Saturday Night Live has won its first award of the season. The show’s three-plus-hour anniversary special took home the Television Critics Association’s award for Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch.
Announced in a virtual presentation today, SNL50: The Anniversary Special beat eight other nominees to claim the honor.
The Television Critics Association rolled out video announcements on social media for each of its winners, explaining why the shows earned their accolades. “The special made the case for SNL’s legacy and its continued importance,” TCA member Liam Mathews said. “No one can alchemize a moment the way Lorne Michaels can.”
Unlike the Emmys, the TCA Awards fold all TV and digital variety and sketch programs into a single category, encompassing both series and one-off specials. That meant SNL50 was competing against itself in a sense: Saturday Night Live was also nominated as a regular series. The special was up against nightly shows like Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Daily Show, YouTube hit Hot Ones, and Netflix’s limited-run Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney.
The anniversary special also edged out The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, whose Emmy momentum has grown considerably since its surprise cancellation—boosted in part by Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s public Emmy campaign.
SNL50’s TCA win could signal strength heading into the Emmy Awards next month, where it’s nominated for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). There it will face off against the Conan O’Brien–hosted Oscars, its sibling special SNL50: The Homecoming Concert, The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show, and Beyoncé Bowl.
The TCAs are often seen as a bellwether for Emmy success. That wasn’t the case last year, however, when the award went to Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney, which failed to even secure an Emmy nod in 2024.
Today’s victory marks only the second time Saturday Night Live has won at the TCAs. Despite 18 nominations since 2002, the show’s only previous win came in 2014. Since the category’s introduction eight years ago, the Variety/Talk/Sketch trophy has most often gone to Last Week Tonight (3 wins) or I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (2 wins).
The 77th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will air live on CBS on Sunday, September 14.
