TV Series Ratings Analysis

Saturday Night Live Episode Ratings Heatmap

1975 · 30 Seasons · 585 Episodes · Overall Score: 6.6/10 (174 rated)

Highest Rated Episode

10.0/10

S9E1: Brandon Tartikoff/John Cougar (1 votes)

View Episode →

Best Season

10.00/10

Season 27 holds the highest collective average score across the series.

Season 27 Details →

Most Consistent Season

Season 13

Lowest score variance (σ = 0.29), maintaining an average of 8.7.

Strongest Finale

8.0/10

Season 5 finale: "Buck Henry/Andrew Gold"

Episode Recap →

Complete Episode Rating Matrix

Interactive score chart by season and episode number. Darker green indicates higher ratings; amber and red denote lower reception.

8.5+ (Outstanding) 7.5 – 8.4 (Great) 6.0 – 7.4 (Average) < 6.0 (Underwhelming) Few votes

Episode	Season 1	Season 2	Season 3	Season 4	Season 5	Season 6	Season 7	Season 8	Season 9	Season 10	Season 11	Season 12	Season 13	Season 14	Season 15	Season 16	Season 17	Season 18	Season 19	Season 20	Season 21	Season 22	Season 23	Season 24	Season 25	Season 26	Season 27	Season 28	Season 29	Season 30
Ep 1	8.1	5.3	7.7	7.0	7.0	2.0	4.0	–	10.0	–	9.0	10.0	8.5	–	–	–	9.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 2	5.8	5.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	2.0	4.0	–	10.0	–	8.0	–	8.5	–	–	–	9.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 3	7.2	6.2	5.0	4.0	5.0	3.0	5.0	–	10.0	–	8.0	–	–	–	–	–	8.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	9.0	–	–
Ep 4	7.7	5.3	6.0	7.0	6.5	2.0	7.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	9.0	9.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 5	6.7	7.5	6.0	7.0	5.0	4.0	6.0	–	10.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 6	7.2	7.0	6.0	7.8	5.0	5.0	7.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8.0	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 7	8.0	6.0	6.5	7.0	7.0	4.0	7.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 8	6.6	7.5	5.5	8.0	6.0	4.0	6.0	–	–	–	–	9.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 9	6.8	5.5	7.7	7.0	7.0	3.0	5.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	7.0	–
Ep 10	6.8	7.0	7.0	7.5	7.0	4.0	6.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	10.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	10.0	–	–	–
Ep 11	6.2	7.5	6.5	6.5	7.0	5.0	6.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	9.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 12	6.3	4.5	8.0	7.5	–	6.0	5.0	–	7.0	–	–	–	9.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8.0	–	–
Ep 13	7.0	6.0	7.5	6.0	7.0	7.0	5.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	9.0	–	2.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 14	6.3	6.5	5.5	5.0	6.0	–	5.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4.0	–	–	–	–
Ep 15	6.3	5.5	6.7	7.0	7.0	–	5.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	9.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 16	6.7	5.0	7.0	7.0	9.0	–	5.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1.0	–
Ep 17	7.7	5.0	5.5	4.0	7.0	–	9.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	9.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 18	6.3	6.3	7.7	7.0	8.0	–	5.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	9.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 19	6.5	7.0	6.5	6.0	–	–	7.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	9.0	–	–	9.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	1.0	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 20	5.3	6.8	6.0	–	8.0	–	6.5	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 21	6.7	6.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 22	6.3	7.5	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 23	3.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ep 24	6.3	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Season Avg	6.6	6.2	6.5	6.5	6.7	3.9	5.8	–	9.4	–	8.3	9.5	8.7	9.0	8.0	9.0	8.9	–	2.0	–	–	–	–	1.0	8.0	4.0	10.0	8.5	4.0	–

Ratings Analysis & Trajectory

Across 30 seasons and 585 episodes, Saturday Night Live has earned an overall series rating of 6.6 out of 10. The series reached its critical peak early, showing a slight contraction in audience satisfaction in later chapters.

The single highest-rated hour of television in the series is Season 9, Episode 1 ("Brandon Tartikoff/John Cougar"), rated at an extraordinary 10.0/10 with 1 ratings. Conversely, the lowest-rated installment is Season 29, Episode 16 ("Donald Trump/Toots and the Maytals with Bootsy Collins and The Roots"), landing at 1.0/10.

The most precipitous single-episode shift occurred in Season 7 between Episode 17 ("Johnny Cash/Elton John", 9) and Episode 18 ("Robert Culp/The Charlie Daniels Band", 5), a swing of 4 points.

Top 10 Highest Rated Episodes of Saturday Night Live

Rank	Episode	Title	Score	Votes	Air Date
#1	Season 9, Ep 1	Brandon Tartikoff/John Cougar	10.0	1	Oct 8, 1983
#2	Season 9, Ep 3	John Candy/Men at Work	10.0	1	Oct 22, 1983
#3	Season 9, Ep 5	Teri Garr/Mick Fleetwood's Zoo	10.0	1	Nov 12, 1983
#4	Season 12, Ep 1	Sigourney Weaver/Buster Poindexter	10.0	1	Oct 11, 1986
#5	Season 17, Ep 10	Rob Morrow/Nirvana	10.0	1	Jan 11, 1992
#6	Season 27, Ep 10	Josh Hartnett/Pink	10.0	1	Jan 12, 2002
#7	Season 9, Ep 2	Danny DeVito & Rhea Perlman/Eddy Grant	10.0	0	Oct 15, 1983
#8	Season 7, Ep 17	Johnny Cash/Elton John	9.0	2	Apr 17, 1982
#9	Season 5, Ep 16	Burt Reynolds/Anne Murray	9.0	1	Apr 12, 1980
#10	Season 11, Ep 1	Madonna/Simple Minds	9.0	1	Nov 9, 1985