Questlove Watched Literally Every Episode Of ‘SNL’ While Making His Documentary On The Show’s Music

Saturday Night Live is going big in celebration of its 50th anniversary, and part of that effort was announced last month, when it was revealed Questlove and Oz Rodriguez co-directed a new documentary, Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years Of SNL Music. For the making of the film, Questlove went ahead and just watched all 900-plus episodes of the show since its debut in 1975.

He talked about it with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show yesterday (January 22), explaining:

Lorne [Michaels] put this in my lap, maybe April of 2021, like, a year before the Oscars. So, pretty much, I had about two-and-a-half years to watch all 900-plus episodes of SNL. Initially, in the beginning, I think I was just going to compile maybe the 50 best performances on the show, but around ’87, I realized there were way more iconic comedic moments musically on the show, like surpassing just the legendary performances.

He went on to explain with a few Fallon examples, saying, “Like, even for you, I would say your top three are all music-related. First, you know, the Mick Jagger bit. And then cowbell, of course. And then I would even say with Debbie Downer, like, the trombone. That is music. But music plays a major part on that show. And most of the iconic sketches that people remember, be it King Tut or, you know, anything Eddie Murphy’s done, the Lonely Island stuff: it’s all music-related.

Check out the full interview above.