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How ‘SNL’ paid tribute to Rob Reiner after his tragic death



“Saturday Night Live” honored Rob Reiner after the director’s tragic death.

During its final episode of the year on Saturday, the sketch comedy series flashed a tribute card of Rob on the screen before the goodnight segment.

The tribute featured an old image of the late director and his name.

The “Saturday Night Live” tribute to Rob Reiner. NBC / SNL

Rob — who was killed last Sunday alongside his wife, Michele Reiner, in their Los Angeles home — hosted the third-ever episode of “SNL” on Oct. 25, 1975.

The famous filmmaker appeared in multiple sketches, which Episode 1 host George Carlin and Episode 2 host Paul Simon didn’t do.

He was joined by his then-wife, Penny Marshall, during his appearance, including in a sketch with the Bees.

Rob Reiner on “SNL” in October 1975. YouTube/Saturday Night Live
Rob Reiner and Penny Marshall during a sketch on “SNL.” YouTube/Saturday Night Live

In a rarity, there was no musical guest on Rob’s episode. Instead, John Belushi performed “With a Little Help From My Friends” while impersonating Joe Cocker.

The cast of the NBC show at the time included Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Michael O’Donoghue and Gilda Radner.

Almost 20 years later, Rob was impersonated on “SNL” by Chris Farley during the show’s Feb. 20, 1993 cold open.

Rob Reiner in “All in the Family” in 1970. CBS via Getty Images

Earlier this year, Rob and Michele attended the “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” in New York City.

News broke last Sunday that Rob, 78, and his 70-year-old wife were stabbed to death in their Brentwood home.

The pair were found with stab wounds to their throats among multiple wounds found throughout their bodies. Their official causes of death were listed as “multiple sharp force injuries.”

Michele and Rob Reiner at “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” on Feb. 14, 2025. Arturo Holmes/Peacock

Nick Reiner, the couple’s son, has been arrested and formally charged with murdering his parents.

The 32-year-old has a troubled history that includes addiction and homelessness. The night before his parents’ murders, he reportedly behaved erratically at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party.

“They got in an argument, the father and son. It got so bad and loud [that] someone wanted to call the police to report it,” an insider told the Daily Mail on Friday. “But Conan stepped in and said, ‘It’s my house, my party, I’m not calling the police.’ He talked them out of calling the police.”

Rob and Nick Reiner attend AOL Build Speaker Series in New York on May 4, 2016. FilmMagic
Nick Reiner seen in France in a photo from 2023. Facebook/Jake Reiner

It was also reported that Rob shockingly told close friends at the party he was “petrified” that his son could “hurt” him in his last words at the event following the massive blowup.

Rob and Michele shared two other children, daughter Romy, 28, and son Jake, 34, who released a heartbreaking statement about their parents’ deaths on Wednesday.

“Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day,” the brother-sister duo told Page Six. “The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience.”

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