five-timers” club, delivered a fitting monologue to introduce the rogue’s gallery of controversial, offensive, and generally just problematic faces to have graced screen as part of SNL’s line up.

The stars really did come out for the 50th anniversary special for Saturday Night Live. Introducing Adam Sandler, who performed an incredible SNL50 tribute song, was none other than the legendary Jack Nicholson.

When the camera cut to Nicholson, the applause rained down. The actor kept it simple, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Sandler!" From there, Sandler gave a shout-out to Jack and began his song, singing, "Everyone in this room has something in common. All of our lives were changed by the show."

Sandler is known for his songs and mashups, and this one was perfect for the occasion. He sang about the cast, funny moments (including those behind the scenes), the crew, Lorne Michaels, and paid a very heartfelt tribute to fellow SNL vet and friend, the late Chris Farley, who passed away in 1997, and Norm Macdonald, who died in 2021. You can watch the entire performance, and Jack's introduction,...

Eddie Murphy's impression of Tracy Morgan on Saturday Night Live stole the show in a recent sketch celebrating the show's 50th anniversary. Murphy did his Morgan impression during the show's 'Black Jeopardy' sketch.

Murphy was joined for the SNL skit by fellow Black comedians, with Kenan Thompson playing host Darnell Hayes (aka Alex Treblack), and the other contestants being Leslie Jones and Tracy Morgan himself. During 'Black Jeopardy', Murphy did a hilarious impression of Morgan -- while Morgan stood right beside him and played a man named Darius. From his very introduction, Murphy was fully in-character as Tracy, calling out "Big Dog gonna make some big money!" in an over-the-top impression that had the rest of the cast struggling to keep a straight face.

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A deleted scene from the Cobra Kai finale reveals...

Quick LinksThe "Original" 'Saturday Night Live'One 'SNL's Failure and Another's Success

Live from New York, it's Saturday Night! Speaking of that iconic opening line, have you ever wondered why it's phrased that way? Why does it say just "Saturday Night" and not "Saturday Night Live?" Having two "lives" might be redundant, but isn't Saturday Night Live the name of the show? It is now, but that wasn't always the case.

Casual viewers may not know that the original name of the series was actually NBC's Saturday Night. That's why the opener is phrased that way. Even though it was always live, it didn't add that word to the title until Season 3. Believe it or not, this was because there was already a series titled Saturday Night Live on the air when the then-nbc's Saturday Night debuted in 1975. This "other" SNL was Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell,...

Saturday Night Live's biggest stars are everywhere these days: from the hallowed halls of Studio 8H, all the way to the beachy shores of Malibu, California. And in honor of the historic 50th anniversary of the longstanding comedy sketch series, everyone is getting in on the action of celebrating and honoring its many iconic moments. Including Volkswagen, which reunited Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, and Fred Armisen as "The Californians" in a commercial for their latest car.

The air-headed, valley girl-inflection-toting bottled blondes from the popular soap opera parody sketch star in the ad for the new Volkswagen ID Buzz, an electric take on their own California icon, the old Vw bus, which debuted on Thursday. And, frankly, it's giving nostalgia vibes in an extremely earth-conscious way, which is like, totally Californian of them. We can see why Karina (Wiig) and her lover Devin (Hader) are too impressed by her...

A star-studded crowd gathered to celebrate the legacy of the iconic comedy and musical series Saturday Night Live. As part of the 50th anniversary of the show, SNL50: The Homecoming Concert saw many familiar faces from the last 50 years of the series' history both watching and performing at the event, which was hosted by Jimmy Fallon. As the night kicked off, however, no one expected to see Oscar-winner Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson storm out of the auditorium after Fallon explained that the night would not include any awards presentations. Fallon said:

“Apparently, there’s been some confusion. This is just a concert. We’re not giving out any awards tonight. So, I just want to make sure that everyone knows that.”

At that point, Hanks and his wife stood up out of their seats and stomped up the central aisle and out of the venue. Of course,...

Tina Fey, the former head writer and cast member of NBC's Saturday Night Live, has revealed that she's part of the writing team behind SNL50, the 50th anniversary special that will air this Sunday on NBC. Even though Fey's experience on the show speaks for itself, returning as a staff writer meant that she had to clean the rust off of her comedy writing skills. However, a visit from a very special SNL icon made everything better.

Fey was a guest on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon alongside her former SNL co-star, dear friend and collaborator, Amy Poehler (via Entertainment Weekly). The conversation turned to what's brewing for SNL50, and Fey revealed that she's part of a team of staff writers for the special: "I know a little bit about what's taking shape because I am working on it as a staff writer, which I'm pretty excited about,...

Jesse Eisenberg is a one-time Saturday Night Live host, once serving in that role for a guest hosting gig in 2011. He has not hosted the sketch comedy series since, but that could be in part due to the experience not going so well for the actor.

During a new interview for Today with Jenna & Friends, Eisenberg discussed his SNL experience. He revealed that he's still haunted by how it went, despite how he was told that it was the "best episode they ever did." For the former Lex Luthor actor, he went into SNL extremely excited, as creating comedy for the legendary show was something he had dreamed about. He also presumed that it was up to him to write the sketches he'd appear in, and he started slipping written skits to cast members leading up to the show. Eisenberg said he was told by someone at SNL that this was encouraged,...

With the 50th Anniversary of Saturday Night Live looming on the horizon, many of the show's former stars and guest hosts have opened up about their experiences on the series. While stories from writers about letting polarizing figures like Donald Trump host have taken center stage, a new anecdote has emerged from a 2013 host. Jesse Eisenberg, known for roles like Lex Luthor and Mark Zuckerberg, opened up about hosting the long-running sketch comedy series, and sadly, he doesn't look back fondly on the experience.

During a recent appearance on the newly revamped fourth hour of Today, Jenna & Friends (via Variety), he expressed regret about his lifelong dream being far more sour than sweet:

"I only have bad memories because I did such a dumb thing. My dream when I was 17 was to write for ‘SNL.’ I made a packet and everything and I got an agent. And then, when I got asked to host,...

Mikey Madison as Ani and Mark Eydelshteyn as Ivan in ‘Anora’ (Courtesy of Neon)

Hot off the film’s Critics Choice Awards Best Picture win, Anora‘s Sean Baker took home his first DGA Awards win in the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film category. Winners of the 77th Annual DGA Awards were announced on February 8th at a ceremony hosted by filmmaker Judd Apatow in Beverly Hills.

In addition to the competitive categories, Ang Lee was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Unit Production Manager Mary Rae Thewlis earned the Robert B. Aldrich Service Award. Unit Production Manager Thomas J. Whelan was recognized with the Frank Capra Achievement Award.

“I am thrilled to congratulate all our nominated directors for their brilliant work, which is visionary, inspirational, and speaks to the depth of the human experience. To be chosen by one’s peers is the true marker of...

In a surprising win that resets the Oscar race, Anora director Sean Baker took home the Feature Film Director prize at Directors Guild of America Awards Saturday, instantly becoming the frontrunner for the Best Director trophy at the Academy Awards.

Baker, a first-time DGA nominee, toppled a strong field that included fellow Oscar nominees Brady Corbet (The Brutalist), Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez), and James Mangold (A Complete Unknown), along with Conclave director Edward Berger, who failed to land an Oscar bid. The DGA victory came on the same night Baker’s film — which personally earned him four Academy Award bids — unexpectedly won the top prize at another major precursor, the Producers Guild of America Awards, and one night after the film scored at the Critics Choice Awards.

Corbet had still been considered the prohibitive favorite for both the DGA honor and directing Oscar going into Saturday.

Anora stars Mikey Madison...

Anora helmer Sean Baker won the marquee Theatrical Feature Film prize at the 77th annual DGA Awards, which were handed out tonight at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Check out the winners list below.

Baker solidified his position as the front-runner for Best Director at the Academy Awards on March 2, besting fellow nominees Jacques Audiard (Emilia Perez), Edward Berger (Conclave), Brady Corbet (The Brutalist) and James Mangold (A Complete Unknown). Baker also is coming off last night’s Critics Choice Award best picture win for Anora.

RaMell Ross took the Michael Apted First-Time Theatrical Feature Film prize for Nickel Boys.

The DGA is a strong predictor of Oscar success historically, missing the eventual Best Director winner only eight times in its 76 years. Last year, the group handed its top trophy to Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer, and he went on to snag the Academy Award a month later. The film also won Best Picture.

Sean Baker won the top film prize for “Anora” at the Directors Guild Awards on Saturday, putting himself in the driver’s seat for the Best Director Oscar. Last year’s winner, “Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan presented Baker with the DGA Award.

Baker and “Anora” are on a huge high following the film’s surprise Best Picture win at the Critics Choice Awards on Friday. And about an hour after winning the DGA Award on Saturday, Baker collected the Producers Guild Awards’ top feature film prize in a stunning turn of events. The DGA, PGA and Critics Choice accolades are the first major honors the film has won this awards season, catapulting it into the front of the Oscar conversation.

“Oh my god, incredibly unexpected,” Baker said as he accepted the DGA honor alongside his directorial team. After acknowledging Nolan and “maestro” Ang Lee, he admitted his “imposter syndrome is skyrocketing right now.

With Oscar nominations firmly set and multiple guild award shows every week between now and the big show in March, the race to the Academy Awards has entered its final leg. This weekend is a crucial one for award watchers, with the Producers Guild of America and Directors Guild of America both giving out their annual prizes at ceremonies that could predict the Best Picture and Best Director race.

The 77th annual DGA Awards, which took place at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday, February 8, honored the year’s finest achievements in feature filmmaking, episodic TV, and commercial directing. The evening’s top prize, Theatrical Feature Film, went to Sean Baker for “Anora,” while other nominees included Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Pérez”), Edward Berger (“Conclave”), Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”), and James Mangold (“A Complete Unknown”).

It remains to be seen what Baker’s big win means for his Oscar campaign — but last...

Saturday Night Live is celebrating its 50th year on television this year, and with this milestone comes a plethora of new insights and anecdotes regarding the show's storied history – some of which are collected in a new book, which reveals that former SNL writer and star Tim Robinson had a pretty strong reaction when Lorne Michaels invited Donald Trump to host an episode during his first presidential election campaign.

Before becoming President of the United States, Donald Trump was a mainstay on NBC, with his competition series The Apprentice serving as a pivotal part of the primetime lineup. Shortly after announcing his run for president, the network dumped Trump as host of the series due to derogatory comments he made about Mexican immigrants, but that didn't squash his involvement with NBC. Instead, to the shock and awe of many, Lorne Michaels invited Trump to host an episode of the long-running sketch series.

It's hard to believe, but this year, Saturday Night Live turns 50 years old. Created by Lorne Michaels, the show premiered on Oct. 11, 1975 and while it didn't go quite as smoothly, it certainly became a cultural phenomenon. Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, George Coe, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Michael O'Donoghue, Gilda Radner, and host George Carlin were the first to appear on the legendary show. And now, as its 50th anniversary special approaches, NBC has released a partial list of major A-list actors, musicians, and celebrities who will appear.

SNL50: The Anniversary Special will feature a who's who of major celebrities, per Variety. They include Sir Paul McCartney, Tom Hanks, Kim Kardashian, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Scarlett Johansson, Dave Chappelle, Miley Cyrus, Paul Simon, Robert De Niro, Sabrina Carpenter, Pedro Pascal, Bad Bunny, Quinta Brunson, Peyton Manning, Woody Harrelson, Adam Driver, Ayo Edebiri, and John Mulaney. More stars will be announced soon.

For the last several decades, Saturday Night Live has been faced with questions of its future. While so many people claim not to watch or call it unfunny, everyone still talks about it and sketches still go viral. Some feel the show has run its course, the sketches need work, or members of the cast need to go. Nothing ever comes of it because Saturday Night Live is engrained as part of the fabric of late-night television that no one really ever expects to end. But there’s one point in time when Saturday Night Live almost did get canceled, and arguably should have been. The show was hanging by a thread, and instead of a complete cast shake-up saving the show, it led to a year that has become known as the “weird season.”

This was in 1985 during season 11, a bizarre season that the new Peacock docuseries SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night...

NBC continues to celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Saturday Night Live” with the new documentary, “Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music.” Following the recent four-episode docuseries “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night,” amid the 50th season, which airs Sundays, and ahead of the star-studded, three-hour primetime event “SNL50: The Anniversary Special,” the feature-length music doc promises a deep dive into the musical performances that have become as much of a cultural hallmark as the comedy show’s sketches.

The doc is directed by Grammy and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Emmy Award winner Oz Rodriguez, and features a roster of more than 50 interviews with musicians and “SNL” staffers, including Elvis Costello, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish & Finneas, Dave Grohl, Debbie Harry & Chris Stein, Mick Jagger, Dua Lipa, Lorne Michaels, Fred Armisen, Conan O’Brien, Bill Hader, Eddie Murphy, Maya Rudolph, Bowen Yang and many, many more.

Here is when and where...

NBC is celebrating 50 years of Saturday Night Live by honoring all of the musical guests in a new three-hour special.

Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music is airing on NBC on Monday night (January 27) and will feature untold stories behind the culture-defining, groundbreaking and news-making musical performances, sketches and cameos of the past 50 years.

The special will showcase interviews with musical artists, cast, writers, producers and more who have been part of SNL’s legacy.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Questlove, who leads the band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, directed the special with Emmy Award winner Oz Rodriguez.

“Everyone knows the most famous SNL appearances, whether it’s Elvis Costello, Prince or the Beastie Boys, but they’re the tip of a huge iceberg,” Questlove said. “The process of going back through the incredible archival footage was like being in a time machine, DeLorean or other. I’m so happy...

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has announced the list of TV nominees for its 77th Annual DGA Awards. The list shows some of the best work that streaming services and traditional networks have done in various areas, such as limited series, variety shows, reality shows, and children’s programs.

HBO’s “The Penguin” has received three nominations in the Movies for Television and Limited Series category, making it a strong candidate. People praised directors Kevin Bray, Jennifer Getzinger, and Helen Shaver for their work on shows such as “Top Hat,” “A Great or Little Thing,” and “Cent’anni.”

Steven Zaillian and Alfonso Cuarón are two well-known filmmakers who stand out in other areas. You can vote for Zaillian to direct Netflix’s “Ripley,” and you can vote for Cuarón to direct Apple TV+’s “Disclaimer.” These nominations show how streaming services are becoming more important in elite TV directing.

There...

The Directors Guild of America has named the nominees for its 2024 awards in the outstanding directorial achievement in television, commercials and documentary categories. “Shogun,” “The Bear” and “The Penguin” all lead with three nominations each.

The winners will be announced at the 77th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday, February 8, 2025, at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.

Nominees for film and the Michael Apted award for first-time theatrical feature film will be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Here are this year’s TV nominees:

***

Dramatic Series

Alex Graves, The Diplomat, “Dreadnought” (Netflix)

Hiromi Kamata, Shōgun, “Ladies of the Willow World” (FX)

Issa Lopez, True Detective: Night Country, “Part 6” (HBO)

Directorial Team: Unit Production Manager: Mari Jo Winkler; First Assistant Director: Richard Graysmark

Frederick E.O. Toye, Shōgun, “Crimson Sky” (FX)

Jonathan Van Tulleken, Shōgun, “Anjin” (FX)

***

Comedy Series

Lucia Aniello, Hacks, “Bulletproof” (Max)

Directorial Team: Unit Production Manager: Chris R. Robinson...

The Directors Guild of America has announced its TV, documentary and commercial award nominations for the 2025 DGA Awards.

The guild will reveal its theatrical feature film and first time feature film nominees on Wednesday.

The guild previously announced that Ang Lee would receive a lifetime achievement honor at the 77th annual DGA Awards.

The 2025 DGA Awards is set to take place on Saturday, Feb. 8.

A complete list of this year’s TV, documentary and commercial nominees follows.

Dramatic Series

Alex Graves, The Diplomat, “Dreadnought” (Netflix)

Hiromi Kamata, Shogun, “Ladies of the Willow World” (FX)

Issa LÓPEZ, True Detective: Night Country, “Part 6” (HBO)

Directorial Team:

Unit Production Manager: Mari Jo Winkler

First Assistant Director: Richard Graysmark

Frederick E.O. Toye, Shogun, “Crimson Sky” (FX)

Jonathan Van Tulleken, Shogun, “Anjin” (FX)

***

Comedy Series

Lucia Aniello, Hacks, “Bulletproof” (Max)

Directorial Team:

Unit Production Manager: Chris R. Robinson

First Assistant Director: Jeff Rosenberg

Second...

A documentary about the music performances on “Saturday Night Live” is coming to NBC, directed by Oscar winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Emmy winner Oz Rodriguez.

Titled “Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music,” the three-hour special will premiere on the network on Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. and stream the following day on Peacock.

The latest project celebrating five decades of “SNL,” the film will “feature untold stories behind the culture-defining, groundbreaking and newsmaking musical performances, sketches and cameos of the past 50 years,” per the logline.

The doc will also feature more than 50 interviews, including Bad Bunny, DJ Breakout, Elvis Costello, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Dave Grohl, Debbie Harry & Chris Stein, Mick Jagger, Dua Lipa, Darryl Dmc McDaniels, Tom Morello, Kacey Musgraves, Olivia Rodrigo, Mc Sha-Rack, Paul Simon, Chris Stapleton, Justin Timberlake, Lee Ving and Jack White.

Also interviewed are “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels and cast and creatives of present and past,...

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of “Saturday Night Live,” NBC is sharing the untold stories behind the late night staple’s culture-defining, groundbreaking and newsmaking musical performances, sketches and cameos over the years in a new documentary.

“Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music,” which is set to premiere Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt on NBC and stream the next day on Peacock, will be directed by Grammy and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Emmy Award winner Oz Rodriguez.

“Everyone knows the most famous ‘SNL’ appearances, whether it’s Elvis Costello, Prince or the Beastie Boys, but they’re the tip of a huge iceberg,” Questlove said in a Thursday statement. “The process of going back through the incredible archival footage was like being in a time machine, DeLorean or other. I’m so happy I went on the trip and now get to share it with everyone.

NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has now won an astonishing 101 Emmy Awards, breaking its own massive record from the 1976 ceremony through 2024. As it now heads into a 50th season in a few weeks, the variety series took six trophies at Saturday’s Creative Arts Emmys and has three more nominations at Sunday’s event. It also has two more opportunities at next week’s Primetime event (Bowen Yang for supporting actor and Variety Scripted Series). The next closest show in second place is “Game of Thrones” with 59 overall.

At Saturday’s ceremony, it triumphed for hairstyling, makeup, production design and lighting design. Technically, it was technical direction category that was the 100th victory. Liz Patrick then won the 101st Emmy for Best Variety Series Directing.

Over the past 15 years, “SNL” guest actor winners have included Jimmy Fallon, Eddie Murphy, Justin Timberlake and Dave Chappelle. Best Comedy Guest Actress winners have included Tina Fey,...

“Saturday Night Live” ended Night 1 of the 76th Creative Arts Emmys with the most awards (six), including Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series, which went to Liz Patrick, who directed the episode hosted by Ryan Gosling. That episode, which featured the now famous Beavis and Butt-Head sketch, also won hairstyling and makeup. NBC’s sketch-comedy institution — the winningest show in Emmy history with 93 victories — also triumphed in production design, lighting design and technical direction.

“Jim Henson Idea Man” was another big winner Saturday night, picking up four awards. The Disney + documentary directed by Ron Howard about the creator of the Muppets took home Outstanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Special, in addition to trophies for music composition, sound editing and picture editing.

NBC’s 2024 Oscars telecast tied “Jim Henson Idea Man,” as did Netflix’s rapturously reviewed “Blue Eye Samurai” (including previously announced juried awards), which came up tops for animated program,...

Less than a year after rebounding from having its half-decade winning streak broken by “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” “Saturday Night Live” is in the hunt for yet another Best Variety Series Directing Emmy. On its record 24th such nomination, the NBC sketch program faces three old talk show rivals, none of which have ever beaten it despite trying at least three times each.

This technically marks the first instance of less than five variety series competing for the same directing Emmy, with the last similar case involving both series and specials having occurred in 1993 before the two formats were afforded separate categories. After 2022, this is also the second time in 10 years that there are no new nominees in the mix.

In order to judge whether “Saturday Night Live” can be stopped from clinching its lucky 13th directing win, let’s take a closer look at each nominee. Be sure...

Cillian Murphy and writer, director, and producer Christopher Nolan on the set of ‘Oppenheimer’ (Photo © Universal Pictures)

Oppenheimer writer/director Christopher Nolan continues to rack up wins, with the Directors Guild of America honoring the critically acclaimed (and this year’s Oscar favorite) filmmaker with the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film award. Judd Apatow hosted this year’s DGA Awards ceremony, which presented honorary awards to David Nutter (2024 Lifetime Achievement Award for Television Direction), unit production manager Janet Knutsen (2024 Frank Capra Achievement Award), and Gary Natoli (2024 Franklin J. Schaffner Award).

Presenters included Matt Bomer, Rose Byrne, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Zooey Deschanel, David Duchovny, Jay Ellis, Carla Gallo, and Ilana Glazer. Ryan Gosling, Taylor Hackford, Jonah Hill, Patty Jenkins, Rashida Jones, Daniel Kwan, Eva Longoria, Cillian Murphy, Nasim Pedrad, and Mark Ruffalo were also on hand to help celebrate the best of 2024.

Additional presenters included Rachel Sennott, Daniel Scheinert, Emma Stone,...

The Directors Guild of America held its 76th annual awards tonight at the Beverly Hilton. Christopher Nolan took home the night’s top honor for Oppenheimer. Celine Song took home the prize for first-time theatrical film for Past Lives.

The DGA is a strong predictor of Oscar success historically, missing the eventual Best Director winner only eight times in 75 years. The group handed its top trophy to the Daniels for Everything Everywhere All at Once last year, and Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert went on to snag the Academy Award a month later, becoming only the third duo to claim that prized statuette.

Related: ‘American Fiction’ Filmmaker Cord Jefferson Teases Plan For New Erotic Thriller Movie – DGA Awards

Here are the winners at the 2024 Directors Guild Awards:

Feature Film

Christopher Nolan

Oppenheimer

(Universal Pictures)

Directoral Team:

Unit Production Managers: Thomas Hayslip, Nathan Kelly, Rafael Lima (New Jersey / New York Unit) First...

With the 96th Academy Awards now only a month away, each weekend brings a new award show that reveals a new look at the shape of the Oscar race. Tonight, the auteurs behind some of 2023’s biggest films gathered at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles to celebrate the craft of filmmaking at the Directors Guild of America Awards.

Martin Scorsese, Greta Gerwig, Christopher Nolan, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Alexander Payne were nominated for the night’s top prize, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film, with Oscar frontrunner Nolan walking away with the coveted trophy. Celine Song, Cord Jefferson, A.V. Rockwell, Manuela Martelli, and Noora Niasari competed for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film, which ultimately went to Song.

The show celebrated some of the best directors working in television, with awards in a variety of categories ranging from TV dramas and sitcoms to commercials and reality TV.

Christopher Nolan has won the feature-film prize from the Directors Guild of America for “Oppenheimer,” reinforcing his film’s status as the heavy favorite this awards season. The honor went to Nolan at the end of the 76th annual DGA Awards, which took place on Saturday night in Beverly Hills.

In the other film categories, Celine Song won the award for first-time directing for her gentle drama “Past Lives” and Mstyslav Chernov won the documentary award for “20 Days in Mariupol,” his on-the-ground report from the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Peter Hoar won the drama-series award for “The Last of Us,” in a category in which the other four nominees were all from different episodes of “Succession.”

The award for Comedy Series directing went to Christopher Storer for the “Fishes” episode of “The Bear.” Sarah Adina Smith won the award for TV movie or limited series for...

The 76th Directors Guild of America Awards took place on Saturday, February 10 at 7:30 p.m. Pt with Judd Apatow hosting the in-person, non-televised ceremony. These kudos honored the best helmers of the year in movies and television, as voted on by more than 18,000 members of the directing guild. Scroll down for the 2024 DGA Awards winners list in three film and eight TV categories.

As always, the all-important feature film category is one of the most telling bellwethers for the eventual Best Director Oscar. The guild and the academy have only disagreed for Best Director eight times over the past seven decades, with the last three years lining up perfectly for Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (2022’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once”), Jane Campion (2021’s “The Power of the Dog”) and Chloé Zhao (2020’s “Nomadland”).

This year, just three of the DGA’s nominees also reaped directing Oscar bids: Yorgos Lanthimos...

The Directors Guild of America announced the nominees for television, commercials and documentary for its 76th annual DGA Awards today, a list headed by three-time winner Bill Hader and installments of the third and final season of HBO’s “Succession,” which claimed four of the five Drama Series nomination slots – the fifth going to an episode of fellow HBO hour “The Last of Us.”

The Comedy Series nomination lineup features the directors of a pair of episodes of Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso” along with two installments of FX’s “The Bear” (including a repeat nomination for showrunner Christopher Storer – the acclaimed “Fishes” edition from Season 2 of the series – and a first for comedian and actor Ramy Youssef).

SEEBill Hader will set multiple SAG Award records with win for ‘Barry’

The Apple TV+ limited series “Lessons in Chemistry” also scored multiple bids in the Movies For Television/Limited Series category with three.

Liz Patrick, who took over directing Saturday Night Live two years ago, won her first primetime Emmy on Sunday.

She won a Creative Arts Emmy for the episode co-hosted by Steve Martin and Martin Short. She beat Last Week Tonight’s Paul Pennolino, Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s Andy Fisher, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s Jim Hoskinson and The Problem with Jon Stewart’s Andre Allen.

Patrick was nominated last year for the Billie Eilish-hosted episode but lost out to A Black Lady Sketch Show’s Bridget Stokes.

She has also previously won a number of daytime Emmys for her work on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Patrick took over from Don Roy King in January 2022. King, who is thought to have directed more hours of live U.S. network television than anyone else, had been the director of the long-running NBC series since 2006 and won 11 Emmys with 16 nominations.

Patrick...

Carol Burnett’s 90 Years of Laughter and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie were the big winners on night 2 of the Creative Arts Emmys on Sunday, while Queer Eye — already sick with Emmys — took home yet another for Outstanding Structured Reality Show. So did RuPaul (for hosting Drag Race) and The Simpsons (Animated Series), naturally.

Burnett’s sentimental trip down memory lane won Variety Special (pre-recorded), while Still won for Outstanding Documentary and Director (Davis Guggenheim).

“This is very encouraging,” Burnett said from the stage, before telling everyone to drive home safely.

Barack Obama, who was sadly Ma from the awards show in downtown L.A.’s Peacock Theater, picked up a trophy for narrating Working: What We Do All Day, while Welcome to Wrexham racked up wins for Unstructured Reality Show, Editing and Cinematography.

Keke Palmer won the Emmy for Outstanding game show host for NBC’s Password – the...

As late night prepares to return to the airwaves post-wga strike, that includes NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Like “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” the sketch show also falls under the SAG-AFTRA Network Code contract, which is not a part of the guild’s current strike. That means the show, cast and crew are all in the clear to return to work once the WGA deal is finalized — or, at least, the WGA gives the all-clear for the writers to return to work.

“Saturday Night Live” has been dark since April, as the WGA strike began at the start of May. The most recent episode, on April 15, featured Ana de Armas as host and Karol G as musical guest. The following scheduled episode, slated for May 6 and hosted by former cast member Pete Davidson with musical guest Lil Uzi Vert, did not take place.

Once the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed on the Writers Guild of America’s tentative new deal with the AMPTP, the words “Live, from New York!” might symbolically signal the end of the WGA strike, which spanned a near-historic 146 days.

“We have reached a tentative agreement on a new 2023 Mba (Minimum Basic Agreement),” the WGA posted in a message to its members late Sunday night, “which is to say an agreement in principle on all deal points, subject to drafting final contract language.”

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After nearly 150 days, Hollywood studios have finally come to a tentative agreement with the Writers Guild of America for a new contract. Barring unforeseen objections from WGA members, the writers’ portion of the Hollywood strike is effectively at an end.

So, how soon will your favorite shows be back on your screens? When will your most anticipated films head back into production?

The short answer: As soon as possible. WGA members have consistently said they’re eager to get back into the writers rooms, and the studios, represented in guild negotiations by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, have taken a heavy financial hit during the strike and need to restart production urgently to reverse it.

But before that can happen, some other boxes need to be ticked off first, starting with ratification of the contract.

In the coming days, the specific language of the deal will need...

Following its surprise 2022 Emmy win for Best Variety Series Directing, “A Black Lady Sketch Show” is out of the running for the same prize this year, leaving an opportunity for “Saturday Night Live” to bounce back and achieve its 12th victory in the category. It does, however, face several formidable challengers, including “The Problem with Jon Stewart,” the host of which once starred on “The Daily Show,” which notably halted a “Saturday Night Live” success streak in 2015.

“Saturday Night Live” is the only former winner in this directing lineup, while “The Problem with Jon Stewart” stands as the only new nominee. The three other returning contenders are “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” which have now amassed a collective total of 18 mentions in this category.

In order to determine how reasonably “Saturday Night Live” can be expected to kick off a new winning streak,...

What does it take for the Emmy-nominated crew behind “Saturday Night Live” to build sets from start to finish? Thirty-six hours, plus “dedication and expertise,” according to production designer Andrea Purcigliotti.

By the time Purcigliotti and fellow production designers Leo Yoshimura and Keith Raywood receive their script, it’s often late on a Wednesday night after the cast has gone through a table read. Then it’s off to the races. The sets need to be ready for shooting by 8 a.m. on Friday.

For a spoof on the famous levitation scene in “The Exorcist,” the team had to figure out how to get Jenna Ortega to rise from a bed without special effects. The solution was hydraulics, but they had little time to properly outfit the bed.

“We built the lift with hydraulic motors that went under the bed and lifted up a small portion,” says Yoshimura. “So, it...

When you have Steve Martin and Martin Short together hosting “Saturday Night Live,” it’s kind of hard to pass up an opportunity to do a “Father of the Bride” sketch — so the long-running NBC show didn’t. But according to director Liz Patrick, that homage went through a whole lot of changes. You can watch it in the video above.

Patrick, who is nominated for her first solo Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series for her work on the duo-hosted episode, took over directing duties from Don Roy King for Season 48, after previously working alongside him on the show.

And though Patrick admits she was “a little” nervous about working with some of her personal comedy heroes for the episode, she was excited more than anything else. The real hurdle came in the technical execution of it.

“Originally it was like, ‘Oh, we almost want to...

Saturday Night Live was one of many late-night shows interrupted by the writers and actors strikes, with the last three episodes of Season 48 scrapped altogether in May.

But for director Liz Patrick, who took over from Don Roy King midway through Season 47, she’s looking forward to getting back to Studio 8H.

“It was hard that we missed the last three episodes. But I also understand why and we want everyone to get what they deserve,” she said on a panel for Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees. “Whenever our season starts, we’re looking forward to getting back in there, getting our feet in the ground and getting moving.”

Season 48 was a “year of transition” for the long-running NBC show, according to creator and exec producer Lorne Michaels. Stars such as Pete Davidson and Kate McKinnon departed, along with Cecily Strong midway through.

However, that also gave more opportunities...