“Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”
The iconic, live, televised sketch-comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) celebrated an unforgettable milestone– its 50th anniversary. Notable stars packed the seats of NBC Studio 8H to commemorate, laugh and reminisce during a three and a half hour special that aired at 8pm on February 16th.
Starting in 1975 under creator Lorne Michaels, it has featured countless comedians, actors, singers, athletes and even politicians on the show. Many stars got their start on SNL, including Chevy Chase “Vacation”, Tina Fey “30 Rock”, Adam Sandler “Grown Ups”, and even a current cast member, Bowen Yang “Wicked”.
In 2015, SNL hosted a three-and-a-half hour long 40th anniversary special with appearances, tributes and montages. For example, during the Weekend Update segment, anchors paid tribute to Chevy Chase, the very first anchor back in 1975. On the musical side, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon were all featured as musical guests, which is vastly different from the typical layout of the show (one musical guest, two performances).
Before watching the 50th special, Ellie Barancik, a former receptionist at 8H and a former SNL Script PA, had numerous expectations for the special. “I think it’s going to be star-studded with lots of surprises. They’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
It was indeed a star-studded spectacular. Instead of a typical political open, music legend Paul Simon sang “Homeward Bound” alongside Sabrina Carpenter. After, Steve Martin entered the stage and delivered a comical monologue. “The monologue is the weakest part of the show,” he joked.
The first few sketches reprised iconic past segments, including the “Lawrence Welk Show” parody from eleven years ago with many former cast members. The viral “Domingo” sketch returned featuring Martin Short, Molly Shannon, Pedro Pascal and Sabrina Carpenter– just to name a few.
Amy Poehler and Tina Fey held a staged Q&A in the audience, answering questions from Tim Meadows (their Mean Girls castmate), comedian Nate Bargatze and musician Keith Richards. During “Weekend Update”, Bill Murray, a former anchor, ranked the other anchors, putting Colin Quinn at the bottom and Norm Macdonald at the top.
Montages were also featured. Molly Shannon and Emma Stone introduced a silly montage of “physical comedy” which showed a huge compilation of comedic falls and dances throughout the show. Tom Hanks began an “In Memoriam” montage spotlighting all of the old sketches that were undeniably problematic.
Alongside “Homeward Bound”, Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard sang “Nothing Compares 2 U” in tribute to the late Sinéad O’Connor. Lil Wayne and The Roots performed a medley of his hits. Adam Sandler sang a humorous song called “50 years” that celebrated the show and Lorne Micheals. Paul Mcartney closed the show with “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and “The End.”, the last songs on The Beatles album “Abbey Road”.
Since it has been 50 years, it is important to note how the show has changed since 1975. From new and diverse cast members to the types of sketches, it has evolved.
“There’s always a new audience to fall in love with it,” Barancik said. “Back then, in 1975, if you didn’t see it live on Saturday night you missed it. Now, there’s a huge evolution with the show right there just with social media and TikTok, and that’s how many know the show,” she continued.
A new generation has risen that loves the show: Gen-Z. Many sketches have targeted Gen-Z this season such as “Domingo,” (featured for the third time this season during the special) which consists of cast members doing a funny parody of “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, “HOT TO GO!” by Chappell Roan, “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, and “You Belong with Me” by Taylor Swift. These songs mostly appeal to Gen-Z, but can have an impact on any generation. During the sketch, Martin Short’s character jokingly yelled, “Oh my God it’s Taylor! I think she’s doing Taylor!”
“SNL has definitely started to pander more to Gen-Z and millennials as opposed to the older generations, which definitely will start to ostracize them a bit more,” sophomore Lena Paull said. “However, especially during Season 50, their political bits were pretty well received by older generations making it an even bigger community of fans,” Paull continued.
Barancik has also noticed the difference in generations watching the show currently. “As you get older, people tend to be a little bit more critical and there are a lot of people out there that say the show hasn’t been good since 1975.”
“It was so special to see so many amazing people both on stage and in the audience, and it was so cool to see how SNL celebrated 50 years of sketch comedy,” sophomore Estela Ostrom said, recapping her positive experience watching the special. “I loved everything, especially how they celebrated all the different aspects of comedy we know and love on SNL.”
