The SNL 40 lineup has all your favorite cast members, like Bill Murray and Jack Nicholson
Saturday Night Live’s 40th birthday is fast approaching, as evidenced both by its actually staying home to watch Saturday Night Live, as well as the barrage of recent promos announcing guests for its upcoming anniversary special. We already know that Eddie Murphy has finally cleared his schedule of “seething about SNL” to be on SNL for the first time since 1984. And there are many more we could have just assumed would be there—like Fred Armisen and Kristen Wiig, who are kept in holding cells just off of Studio 8H.
But a new series of Super Bowl teasers revealed some of the other people who will be in New York on Feb. 15 around 8 p.m. ET, and the roster includes some of your favorite past hosts and even more long-unseen former cast members. People like Jack Nicholson, who’s returning for the first time since he captured the nation’s heart with characters like Roseanne Roseannadanna and lovable nerd Lisa Loopner, before leaving to pursue a film career. Or Taylor Swift, who memorably played an accident-prone President Gerald Ford.
The list of confirmed guests, in alphabetical order: Fred Armisen, Dan Aykroyd, Alec Baldwin, Jim Carrey, Dana Carvey, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Robert De Niro, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, James Franco, Zach Galifianakis, Bill Hader, Jon Hamm, Tom Hanks, Derek Jeter, Norm Macdonald, Peyton Manning, Steve Martin, Melissa McCarthy, Paul McCartney, Seth Meyers, Garrett Morris, Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Laraine Newman, Jack Nicholson, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, Molly Shannon, Martin Short, Paul Simon, David Spade, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Christopher Walken, Kerry Washington, Kanye West, Betty White, and Kristen Wiig.
While that’s already an impressive roster, even more names are set to be announced in the coming days. As for the special itself, expect to see clip highlights from all years of the show’s past save for maybe some parts of the 1980s, tributes to cast members we’ve lost, and of course, an epic, four-hour “Vogelchecks” sketch in which every one of the above guests is introduced, then makes out with each other.