Looking for original SNL airings

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I've posted my SNL want list before, but figured this format would be much easier to read and navigate.

Shows marked as "missing shows" would be my first preference; anything marked with an asterisk (*) is highest priority. Shows marked as "upgrades welcome" are lower priority but would be nice to get for better quality transfers, more complete recordings, US airings if my recording is from Canada, or with commercials intact. Unless specified, I want original NBC airings only; specific repeat versions are listed, mainly to help track edits on my reviews.

If you have something on my list, send me an e-mail through the contact page or the e-mail icon in the corner of the screen.

Updated: December 12, 2022

Seasons 1-5:
Due to the unlikelihood of most recordings from this era surviving beyond official Broadway Video copies, anything not already circulating in the trading circuit would be welcome (for bumpers, alternate versions compared to what was circulated for Warner VHS, rebroadcasts on CN/Classic, DVD release, etc.).
Specific live broadcasts of interest:

  • 12/20/75 Candice Bergen / The Stylistics, Martha Reeves

  • 04/17/76 Ron Nessen / Patti Smith Group

  • 04/24/76 Raquel Welch / Phoebe Snow, John Sebastian

  • 05/08/76 Madeline Kahn / Carly Simon (bumpers)

  • 05/22/76 Buck Henry / Gordon Lightfoot (Jane Curtin apparently does a promo for the Superstars special that Pardo announces during the closing)

  • 05/29/76 Elliott Gould / Leon Redbone, Harlan Collins & Joyce Everson

  • 10/16/76 Karen Black / John Prine

  • 09/24/77 Steve Martin / Jackson Browne (DVD uses rerun but adds commercial parodies and live goodnights)

  • 02/25/78 O.J Simpson / Ashford & Simpson (with unedited Mandingo II)

Upgrades welcome:

  • 08/22/81: Desi Arnaz (better quality recording)

Specific rerun versions of interest:

  • 04/10/76: Richard Pryor / Gil Scott-Heron (with Madeline Kahn tech strike intro)

  • 05/31/80: Howard Hesseman / Randy Newman (has Schiller’s Reel “Search For Akasa”)

  • 08/23/80: Madeline Kahn / Taj Mahal (has unaired "First Love" short film starring Gilda Radner)

  • Most NBC rebroadcasts w/o/c of any "original cast" show aired prior to fall 1981, with the following exceptions:

    • 06/12/76 Robert Klein / ABBA, Loudon Wainwright III

    • 07/30/77 Ralph Nader / George Benson

    • 07/28/79 Richard Benjamin / Rickie Lee Jones

    • 08/04/79 Rick Nelson / Judy Collins

    • 08/25/79 Peter Cook & Dudley Moore / Neil Sedaka

    • 06/07/80 Martin Sheen / David Bowie

    • 09/29/80 Peter Cook & Dudley Moore / Neil Sedaka

    • 11/08/80 George Carlin / Billy Preston, Janis Ian

    • 03/28/81 Steve Martin / The Blues Brothers

    • 04/04/81 Rick Nelson / Judy Collins

    • 04/18/81 Sissy Spacek / Richard Baskin

    • 04/25/81 Strother Martin / The Specials

    • 05/16/81 Jill Clayburgh / Leon Redbone, The Singing Idlers

Season 6: 1980-81
missing original airings:

  • 12/13/80 Jamie Lee Curtis / James Brown, Ellen Shipley

  • 12/20/80 David Carradine / Linda Ronstadt, Rex Smith, George Rose & the cast of "The Pirates of Penzance"

  • 01/24/81 Robert Hays / Joe "King" Carrasco & the Crown

  • 03/07/81 Bill Murray / Delbert McClinton

upgrades welcome:

  • 02/21/81 Charlene Tilton / Todd Rudgren, Prince (copy starts partway through monologue)

repeat versions of interest:

  • 01/03/81 Elliott Gould / Kid Creole & The Coconuts

  • 01/31/81 Ellen Burstyn / Aretha Franklin, Keith Sykes

  • 02/28/81 David Carradine / Linda Ronstadt, Rex Smith, George Rose & the cast of "The Pirates of Penzance"

Season 7: 1981-82
missing original airings:

  • 10/10/81 Susan Saint James / The Kinks

  • 11/07/81 Lauren Hutton / Rick James & the Stone City Band

  • 04/17/82 Johnny Cash / Elton John

upgrades welcome:

  • 10/03/81 (no host) / Rod Stewart (missing cold opening)

  • 10/17/81 George Kennedy / Miles Davis (copy starts partway through Spray On Laetril)

  • 10/31/81 Donald Pleasance / Fear (looking for complete copy w/o/c)

  • 04/10/82 Daniel J. Travanti / John Cougar (next week segment partially missing)

repeat versions of interest:

  • 11/21/82 or 07/17/82 Susan Saint James / The Kinks

  • 06/26/82 Blythe Danner / Rickie Lee Jones

  • 08/28/82 Johnny Cash / Elton John

Season 8: 1982-83
missing original airings:

  • 10/30/82 Michael Keaton / The New Joe Jackson Band

  • 11/13/82 Robert Blake / Kenny Loggins*

  • 02/26/83 Jeff & Beau Bridges / Randy Newman

upgrades welcome:

  • 10/02/82 Louis Gossett Jr. / George Thorogood & The Destroyers (starts partway through opening)

repeat versions of interest:

  • 12/18/82 or 08/13/83 Howard Hesseman / Men At Work

  • 06/04/83 Howard Hesseman / Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers


Season 9: 1983-84
missing original airings:

  • 01/14/84 Father Guido Sarducci / Huey Lewis & the News*

  • 02/25/84 Edwin Newman / Kool & The Gang

  • 03/17/84 Billy Crystal / Al Jarreau

  • 03/24/84 The Best of Saturday Night Live

upgrades welcome:

  • 04/07/84 Michael Douglas / Deniece Williams (starts partway through MTV News)

repeat versions of interest:

  • 09/08/84 or 06/29/85 Billy Crystal / Al Jarreau

Season 10: 1984-85
missing original airings:

  • 01/12/85: Kathleen Turner / John Waite

upgrades welcome:

  • 03/02/85: SNL Film Festival (looking for copy w/o/c)

repeat versions of interest:

  • 08/10/85: Christopher Reeve / Santana

Season 11: 1985-86
missing original airings:

  • 12/21/85 Teri Garr / The Dream Academy, The Cult

  • 01/18/86 Harry Dean Stanton / The Replacements

  • 02/08/86 Ron Reagan / The Nelsons*

  • 03/15/86 Griffin Dunne / Rosanne Cash

  • 04/12/86 Oprah Winfrey / Joe Jackson

upgrades welcome

  • 11/23/85 Pee-Wee Herman / Queen Ida (looking for copy w/o/c with music intact)

Season 12: 1986-87
missing original airings:

  • 11/15/86 Sam Kinison / Lou Reed

upgrades welcome

  • 10/18/86 Malcolm-Jamal Warner / Run-DMC (looking for copy w/o/c)

  • 02/28/87 Valerie Bertinelli / Robert Cray Band (starts partway through opening)

  • 04/18/87 John Larroquette / Timbuk 3 (looking for copy w/o/c)

  • 05/09/87 Mark Harmon / Suzanne Vega (looking for copy w/o/c)

  • 05/16/87 Garry Shandling / Los Lobos (looking for copy w/o/c)

Season 13: 1987-88
missing original airings: 

  • 04/16/88 Decision 88 (compilation assembled to air during Writers' Strike)

upgrades welcome:

  • 10/31/87 Dabney Coleman / The Cars (looking for copy w/o/c)

  • 11/21/87 Candice Bergen / Cher (looking for copy w/o/c - with all commercials intact)

  • 01/30/88 Carl Weathers / Robbie Robertson* (looking for copy w/o/c with "The Garden" film intact)

Season 14: 1988-89
upgrades welcome:

  • 11/12/88 Demi Moore / Johnny Clegg & Savuka (looking for clearer copy w/o/c)

Season 15: 1989-90
upgrades welcome:

  • 10/21/89 Kathleen Turner / Billy Joel (looking for copy w/o/c and clearer audio)

Season 16: 1990-91
upgrades welcome:

  • 02/23/91 Alec Baldwin (looking for complete copy w/o/c, mine has first 57 minutes only)

Season 17: 1991-92
upgrades welcome:

  • 11/02/91 Kiefer Sutherland / Skid Row (looking for clearer copy w/o/c)

  • 11/23/91 Macaulay Culkin / Tin Machine (looking for complete w/o/c)

  • 03/14/92 John Goodman / Garth Brooks (looking for complete w/o/c with goodnights intact)

  • 03/21/92 Mary Stuart Masterson / En Vogue (looking for complete w/o/c)

  • 05/16/92 Woody Harrelson / Vanessa Williams (looking for w/o/c)

Season 18: 1992-93
missing original airings (w/o/c preferred):

  • 01/16/93: Harvey Keitel / Madonna

upgrades welcome:

  • 09/26/92 Nicolas Cage / Bobby Brown (looking for complete w/o/c)

  • 10/10/92 Joe Pesci / Spin Doctors (looking for w/o/c)

  • 10/24/92 Christopher Walken / Arrested Development (looking for complete w/o/c)

  • 10/31/92 Catherine O'Hara / 10,000 Maniacs (looking for complete w/o/c)

  • 12/05/92 Tom Arnold / Neil Young (looking for complete w/o/c)

  • 12/12/92 Glenn Close / The Black Crowes (looking for w/o/c)

  • 01/09/93 Danny DeVito / Bon Jovi (looking for complete w/o/c)

  • 02/06/93 Luke Perry / Mick Jagger (looking for complete w/o/c)

  • 02/20/93 Bill Murray / Sting (looking for w/o/c)

  • 03/13/93 John Goodman / Mary J. Blige (looking for w/o/c)

  • 03/20/93 Miranda Richardson / Soul Asylum (looking for w/o/c)

  • 04/10/93 Jason Alexander / Peter Gabriel (looking for w/o/c)

  • 04/17/93 Kirstie Alley / Lenny Kravitz (looking for w/o/c)

Season 19: 1993-94
missing original airings (w/o/c preferred):

  • 09/25/93 Charles Barkley / Nirvana

  • 10/02/93 Shannen Doherty / Cypress Hill

upgrades welcome:

  • 10/09/93 Jeff Goldblum / Aerosmith (looking for 1st gen w/o/c)

  • 11/20/93 Nicole Kidman / Stone Temple Pilots (looking for w/o/c)

  • 12/04/93 Charlton Heston / Paul Westerberg (looking for w/o/c)

  • 12/11/93 Sally Field / Tony! Toni! Tone! (looking for complete w/o/c)

  • 01/08/94 Jason Patric / Blind Melon (looking for w/o/c)

  • 01/15/94 Sara Gilbert / Counting Crows (looking for w/o/c)

  • 02/12/94 Alec Baldwin & Kim Basinger / UB40 (looking for w/o/c)

  • 05/14/94 Heather Locklear / Janet Jackson (looking for NBC airing w/o/c)

Season 20: 1994-95
upgrades welcome:

  • 11/12/94 Sarah Jessica Parker / REM (looking for NBC airing w/o/c)

  • 11/19/94 John Turturro / Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (looking for NBC airing w/o/c)

  • 12/17/94 George Foreman / Hole (looking for w/o/c)

  • 02/18/95 Deion Sanders / Bon Jovi (looking for w/o/c)

Season 21: 1995-96
upgrades welcome:

  • 12/16/95 Madeline Kahn / Bush (looking for w/o/c)

  • 03/16/96 John Goodman / Everclear (looking for w/o/c)

  • 03/23/96 Phil Hartman / Gin Blossoms (looking for w/o/c)

  • 04/20/96 Teri Hatcher / Dave Matthews Band (looking for w/o/c)

  • 05/11/96 Christine Baranski (looking for w/o/c)

Season 22: 1996-97
upgrades welcome:

  • 09/28/96 Tom Hanks / Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (looking for w/o/c)

  • 10/05/96 Lisa Kudrow / Sheryl Crow (looking for w/o/c)

  • 10/19/96 Bill Pullman / New Edition (looking for 1st gen w/o/c)

  • 10/26/96 Dana Carvey / Dr. Dre (looking for w/o/c)

  • 02/08/97 Neve Campbell / David Bowie (looking for 1st gen w/o/c)

  • 03/22/97 Mike Myers / Aerosmith (looking for w/o/c)

  • 04/19/97 Pamela Lee / Rollins Band (looking for w/o/c)

Season 23: 1997-98
upgrades welcome:

  • 10/25/97 Chris Farley / Mighty Mighty Bosstones (looking for w/o/c)

  • 11/08/97 Jon Lovitz / Jane's Addiction (looking for w/o/c)

  • 12/06/97 Nathan Lane / Metallica (looking for w/o/c)

  • 04/11/98 Greg Kinnear / All Saints (looking for w/o/c)

  • 05/02/98 Matthew Broderick / Natalie Merchant (looking for w/o/c)

Season 28: 2002-03
repeat versions of interest

  • 04/26/03 Queen Latifah / Ms. Dynamite

Season 32: 2006-07 (digital recordings only from this point forward)
upgrades welcome

  • 01/20/07 Jeremy Piven / AFI (looking for East Coast w/o/c)