I truly feel the SNL50 three-and-a-half-hour special was made for my enjoyment.
It is no easy feat trying to capture five decades’ worth of evolving entertainment while also speaking to today’s Saturday Night Live audience. But opening the show with Sabrina Carpenter and Paul Simon performing “Homeward Bound” — a song Simon originally performed on SNL in 1976 with George Harrison — and saying the iconic “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night” was the perfect place to begin.
Steve Martin began his monologue with class standup — announcing he just got back from the “Gulf of Steve Martin” — before transitioning to joking about the inner workings of the show and its famous ex-cast members, comparing the monologue to a rent control tenant: “It’s not going anywhere, even though it stinks.”
Martin’s pivot was indicative of what the broader special entailed. While usual episodes of SNL attempt to commentate on current events, SNL50 gave the show space to celebrate the cultural impact they have had: an SNL episode about SNL. While this may turn off casual viewers, I enjoyed revisiting iconic sketches and poking fun at the show’s history.
The special brought back many fan-favorite characters, my favorite of which was Rachel Dratch’s Debbie Downer, this time as a bartender bumming out Robert De Niro about microplastics. I also loved the return of Leslie Jones in “Black Jeopardy,” Will Ferrell and Eddie Murphy in “Scared Straight” and Adam Sandler’s musical tribute to the show.
Bill Hader was dearly missed, but I otherwise felt satisfied with the returnee cast members, many of which hailed from my personal favorite SNL years: the late 90s into early 2000s with a special shout out to the current cast.
My favorite sketch of the night was John Mulaney’s 10-minute musical tribute to New York. The latest in a series in which a bad food purchase leads to a parody Broadway medley, Mulaney takes the audience through the city’s evolution, starting in 1975 — the year SNL began. Exploring artistry, politics and e-bikes, the piece’s thesis is “somehow, New York today feels like it’s back in the 70s” but encourages the audience to “still believe in the power of New York.” It is a funny, heartfelt and star-studded piece, including Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton for the second time this season and the original voice of Timon singing “Cocaine and some vodka” to the tune of “Hakuna Matata.”
Weekend Update is often the strongest part of a regular SNL episode, and the anniversary edition did not disappoint. Michael Che and Colin Jost were on point, and seeing both Seth Meyers and Bill Murray back at the update desk (with Chevy Chase’s curious absence despite being present at the taping) was extremely special. I’m obsessed with the updated “The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With At a Party” and “Drunk Uncle” lore.
Of course, not every moment can or should be action-packed. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s audience Q&A provided a nice interlude between sketches and musical performances. The “In Memoriam” segment, revisiting the characters and sketches that aged poorly, provided an acknowledgment of the show’s most problematic moments and highlighted the evolving nature of comedy.
While I have found many of the hosts this season to be lackluster, this special reminded me why I love SNL. It builds off of itself, is constantly changing with the cultural landscape and has a stacked cast of the funniest people in Hollywood to pull it off. While it is not always funny, SNL always finds its footing.
