Inside the ‘SNL 50’ anniversary special: 200 seats added, sketches and more
Live from New York, it’s Sunday night.
“Saturday Night Live” is having a 50th anniversary special airing on a rare Sunday night (Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. on NBC and Peacock).
Called “SNL50: The Anniversary Special,” the three-hour live telecast from Studio 8H will celebrate the sketch comedy’s show’s half-centennial on the air, as it’s currently in Season 50 after it first premiered in 1975. It will include appearances from iconic past cast members such as Adam Sandler, Amy Poehler, Andy Samberg, Chevy Chase, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Jane Curtin, and more.
Longtime “SNL” production designer Keith Raywood, who has been with “SNL” for forty seasons since 1985, told The Post about his unexpected biggest task for the special.
“We [will] have about 450 people in the studio, which is essentially about 200 people more than we would normally have.”
This number is for the audience, since it will be full of the special guests’ friends and family.
“Imagine all the people who have been on the show – those cast members and hosts. It’s a lot of people [there to see them]. And, those seats don’t normally exist,” he said.
To make matters more complicated, he explained that he couldn’t just add chairs to the floor.
“The show is done on the floor. There are a few seats in front of the home base on the floor, but mostly the floor is left relatively empty for us to do all the sketches,” said Raywood.
So when they added “about 200 additional seats,” he explained, they had to aim higher.
“We built down from the balcony. We continued the seating all the way down to the floor…like bleachers.”
Raywood and his fellow “SNL” production designers — Joe Detullio and Akira “Leo” Yoshimura — split the duties between “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” airing Sunday at 8 p.m., and “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert,” streaming live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Peacock Friday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m.
“I’ve been focused almost entirely on the Radio City show. And Joe and Leo have been focused more on the studio show, because it made sense to split up a little bit that way. I’m doing a little bit on that show, mostly some set decoration…I’m rehearsing right now here at Radio City. They’re currently rehearsing over an 8H across the street.”
He quipped: “I can’t be in both places at the same time.”
He teased that “SNL50: The Anniversary Special,” will involve, “lots of new and older cast members doing lots of sketches.”
Raywood said he couldn’t reveal the contents of the sketches, or what throwback characters might appear on the show again — such as Sandler’s Opera Man — but he said, “There will be music on Sunday as well, but not as much [as in ‘SNL50: The Homecoming Concert,’] like maybe three or four musical acts.”
“We’re doing sketches and musical numbers, and there will be packages which show the history of the show,” he told the Post. “It’s a celebration of 50 years of Saturday Night Live, particularly the comedy. Whereas the Friday show is more a celebration of the music.”
