NEW YORK — With a measure of anniversary hoopla perhaps exceeded only by the nation’s bicentennial, “Saturday Night Live” celebrated its 40th season on Sunday with a 3 1/2-hour gala of stars, laughs and memories.

It aired live from New York’s Studio 8H at NBC, which has been “SNL” HQ since premiering on a Saturday night in October 1975. It was a black-tie event so jammed with “SNL” alumni and other celebs they fueled an hour-long red carpet event before the big show even began. Some 80 names were listed in the opening credits.

It started with a medley of catchphrases, music and characters performed by Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake that concluded, inevitably, with their pronouncement, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

Who was the rightful host? Steve Martin stepped up first, but was joined one by one by stars including Peyton Manning, Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crystal, Melissa McCarthy, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon to dispute his selection.

Among the night’s many tributes, Jack Nicholson noted that “when ‘SNL’ started, the last helicopter had just flown out of Vietnam, Watergate was still fresh in everyone’s minds, and New York was broke.”