‘SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night’ Trailer: Amy Poehler, Pete Davidson, Molly Shannon, Tracy Morgan, and More Revisit Their ‘SNL’ Roots

The 50th anniversary of “SNL” is about to kick off.

Acclaimed Academy and Emmy award-winning documentarian Morgan Neville is honoring the 50th anniversary of “Saturday Night Live” with docuseries “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night,” which he executive produces. The four-part series offers a behind-the-scenes look at the history of the beloved sketch series, with each episode taking a different perspective on how the show began.

More than 60 SNL alums are interviewed onscreen, including Amy Poehler, Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Molly Shannon, Pete Davidson, Stephen Colbert, Tracy Morgan, Bob Odenkirk, Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, John Mulaney, Larry David, Will Ferrell, Rachel Dratch, and Fred Armisen.

The first installment, “Five Minutes,” is about the audition process. Emmy Award winner Robert Alexander directs the first episode, which includes never-before-seen audition footage and firsthand accounts from alums as they reflect on their preparation and journey to the “SNL” stage.

The second episode, tilted “Written By: A Week Inside The SNL Writers Room,” offers a behind-the-scenes look at the writing process from script to screen. Academy Award winner Marshall Curry directs.

“More Cowbell” follows as the third episode, and it will examine the making of the now-iconic sketch starring Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken. Emmy nominee Neil Berkeley helms it.

Emmy nominee Jason Zeldes directs the fourth and final episode in the docuseries, titled “Season 11: The Weird Year.” Per the official synopsis, the installment is “an exploration into ‘SNL’s 11th season, examining the pivotal year that reset the show’s direction and cemented its enduring DNA with Lorne Michaels at the helm.”

Neville and Caitrin Rogers executive produce, with Juaquin Cambron serving as the showrunner and executive producer.

“I’ve been obsessed with ‘Saturday Night Live‘ as long as I can remember,” Neville said in a press statement. “For ‘SNL50,’ I’ve been lucky to collaborate with some of my favorite independent filmmakers to tell some deeper stories of ‘SNL.’ Taken together, these standalone episodes give a new perspective of ‘SNL’ and what makes it work.”

Neville recently directed the Steve Martin documentary, another “SNL” tie, and Pharrell Williams’ Lego feature “Piece By Piece.” 

“SNL” will mark its 50th anniversary with a celebratory weekend culminating in a live primetime special airing on Sunday, February 16 on NBC and Peacock. Music documentary “Ladies & Gentleman… 50 years of ‘SNL’ Music” will premiere January 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and stream the next day on Peacock. 

Every season of “SNL” can also be exclusively streamed on Peacock, with new “SNL” episodes streaming live on the platform in addition to the broadcast on NBC (11:30pm ET/8:30pm PT).

Here’s the full list of “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night” contributors.

• Episode 101, “Five Minutes” – Ayala Cohen, Amy Poehler, Andy Samberg, Beck Bennett, Bill Hader, Bobby Moynihan, Bowen Yang, Cheri Oteri, David Spade, Ego Nwodim, Fred Armisen, Heidi Gardner, Jason Sudeikis, Jay Pharaoh, Jeff Blake, Joe Piscopo, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kenan Thompson, Kyle Mooney, Lindsay Shookus, Marci Klein, Mike Shoemaker, Molly Shannon, Nasim Pedrad, Pete Davidson, Stephen Colbert, and Tracy Morgan.
   
• Episode 102, “Written By: A Week Inside The SNL Writers Room” – Alan Zweibel, Alex English, Al Franken, Andrew Dismukes, Asha Ward, Ben Marshall, Bob Odenkirk, Bryan Tucker, Ceara O’Sullivan, Celeste Yim, Emily Spivey, Harper Steele, Jim Downey, Jimmy Fowlie, John Higgins, John Mulaney, Larry David, Louie Zakarian, Marilyn Miller, Martin Herlihy, Paula Pell, Robert Smigel, Sarah Silverman, Seth Meyers, Simon Rich, Steve Higgins, Streeter Seidell, Tina Fey, and Will Stephen.
   
• Episode 103, “More Cowbell” – Akira Yoshimura, Albert Bouchard, Beth McCarthy-Miller, Bruce Dickinson, Buck Dharma, Cara Hannah, Chris Kattan, Chris Parnell, Dana Carvey, Dave Grohl, Dave Itzkoff, Darrell Hammond, Eamon Cunningham, Eric Bloom, Fred Armisen, Jimmy Fallon, Jodi Mancuso, John Karpi, Josh Homme, Keith Raywood, Larry Demler, Louie Zakarian, Murray Krugman, Rachel Dratch, Tom Broecker, Will Ferrell, and David Lucas.
   
• Episode 104, “Season 11: The Weird Year” – A. Whitney Brown, Al Franken, Andy Breckman, Anthony Michael Hall, Billy Crystal, Carol Leifer, Damon Wayans, George Meyer, George Wendt, Griffin Dunne, James Andrew Miller, Jim Downey, John Lithgow, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon, Laila Nabulsi, Mark McKinney, Nora Dunn, Penn & Teller, Robert Smigel, Terry Sweeney, and Tom Hanks. Additional archival interviews include Bernie Brillstein, Lorne Michaels, Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Davis.

“SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night” premieres January 16 on Peacock. Check out the trailer below.