List of Saturday Night Live home video releases

Traditionally, retail home video releases of Saturday Night Live material have consisted of "Best Of" compilations, comprising select performances (typically sketches) of past cast members, and notable guest hosts. Beginning in 1999, DVD releases were distributed by Lionsgate Home Entertainment under license from NBC, predating the network's merger with Universal. Following the establishment of NBCUniversal in 2004, Universal Studios, owners of NBC, Saturday Night Live's broadcast home, ceased the existing arrangement of outside distribution of SNL material.[1][2] While Lionsgate is no longer able to acquire new SNL-related content, they have retained reissuing rights to their existing SNL content library.[3]

On December 5, 2006, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released on DVD "Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season," comprising complete episodes.[4] Upon the set’s release, some criticism of its authenticity as complete and uncut episodes arose from reviewers and fans.[5] This was due to the existence of original live copies, which in comparison to the "complete" episodes reveal edits and omissions, which are common among the rerun versions of the shows in the set.[5] Following the successful sales of the first season, subsequent seasons have been released. No subsequent releases are planned for the near future, due to prohibitive music licensing costs and the rise of streaming video.[6]

DVD releases

Seasons
DVD NameRelease datesAdditional Information
Region 1Region 2Region 4
SNL: The Complete First Season 2, 3December 5, 2006July 16, 2007
SNL: The Complete Second Season 2, 3December 4, 2007
SNL: The Complete Third Season 2, 3May 13, 2008
SNL: The Complete Fourth Season 2, 3December 2, 2008
SNL: The Complete Fifth Season 2, 3December 1, 2009

Specials
DVD NameRelease datesAdditional Information
Region 1Region 2Region 4
SNL: 25th Anniversary 1, 3February 24, 2004
SNL: 25 Years of Music 1, 3August 12, 2003
SNL: Bad Boys 3, 6 1998
SNL: The Best of 06/07 2, 4March 4, 2008
SNL: The Best of 09/10 2, 4March 13, 2011
SNL: The Best of Adam Sandler 1, 3November 9, 1999
SNL: The Best of Alec Baldwin 2, 3January 24, 2006
SNL: The Best of Amy Poehler 2, 4October 20, 2009
SNL: The Best of Cheri Oteri 2, 3May 23, 2006
SNL: The Best of Chris Farley 1, 3April 25, 2000
SNL: The Best of Chris Kattan 1, 3September 7, 2004
SNL: The Best of Chris Rock 1, 3February 24, 2004
SNL: The Best of Christopher Walken 1, 3September 7, 2004
SNL: The Best of Commercial Parodies 2, 3May 23, 2006
SNL: The Best of Dan Aykroyd 1, 3September 6, 2005
SNL: The Best of Dana Carvey 1, 3February 15, 2000
SNL: The Best of David Spade 2, 3January 24, 2006
SNL: The Best of Eddie Murphy 1, 3February 24, 2004
SNL: The Best of Gilda Radner 1, 3September 6, 2005
SNL: The Best of Jimmy Fallon 2, 3January 25, 2005
SNL: The Best of John Belushi 1, 3September 6, 2005
SNL: The Best of Jon Lovitz 1, 3June 7, 2005
SNL: The Best of Mike Myers 1, 3February 24, 2004
SNL: The Best of Molly Shannon 1, 3August 12, 2003
SNL: The Best of Phil Hartman 1, 3February 24, 2004
SNL: The Best of Saturday TV Funhouse 2, 3October 24, 2006
SNL: The Best of Steve Martin 1, 3April 25, 2000
SNL: The Best of Tom Hanks 1, 3June 7, 2005
SNL: The Best of Tracy Morgan 1, 3September 7, 2004
SNL: The Best of Will Ferrell, Volume 1 1, 3August 12, 2003
SNL: The Best of Will Ferrell, Volume 2 1, 3September 7, 2004
SNL: The Best of Will Ferrell, Volume 3 4, 5August 3, 2010
SNL: Christmas 1, 3October 28, 2003
SNL: Halloween 1, 3October 28, 2003
SNL in the 80's: Lost and Found 2, 3March 4, 2008
Saturday Night Live - OHH NOOO MR BILLS CLASSICS 32000
SNL - The First 5 Years 1, 3September 6, 2005

1 Distributed by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
2 Distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment
3 Aspect ratio: 4:3 (fullscreen)
4 Aspect ratio: 16:9 (widescreen)
5 Released in Canada only

6 Distributed by Trimark Home Video

Episode downloads and online streaming

Following the creation of Hulu by NBC, among others, in March 2007, NBC owned content, including Saturday Night Live material, was removed from video sharing sites, notably YouTube, to the exclusion of NBC.com and the aforementioned Hulu.[7] A notable exception to this are SNL Digital Shorts, created in conjunction by SNL Studios and The Lonely Island. Additionally, full seasons and specials have been released for sale on paid-content online media portals, including iTunes and Amazon.com. Free, ad-supported streaming of new Saturday Night Live episodes on NBC.com was announced on October 16, 2009.[8]

Due to the region-specific nature of Hulu, the content is not accessible outside of the United States. In mid-2009 Broadway Video Enterprises formed a partnership with sevenload to distribute Saturday Night Live digital content to online-viewers in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.[9]

References
  1. "Adding to the line of best-of DVDs in the "Saturday Night Live" series distributed by Lionsgate, Universal Studios Home Entertainment". Daily Variety. 2004-01-04. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  2. "Universal Studios Home Entertainment presents unforgettable moments from the most enduring and celebrated comedy franchise in television history". PR Newswire. 2005-12-21. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  3. Lionsgate releases Steve Martin (again) Archived 2008-06-21 at the Wayback Machine from TVShowsOnDVD
  4. Saturday Night Live at IMDb
  5. Saturday Night Live: The complete 1st season review Archived 2007-03-30 at the Wayback Machine from TVShowsOnDVD
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2015-03-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. NBC confirms pulling YouTube content for Hulu from NewTeeVee
  8. "NBC.com gives viewers a chance to stream NBC's 'Saturday Night Live' immediately following the broadcast". NBC Universal. 2009-10-02. Archived from the original on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  9. "Saturday Night Live celebrates a digital premiere on sevenload". M2 Presswire. 2009-06-24. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
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