VH1 Classic to air 19-day, 433-hour marathon to celebrate #SNL40

If the Saturday primetime reruns of edited classic episodes of NBC’s Saturday Night Live have only made you more interested in diving down the rabbit-hole of 40 years of SNL, then please turn your attention to VH1 Classic.

Starting Jan. 28, 2015, VH1 Classic will kick off a 19-day, 433-hour marathon of SNL, clocking backward from last year’s 39th season all the way back to 1975’s debut cast.

“The SNL Rewind: 2015 – 1975 Mega-Marathon” wraps on Sunday, Feb. 15 — when NBC airs its live three-hour 40th anniversary spectacular.

“Building a 19-day marathon seemed pretty daunting at first, but when we started mapping it out the days filled up quickly,” said Ben Zurier, Executive Vice President, Programming Strategy for VH1, VH1 Classic and Palladia. “There are so many tremendous stars, memorable characters, great music performances and unmatched comedy writing, that my biggest concern now is about all the great stuff we didn’t find room for!”

Special themed blocks dot the 19-day schedule. Those include:

  • Saturday, Jan. 31 (4-10 p.m.): Six episodes featuring pop superstar Justin Timberlake, now one of “SNL’s” most popular guest hosts.
  • Tuesday, Feb. 3 (6 a.m. – 2 p.m.): An eight-hour celebration of some of the biggest pop artists in the world, including Christina Aguilera, Black Eyed Peas, Maroon 5, John Mayer, Pink, Britney Spears and Usher.
  • Friday, Feb. 6 (2:30–10 p.m.): Former “SNL” cast members return to take on host duties. Featuring Dana Carvey, Chevy Chase, Phil Hartman, Mike Myers and Martin Short.
  • Saturday, Feb. 7th (Noon-10 p.m.): “Remembering Chris Farley” highlights from Farley’s brilliant “SNL” career including Chippendales dancer, insightful interviewer on ‘The Chris Farley Show,’ graceful Lunch Lady, beautiful Gap Girl, and Chicago Bears Super Fan.
  • Sunday, Feb. 8 (1 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.): Party Time! Thirteen straight episodes featuring legendary sketch “Wayne’s World,” starring Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) direct from the basement studio in Aurora, Ill.
  • Wednesday, Feb. 11 (9:30 a.m. – 12:30 a.m.) “The Eddie Murphy Years” Mr. Robinson, Buckwheat, Gumby, Dion and more of Murphy’s legendary characters from the 1981-1984 seasons, not to mention a visit to “James Brown’s Celebrity Hot Tub Party.”
  • Saturday, Feb. 14 (2:30–10 p.m.): Five episodes hosted by Steve Martin from the series’ first three seasons – featuring Georg Festrunk: The original “Wild and Crazy Guy.”

Each Saturday during the marathon, VH1 Classic will take a break from 10 pm to 1 am to show a film starring an SNL alum:

  • Saturday, Jan. 31: Macgruber (Will Forte and Kristen Wiig) followed by Black Sheep (Chris Farley and David Spade)
  • Saturday, Feb. 7: Trading Places (Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd)
  • Saturday, Feb. 14: The Blues Brothers (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd)

VH1 will also join the party with a marathon of retrospective specials by decade for at least 10 hours on Sunday, Feb. 15, ending at 8 p.m. In addition, fan-favorite episodes will be available on vh1.com & the VH1 App throughout the marathon time period.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

View all posts by Sean L. McCarthy →

2 thoughts on “VH1 Classic to air 19-day, 433-hour marathon to celebrate #SNL40

  1. I really looked forward to seeing the musical performances, yet it seems on all “new” old episodes being run the musical performances are being edited out even though the musical artists are being listed as performers. Very, very disappoiinting.

  2. I absolutely LOVE the VH1 Classic SNL Rewind. It’s a piece of comedy history and brings back lots of great memories! Thanks VH1 Classic for doing something so clever and entertaining!!

Comments are closed.