'SNL' will air a special retrospective highlighting his appearances on the show this Saturday, while the FOX comedy will air encore of his episode on Tuesday.
- April 23, 2016
AceShowbiz -
"Saturday Night Live" and "New Girl" are also planning tributes to Prince. Instead of airing repeat of Peter Dinklage-hosted episode as scheduled, the NBC sketch series will now air a special titled "SNL Goodnight Sweet Prince" on Saturday, April 23.
The special will highlight his performances on the long-running variety show throughout his career. The Purple One first appeared as musical guest on February 21, 1981 and later took part on the "SNL" 15th anniversary special in September 1989. He returned years later in February 2006 and most recently served as musical guest for an episode hosted by Chris Rock in 2014.
"New Girl", meanwhile, is paying tribute to the late music icon by airing encore of his episode on Tuesday, April 26 at 9:30 P.M. Prince played himself in the 2014 episode aptly titled "Prince".
Following his passing, "New Girl" producers released a statement which read, "We are all so deeply saddened to hear about the passing of this hero of ours - and so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet him and to have him on our show. It's something we will remember forever. Our thoughts go out to his family. We are among the millions of people who will truly miss the brilliant artist."
In the wake of Prince's sudden death on Thursday, MTV, VH1 and BET have pre-emptied their scheduled programmings in favor of coverage dedicated to the singer with airings of his music videos and his film "Purple Rain". The 1984 rock musical will also return to 87 AMC theaters over the weekend.
