List of Saturday Night Live DVD releases
Encyclopedia
Traditionally, retail 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 (this was before the merger which resulted in the NBC Universal
corporation). Following the establishment of NBC Universal in 2005, Universal Studios, owners of NBC
, Saturday Night Lives broadcast home, ceased the existing arrangement of outside distribution of SNL material. While Lionsgate is no longer able to acquire new SNL-related content, they have retained reissuing rights to their existing SNL content library.
On December 5, 2006, Universal Home Entertainment released on DVD "Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season", comprising complete archived episodes. Upon the set’s release, some criticism of its authenticity as complete and uncut arose from reviewers and fans. 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. Following the successful sales of the first season, subsequent seasons have been released. No subsequent releases are planned for the near future, as acquiring the rights to the musical acts has become too expensive.
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
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. 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.
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
.
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
material have consisted of "Best Of" compilations, comprising select performances (typically sketches
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
) of past cast members
Saturday Night Live cast
The following is a list of Saturday Night Live cast members, past and present. The cast members of Saturday Night Live are often referred to as the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players".-List of cast members:...
, and notable guest hosts. Beginning in 1999, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
releases were distributed by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Lionsgate Home Entertainment is the home video and DVD distribution arm of Lions Gate Entertainment and most former Artisan Entertainment releases. Its library of more than 8000 films owes some of its size to output deals with other studios...
under license from NBC (this was before the merger which resulted in the NBC Universal
NBC Universal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
corporation). Following the establishment of NBC Universal in 2005, Universal Studios, owners of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, Saturday Night Lives broadcast home, ceased the existing arrangement of outside distribution of SNL material. While Lionsgate is no longer able to acquire new SNL-related content, they have retained reissuing rights to their existing SNL content library.
On December 5, 2006, Universal Home Entertainment released on DVD "Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season", comprising complete archived episodes. Upon the set’s release, some criticism of its authenticity as complete and uncut arose from reviewers and fans. 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. Following the successful sales of the first season, subsequent seasons have been released. No subsequent releases are planned for the near future, as acquiring the rights to the musical acts has become too expensive.
Seasons
| DVD Name | |Additional Information | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | ||
| SNL: The Complete First Season 2, 3 | December 5, 2006 | July 16, 2007 | ||
| SNL: The Complete Second Season 2, 3 | December 4, 2007 | |||
| SNL: The Complete Third Season 2, 3 | May 13, 2008 | |||
| SNL: The Complete Fourth Season 2, 3 | December 2, 2008 | |||
| SNL: The Complete Fifth Season 2, 3 | December 1, 2009 |
Specials
| DVD Name | |Additional Information | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | ||
| SNL: 25th Anniversary 1, 3 | February 24, 2004 | |||
| SNL: 25 Years of Music 1, 3 | August 12, 2003 | |||
| SNL: The Best of 06/07 2, 4 | March 4, 2008 | |||
| SNL: The Best of 09/10 2, 4 | March 13, 2011 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Adam Sandler 1, 3 | November 9, 1999 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Alec Baldwin 2, 3 | January 24, 2006 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Amy Poehler 2, 4 | October 20, 2009 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Cheri Oteri 2, 3 | May 23, 2006 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Chris Farley 1, 3 | April 25, 2000 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Chris Kattan 1, 3 | September 7, 2004 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Chris Rock 1, 3 | February 24, 2004 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Christopher Walken 1, 3 | September 7, 2004 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Commercial Parodies 2, 3 | May 23, 2006 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Dan Aykroyd 1, 3 | September 6, 2005 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Dana Carvey 1, 3 | February 15, 2000 | |||
| SNL: The Best of David Spade 2, 3 | January 24, 2004 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Eddie Murphy 1, 3 | February 24, 2004 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Gilda Radner 1, 3 | September 6, 2005 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Jerry Seinfeld 3 | ||||
| SNL: The Best of Jimmy Fallon 2, 3 | January 25, 2005 | |||
| SNL: The Best of John Belushi 1, 3 | September 6, 2005 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Jon Lovitz 1, 3 | June 7, 2005 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Mike Myers 1, 3 | February 24, 2004 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Molly Shannon 1, 3 | August 12, 2003 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Phil Hartman 1, 3 | February 24, 2004 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Saturday TV Funhouse 2, 3 | October 24, 2006 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Steve Martin 1, 3 | April 25, 2000 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Tom Hanks 1, 3 | June 7, 2005 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Tracy Morgan 1, 3 | September 7, 2004 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Will Ferrell, Volume 1 1, 3 | August 12, 2003 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Will Ferrell, Volume 2 1, 3 | September 7, 2004 | |||
| SNL: The Best of Will Ferrell, Volume 3 5 | August 3, 2010 | |||
| SNL: Christmas 1, 3 | October 28, 2003 | |||
| SNL: Halloween 1, 3 | October 28, 2003 | |||
| SNL in the 80's: Lost and Found 2, 3 | March 4, 2008 |
1 Distributed by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Lionsgate Home Entertainment is the home video and DVD distribution arm of Lions Gate Entertainment and most former Artisan Entertainment releases. Its library of more than 8000 films owes some of its size to output deals with other studios...
2 Distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is the home video division of Universal Pictures...
3 Aspect Ratio: 4:3 (Fullscreen)
4 Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (Widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
)
5 Released in Canada Only
Episode downloads and online streaming
Following the creation of HuluHulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, among others, in March 2007, NBC owned content, including Saturday Night Live material, was removed from video sharing
Video sharing
Video hosting services refers to websites or software where users can distribute their video clips. Other sites such as file hosting services image hosting services and social network services might support video sharing as an enhancement to their primary mission, but in general, they are not...
sites, notably YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, to the exclusion of NBC.com and the aforementioned Hulu. A notable exception to this are SNL Digital Shorts
SNL Digital Shorts
An SNL Digital Short is one in a series of comedic and often musical video shorts created for airing on NBC's Saturday Night Live, generally produced and written by The Lonely Island , though originated by Adam McKay, in collaboration with SNL hosts, writers, and cast members...
, created in conjunction by SNL Studios and The Lonely Island
The Lonely Island
The Lonely Island is an American comedy troupe composed of Akiva "Kiv" Schaffer, Jorma "Jorm" Taccone, and David Andrew "Andy" Samberg, best known for their comedic music. Originally from Berkeley, California, the group is currently based in New York City. The group broke out due to their...
. Additionally, full seasons and specials have been released for sale on paid-content online media portals, including iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
. Free, ad-supported streaming of new Saturday Night Live episodes on NBC.com was announced on October 16, 2009.
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
Sevenload
Sevenload is an online video and Web-2.0 media platform used for managing video and multimedia contents. Since its founding in April 2006, the platform emerged on international markets to become a Social Media Network for photos, videos and web TV content...
to distribute Saturday Night Live digital content to online-viewers in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.