“Saturday Night Live” (SNL) runs about 90 minutes for the live NBC broadcast, from roughly 11:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday nights.

Basic runtime

  • The standard live episode is a 90‑minute sketch comedy show.
  • NBC actually schedules it for about 93 minutes (around 11:29 p.m. to 1:02 a.m. ET) to allow for transitions and commercials.

Why reruns can seem shorter

  • Syndicated or cable reruns are often cut down to about 60 minutes to fit different time slots and ad needs.
  • To trim it, networks usually remove a couple of sketches and sometimes one of the musical performances.

What fits into those 90 minutes

A typical live SNL episode’s 90‑minute block usually includes:

  • Cold open sketch and “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
  • Host monologue
  • Several live sketches and at least one pre‑taped piece
  • “Weekend Update” segment
  • One or two performances by the musical guest

So: live SNL ≈ 90 minutes , but reruns/edited versions ≈ 60 minutes , depending on where you watch.

TL;DR: If you’re watching live on NBC, plan for about an hour and a half; if you’re catching reruns on other channels or on‑demand, expect closer to an hour.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.