SNL had always intended to take off the coming weekend in preparation for its final May shows, but given the tragic passing of music icon Prince, NBC will pay tribute to the late star with a special highlight of the artist’s musical performances.
The moment former Alaskan governor and 2008 Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump for President of the United States, you know the producers at SNL hurried to get Tina Fey on the phone. The beloved former cast member, who just hosted the show last month, famously took on the role of Palin eight years ago and many people believe that her scathing imitation actually did lasting harm to the real Palin’s political chances. In any case, this event allowed SNL to pair Fey’s Palin with Darrell Hammond‘s Trump. Thanks, reality!
NBC has been surprisingly quiet about ‘SNL’'s impending 40th anniversary special, but VH1 has upped the nostalgia ante in a major way. VH1 Classic will begin a 19-day marathon of ‘SNL’'s 40 years on January 28, working backwards through 433 episodes and staging themed mini-marathons along the way.
The unfortunate and untimely death of the great Jan Hooks this past week sent the comedy world into mourning, with countless writers and comics stepping forward to pay tribute to the late 'SNL' star. It could have been easy for this week's new episode to gloss over the passing of one of their own (it is a comedy show, after all), but 'SNL' has always been a slightly class institution -- it remembers those who came before.