For fifty years, Saturday Night Live has been at the peak of sketch comedy entertainment. The show is partially credited with giving numerous renowned actors and celebrities their careers, such as Adam Sandler, Kristen Wiig, Eddie Murphy, Amy Poehler, and the late great Chris Farley. Saturday Night Live has consistently shaped the genre over the past half-century, and their 50th Anniversary special on Feb. 16 was a celebration of these years of sketch comedy gold.
SNL alumni, comedians, musicians, actors, and various other celebrities packed into the iconic Studio 8H, creating a fame-filled attendance list to rival award shows such as the Grammy’s. Throughout the night, this aspect of the audience was utilized in multiple different crowd work imitation skits, which of course were pre-written collaborations between some of comedy’s best. Similarly, aspects of the show that are normally solo acts, such as the monologue and musical guest, were also collaborations. Steve Martin, John Mulaney, and Martin Short came together to perform the monologue, and Paul Simon, Sabrina Carpenter, Paul McCartney, Miley Cirus, Brittany Howard, Lil Wayne, and the legendary Roots all performed in place of a single musical guest. Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter’s collaboration was particularly profound, opening the show with both a seasoned old-time artist and a younger, fresher one in terms of both the music industry and experience on SNL.
Throughout the night, new and old fan favorite skits made reappearances: ‘Black Jeopardy’ with Eddie Murphy and Tracy Morgan, the ‘Domingo’ saga with Marcello Hernadez and Bad Bunny, ‘Debbie Downer’ with Rachel Dratch, ‘Bronx Beat’ with Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler, and of course ‘Weekend Update’, where modern-day hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost were joined by past hosts Seth Meyers and Bill Murray, with Murray ranking every anchor of the segment except for Jost.
While the show obviously emphasizes comedy and hilarity, there were some sentimental moments mixed in as well. Adam Sandler performed an original song that had both himself and many audience and crew members tearing up, and John Mulaney led an ensemble of current and past cast members, joined by Lin Manuel Miranda, in a musical sketch thanking New York City for all the history.
One of the biggest criticisms of SNL is that the level of comedy isn’t consistent, and sometimes it just isn’t very funny. While this stance is debatable, what isn’t debatable is that the 50th Anniversary Special was one of the best, funniest, well rounded episodes we’ve seen out of Studio 8H in a long time. Every sketch was hilarious, and almost every sketch had a message behind it that didn’t take away from the humor. It did help that SNL was able to utilize the best of the best from the last 50 years of the show, but it was definitely a nice victory for die hard fans over the non-stop criticism.
Saturday Night Live’s 50th Anniversary Special was a victory lap, a celebration, and a preview of 50 more years of top-tier comedy entertainment. You can’t mention comedy without thinking of SNL, and the 50th Anniversary Episode is proof that this claim will continue to ring true into the future.
