SNL 50: The Anniversary Special, two hours and 32 minutes of pure, non-stop comedic joy, aired on Feb. 16 (a rather uncommon day for the icons of Studio 8H, considering it was a Sunday). With musical guests ranging from Paul McCartney to Miley Cyrus to The Roots, and SNL icons like Kate McKinnon, Seth Meyers and Will Ferrell reprising classic roles, the night was nothing short of hilarious and historic.
Recent two-time Grammy winner Sabrina Carpenter opens the show with Paul Simon (half of the 60’s musical duo Simon and Garfunkel). Both sing a beautiful rendition of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound,” to which Simon recalls singing with George Harrison on SNL in 1976. Carpenter subsequently adds, “I was not born then, and neither were my parents.”
The typical introduction and cast theme that occurs after the cold open instead features cool retro art of NYC’s skyline, featuring clips of hosts from various years; all the way from John Travolta to Elton John to Lisa Kudrow, a slew of familiar faces pops up on screen. The montage also includes cast pictures; most notably that of the original cast, which featured Dan Akroyd, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtain, Lorraine Newman, Garrett Morris, Chevy Chase and John Belushi. In his song, which I’ll get to in just a few short paragraphs, Adam Sandler attributes the success of SNL to these seven “Not Ready for Prime Time Players.” It was a joy and honor to see the legends themselves: Newman (in a hilarious sketch with Pete Davidson), Morris (who gave a touching tribute goodnight) and Curtain (with Newman seen holding a picture of their dear friend Radner). Steve Martin begins the fun for the evening: performing the opening monologue with grace and charisma: calling himself the “newest diversity hire.” The band is seen behind him decked in white suits and as fantastic sounding as ever. Martin takes a moment to thank the hard work of the writers while a camera cuts to them standing outside with umbrellas in the pouring rain. Martin explains there wasn’t enough room for them to sit inside with the rest of the celebrity guests.
Speaking of which, several notable attendees were featured in sketches: Kim Kardashian, Scarlett Johannson, Tom Hanks, Pedro Pascal, Robert DeNiro, Bad Bunny, Woody Harrelson and more each tried their hand at comedy and were overall very successful. Prominent faces seated throughout the studio included Kevin Costner, Ryan Reynolds, Quinta Brunson, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg, Anya Taylor-Joy, Cher, Katherine O’Hara, Brandi Carlisle and Nate Bargatze.
Here’s a list of the sketches in order, with just a few more added details:
1. The Lawrence Welk Show
Featuring Fred Armisen reprising his role as Lawrence Welk , along with sisters from the “Finger” Lakes, aka former SNL alum Ana Gasteyer, Kim Kardashian, Scarlett Johansson and Kristen Wiig (playing Dooneese, originally a parody character but became such a cornerstone Wiig played her several times over her SNL career). Tank you, tank you.
2. Black Jeopardy
Here, we see a perfect combination of Leslie Jones as contestant Shanice, Tracy Morgan as a contestant named Darius and Eddie Murphy playing Tracy Morgan, fit with Morgan’s booming voice and hilarious additives. Tom Hanks reprises his role as Doug, a MAGA-hat-wearing white man who answers all the questions correctly.
3. Molly Shannon as Sally O’Malley
She can kick and stretch and kick again. O’Malley informs the crowd that she’s 50 years old, the current age of SNL. Shannon has portrayed O’Malley many times throughout her SNL career, and it is considered to be one of her most iconic characters, alongside Mary Katherine Gallagher and Terry Rialto of NPR.
4. Domingo: Vow Renewal
That’s right. Domingo’s back. The original sketch with Ariana Grande that caught the cultural zeitgeist is back with its third installment—featuring Sabrina Carpenter doing a parody of “Wicked’s” “Defying Gravity,” Pedro Pascal (Renaldo) and Bad Bunny (Santiago) playing Domingo’s relatives and Matt’s groomsmen (current cast member Bowen Yang, The Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg, Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett, good friends during their eight years together on SNL). Domingo sings along to Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me” where he sings: “But what she’s looking for, is this hung Latin guy!”
5. Q&A
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler turned the cameras on the audience in Studio 8H, where they asked a myriad of questions to some familiar faces, as well as answered many questions of their own. They reaffirmed themselves as groundbreakers in comedy, both for women and the SNL community as a whole.
6. Anxiety
Yang and Samberg perform a song about how much anxiety surrounds comedians on SNL, as well as how most of them have some form of irritable bowel syndrome. Weird, but okay, I like it. I guess it is way worse than working in a coal mine.
7. Weekend Update
Marking the halfway point of the show, Colin Jost and Michael Che begin the segment as usual; however, this time around, edits of former anchors like Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Nealon, Tina Fey and Norm MacDonald pass by on the screen. Special shoutout to Jost and Che are joined by some former iconic characters to include “Drunk Uncle” (played by Bobby Moynihan) and “The Girl You Wished You Hadn’t Started a Conversation with at a Party” (played by Cecily Strong). Jost then hands it over to former anchor Seth Meyers, who introduces Lorne Michael’s two best friends from childhood, who speak very softly and are quite Canadian (played by Vanessa Bayer and Fred Armisen). I’m biased because of how much I love Bayer and Armisen, but I thought it was one of the best parts of the entire show. Bill Murray ends Update by listing his rankings of his favorite anchors, with plenty of jokes regarding O.J. Simpson, “girl-on-girl,” performance-enhancing drugs and Michael Che being the default for best African American Update anchor, as he is the only one.
8. Close Encounter
“Yeah, a little different for me…” SNL icon Kate McKinnon reprises one of her greatest roles of all time, a cigarette-smoking, redneck woman who keeps getting abducted by aliens. Pedro Pascal and Woody Harrelson play McKinnon’s friends, who had a very positive experience. However, as Colleen tells Aidy Bryant and John Hamm, it was “a little different” for her. Meryl Streep plays Rafferty’s mother, where she quotes many of her famous roles in movies including “Into the Woods” and what she calls “Devil Wears Nada.” McKinnon of course plays Rafferty as a manspreading, inappropriate character to can’t help but touch Pascal and Harrelson’s groin areas—and no one else can do it like Kate.
9. Chad and Lorraine
Pete Davidson plays his hilarious character “Chad,” a strung-out, deadbeat who’s only response to most things is “…Okay.” Original cast member Lorraine Newman explores how much the studio has changed, as Chad plays a backstage hand. Stay tuned for a cacophony of “my bad’s.”
10. Adam Sandler’s Song, “50 Years”
Probably the most touching moment of the entire show was Adam Sandler’s song he wrote regarding SNL’s wonderful, and somewhat infamous, history. He sings, “Four years of Eddie Murphy, eight years of Will Forte, five years of Chan Hooks and Gilda Radner, six of Victoria, 11 of Che, three years of Melanie Hutsell, Michael McKean crushed it in two, one of Billy Crystal’s, six of Dennis Miller, eight of Hartman, the Glue, seven years of Dratch and Wiig, five years Oteri and Quinn, four of Kazurinsky and Cleghorne, 11 of Armisen, 14 years of Davis and Andy, Schiller and Smigel 25, 18 of Audrey Dickman and Davey Wilson, plus Eamon and Disco and Bobby Van Ry, 30 years of Downey, 45 years of Lorne, six years of our boy Farley, five of our buddy Norm.”
11. SNL 50th Musical
A smorgasbord of Broadway songs like “Fame,” “Hakuna Matata,” “My Shot” and “Suddenly Seymour” with some strikingly different lyrics. Watch this if you want to see Adam Driver in a hot dog costume, Nathan Lane voicing a meerkat again or Lin Manuel-Miranda reprising his role as Hamilton.
12. Ads
This segment features clips of funny ads from all 50 seasons. My personal favorites are Casey Affleck shouting about Dunkin and “Swiftamine,” for when you just can’t stop listening to Taylor Swift.
13. Bronx Beat
That’s right! The “sweater weather” ladies are back, bombarding Miles Teller with questions about being an actor, and seeing their great friend Linda, who loves “Cawfee.” If you know who spells “cawfee” like that, you know who Linda is.
14. Apology
On behalf of any sexual harassment, as well as ethnically ambiguous characters throughout the years.
15. Debbie Downer
“Always here to tell you ‘bout a new disease, a car accident or killer bees. You beg her to spare you, Debbie please! But you can’t stop Debbie Downer!” I don’t think anyone could play this character quite like Rachel Dratch. Mix Fallon, Drew Barrymore, Ayo Edebiri and Robert DeNiro trying to choke Debbie out, and you’ll be sure to have a smile on your face. Unlike Debbie, of course.
16. Scared Straight
This sketch is Kenan Thompson’s love child, featuring Eddie Murphy, Will Murphy and Lorenzo McIntosh (played by Thompson) attempting to scare current cast members Michael Longfellow, Marcello Hernandez, and Mikey Day “straight.” Be prepared to clean your ears to make sure you heard some of this stuff right.
17.A Garrett Morris Goodbye
The original cast member shows a video of fellow former cast member John Belushi, who visits the graves of his comrades and hilariously explains how each of them died. A touching farewell to wrap up the show’s first 50 years, and a great homage to what’s to come in the next 50.
Sir Paul McCartney plays a combination of “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End” to end the show. Martin Short ends with a big thank you to Lorne Michaels, whom the show would not exist without. Needless to say, this 50th anniversary special is a must-watch. You’ll undoubtedly laugh, and maybe even cry. What else is SNL for?
