As a lifelong fan of Saturday Night Live — and the Eagles — I have had much to celebrate in the past week. SNL celebrated 50 years on air this weekend with a sold-out concert on Feb. 14 and a star-studded anniversary special on Feb. 16.
Having not skipped a week of SNL since I was 11, I was amped when the anniversary special started. The show is full of so much history, and dozens of legendary comedians have gotten their start in the halls of Studio 8H in the half-century the show has been running. In just a few hours, this special would have to honor all this on top of being funny.
People online like to stick their noses up at SNL and claim it isn’t funny. I’d like to show SNL50 to anyone who says this from now on. From the first sketch, which saw the return of Will Ferrell, Fred Armisen, and Kristen Wiig, I was laughing.
No matter how many comedy movies or sitcoms I watch, I haven’t laughed harder than when I watch a good SNL sketch live with my friends. SNL50 was like this experience but for over three hours.
Domingo, one of the newer characters the show has introduced, returned alongside Sabrina Carpenter and Pedro Pascal in one of the best sketches of the night. Debbie Downer reappeared as well, spreading her depressing knowledge to Robert De Niro and Ayo Edibiri. Seeing so many classic acts back in action was delightful.
The show has been on a break for the last couple of weeks as the star-studded cast rehearsed sketches writers had ample time to write. Instead of compiling a show in five days — part of what makes the legacy of the show so miraculous — assembling this over a few weeks paid off.
Sketches like John Mulaney’s New York Musical, a ten-minute epic filled with several set changes and elaborate costumes and choreography, couldn’t be possible on a usual schedule. Pete Davidson, Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, and David Spade star in this sketch, which was a highlight of the night.
Aside from the sketches, celebrities would present compilations from the history of the show, one of which featured clips they “couldn’t believe they weren’t canceled for.” Early on, Emma Stone presented a compilation of SNL’s physical comedy. From Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi falling to Molly Shannon crashing through walls, this segment had the entire studio bowled over laughing.
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This combination of celebrity guest stars, sketches with a higher production level, and hilarious pre-recorded bits provided the long run-time with a much-needed sense of variety. Music guests Miley Cyrus, Lil Wayne, and Paul McCartney helped in this, too.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of the show came from the touching moments of reflection. Original cast member Garrett Morris introduced a black-and-white film reel from 1978 in which fellow founding cast member John Belushi dresses as an old man and visits the graves of his friends, leaving them hilariously backhanded prayers.
Seeing this unearthed sketch was haunting since four years after that sketch aired, Belushi died of a drug overdose. It was a respectful and tragic reminder that so many iconic SNL comedians died far too young.
During the show’s goodbyes, original cast members Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman held up a portrait of Gilda Radner who passed away after a long, public battle with cancer in 1989. These tributes were incredibly impactful, but Adam Sandler’s musical tribute to Chris Farley and Norm Macdonald received a standing ovation from the crowd and me in my house.
This balance of melancholy reflection with celebratory comedy made for a perfect tribute to the show I’ve loved all my life. While it is unclear what the show’s future looks like, SNL50 has cemented its legacy as an entertainment institution.