Lorne Michaels first offered The Beatles $3,000 to reunite on SNL. He made the offer on the April 24, 1976, episode during the show’s first season.
Michaels presented the proposal as a humorous on-air appeal, asking John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr to appear together. The Beatles had broken up several years earlier, but Lennon and McCartney later said they were watching SNL from Lennon’s New York apartment when the offer was made. They briefly considered going to the studio but decided they were too tired.
Michaels later raised the offer to $3,200 and added free hotel accommodations. That larger figure is the source of a common quiz mistake: $3,000 was the first offer, while $3,200 was the revised one. George Harrison later tried to claim the money during a 1976 episode, but Michaels explained that the offer required all four Beatles to appear, not merely one member.