The legendary NBC sketch comedy series “Saturday Night Live” turns 50 this season, a monumental milestone for a show that famously comes together just in time to air at 11:30 each week.
Pentagram’s Emily Oberman and team collaborated with SNL film unit director Mike Diva and longtime SNL photographer Mary Ellen Matthews on a new opening title sequence for the landmark season. Based on a concept by Diva, the opener celebrates the madcap magic of SNL, its home at Studio 8H at 30 Rock, and New York City itself. The titles also introduce a new 50th anniversary SNL50 identity designed by Pentagram. Oberman and team also collaborated on the opening montage for the big anniversary special that aired in February 2025.
The directive by executive producer Lorne Michaels for the anniversary opener was not to be too nostalgic for the 50th year, but rather to honor this special moment with a current cast and look to the future. The SNL opening titles traditionally depict the cast in various locations around New York to make the city feel like a party. The anniversary opener turns this idea on its head with a tribute to all the creativity and the crew behind making the show.
In a playful concept that Mike Diva describes as “Wong Kar-wai meets Michel Gondry,” the sequence moves seamlessly and surreally from real-life locations shot in the streets of NYC into identical sets staged at Studio 8H. Presented in vibrant color, the sequence is one big move, filmed with a single running point of view. The opener is SNL’s most elaborate to date, appropriate for the big anniversary. (The shoot stretched into six days––and nights––roughly double that of past openers.)
The vignettes are joined together with invisible match cuts that give the sequence a dreamlike “is it real?” quality throughout. The opener also gives a peek at the creative craziness happening behind the scenes, complete with glimpses of the crew––never before seen in an opener––an homage to the people who help make it all happen.
A few Easter eggs from past openers are sprinkled throughout, like a nod to Billy Crystal on a billboard and Rich Hall stomping through the city in the Season 10 sequence; Dennis Miller running through the streets in Seasons 12-13; and Kevin Nealon trapped in a shop window in Seasons 16-19. The new sequence is also seen from a single point of view, not unlike the mysterious hand opening doors and passing drinks in the Season 29 opener.
In a full circle moment, the anniversary identity nods to the 1995 logo previously designed by Emily Oberman and Bonnie Siegler at No.17. (Oberman has been working with SNL for nearly three decades, and worked on five of the 12 distinct identities SNL has had over the years––two at No.17, and three at Pentagram.) The words of the title run together in a single line, an arrangement originally conceived as an onomatopoeic rendering of the veteran SNL announcer Don Pardo’s booming “SATURDAY-NIGHT-LIVE” at the top of each episode. The open pays tribute to 11 of the past SNL logos before launching into the new identity.
As always, the logo is also featured in the show’s bumpers, where it appears projected on the sides of buildings and incorporated into NYC iconography to pay homage to 50 years of SNL and the city.
The new identity and more than a few of the past logos feature in the opening titles for the 50th anniversary primetime special. The Pentagram team worked with SNL to create the montage of all opening montages––a madcap time capsule that cycles through archival cast photos, images of NYC from past opens (including many we worked on), Weekend Update anchors, and over 50 guest hosts stepping out on the stage at 8H for the opening monologue, culminating with George Carlin, the host of the first episode in 1975.
Pentagram also collaborated on the opener for the special 50th anniversary edition of Weekend Update, building on the existing titles with quick glimpses of iconic past anchors like Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.
Check out an in-depth article about our long-running collaboration with SNL on Fast Company.
