The special followed the format of a typical Saturday Night Live episode, extended to 3½ hours instead of the usual 1½, and included a cold open, a monologue, sketches, a short film, commercial parodies, and musical performances.

[5][6] Cecily Strong plays The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation with at a Party alongside Bobby Moynihan as Drunk Uncle.

Seth Meyers introduces "Lorne's Best Friends from Growing Up" (Vanessa Bayer, Fred Armisen).

[9][10][11] Several more headliners were spoiled, in a picture The New York Times used, during an interview with executive producer Lorne Michaels.

Confirmed as attending were:[14] Before the main event, NBC aired three other specials: SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, a four-part documentary debuting on Peacock on January 16; Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music, airing on NBC on January 27; and SNL50: The Homecoming Concert, on February 14 live on Peacock.