The ‘Saturday Night Live’ 50th celebration was everything we wanted and more
We’ve had 50 wonderful years of Saturday Night Live and the celebration for the anniversary did not disappoint. From favorite characters to touching tributes, it was one of the best specials the show has ever done.
As with past celebrations of the show, there was a lot of celebration of casts old and new. We started the show with a beautiful duet between Sabrina Carpenter, a more recent guest on the show, and Paul Simon, who kicked the show off and was part of Saturday Night Live from the start. They allowed Steve Martin and Martin Short to do the monologue and it all felt very much like a love letter to the show.
The entire episode had a nice balance between older sketches we know and love (like starting us off with The Maharelle Sisters).
It paired nicely with new sketches of “Bronx Beat” that brought Linda Richman from “Coffee Talk” to talk with the girls. Or “Scared Straight” that had Jason Sudeikis yet again jumping on a table and making everyone break.
Pedro Pascal and Meryl Streep got to talk about aliens encounters with Kate McKinnon’s iconic “Close Encounters” character and she even made Woody Harrelson break. And we ended up with a return to Lonely Island with a new digital short all about the anxiety that the SNL cast has.
They even let John Mulaney do another musical sketch and somehow this was better than all the ones that have come before it.
But the moment that really made me cry was Adam Sandler’s song about the show. It was a beautiful nod to past casts and how, despite everyone talking about how their cast was the best, nothing beats that first cast.
Without them, we wouldn’t have 50 years of this beautiful show and it was emotional as he highlighted so many stars we’ve missed through the years.
A better celebration than the 40th
The SNL40 celebration wasn’t bad but it felt like they were trying to keep the show alive when they weren’t sure they’d make it to 50 years. It was somber almost. But the 50th celebration was all about the joy that the show has brought audiences (and continues to do) week after week.
We don’t know what the conversations were like before the 40th but it did feel like the celebration was done out of fear of the show getting canceled before we made it to 50. That put a damper on the night that I just don’t think the 50th had. It was just a celebration of the show we all felt joy watching. There wasn’t a fear that we wouldn’t be here for 50 more years looming over the night and it was just a joyful experience.
I was lucky enough to be in the fan pit for red carpet and getting to see so many comedy legends in one place warmed my heart. I was able to see Amy Poehler in the flesh, I told Ben Stiller thank you for Severance, and I even yelled out to Costner. It was a wonderful time and I loved getting to celebrate Saturday Night Live‘s 50th birthday with fans who love it just as much as I do.
Oh how could I forget the best Domingo sketch to ever Domingo?
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
