A standard Saturday Night Live (SNL) episode is about 90 minutes long including commercials, and roughly 60–70 minutes of actual show without ads.

Quick Scoop

  • Typical live NBC airing runs from about 11:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. (around 93 minutes).
  • The “real” content time (sketches, Weekend Update, musical performances) is about 67 minutes without commercials.
  • When you see SNL reruns in primetime or on cable/streaming, they’re often cut down to around 60 minutes by removing a couple of sketches and sometimes a musical performance.

How that feels when you’re watching

  • Live broadcast: Expect about an hour and a half of TV time, with multiple commercial breaks and all the usual segments. You’re “there” for the whole late-night block.
  • Rerun/edited version: Feels tighter and faster because some weaker or less central sketches are removed to fit a one-hour slot.

In simple terms: if you tune in live on NBC, plan for 90 minutes; if you’re catching a rerun or edited version, it’s usually about an hour.

TL;DR:
“How long is SNL episode?” → About 90 minutes with commercials (roughly 67 minutes of actual show), and many reruns are trimmed to about 60 minutes.

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