This article contains spoilers from “SNL’s 50th Anniversary Special.”
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” also known as SNL, celebrated their 50th anniversary on Feb.16 with a three-hour special. The night was jam packed with live performances, returns of old sketches and many celebrity appearances.
The show had so many iconic moments that it would be almost impossible to highlight them all, but here are some of my personal favorites.
Opening musical performance and Steve Martin’s monologue
Contrary to the normal “Cold Open” of SNL, Sabrina Carpenter and Paul Simon opened the show with “Homeward Bound,” by Simon & Garfunkel. The performance was done on what is known to be “home base,” or where the monologue occurs for the show.
I loved how SNL changed it up and started with a live performance instead, because the symbolism created by singing “Homeward Bound” is truly irreplaceable. It created a wholesome start to a show that has changed so many lives.
Right after the performance, Steve Martin performed a monologue, making jabs at the current political environment of the United States while acknowledging SNL’s past. He mentions how he only had a few days’ notice that he was doing the monologue, receiving the notice from Lorne while vacationing on his friend’s boat in the “Gulf of Steve Martin.”
Later in the monologue, Martin gave a shoutout to the writers, “Who have always been the heart and soul of SNL,” telling them to stand up and take a bow, but then a clip is shown of them standing outside with umbrellas in the rain. Then, to wrap up the joke, he goes, “By the way, that tribute to the writers was written by AI.”
To close the monologue, Martin Short appears on stage, claiming they were supposed to host together. Martin then asks, “Do you have your passport on you?” Short, being a Canadian, responds “No,” and Martin goes “ICE, get him!” Mikey Day and Kenan Thompson appear on stage, dressed as ICE officers, to drag Short offstage.
After the monologue, much of the show focuses on recreating and revamping iconic sketches, starting off with the Maharelle sisters on the Lawrence Welk show.
The sketch has Robert Goulet — Will Ferrell — flirting with three of the Maharelle sisters — Scarlett Johansson, Kim Kardashian and Ana Gasteyer — apparently looking for a bride. After the three sisters sing their names in the perfect pitch, the camera pans to the fourth Maharelle sister with a receding hairline — Kristen Wiig — sitting in the side car of Goulet’s motorcycle, repeating the iconic line in an out-of-pitch voice, “And I’m Dooneese.”
The sketch grew in popularity on TikTok in the past few years, and I was happy they brought it back. Wiig’s acting as Dooneese is truly impeccable and makes the audience bend over laughing every time.
Now, to take us to a more present time, it is time to talk about everyone’s favorite affair, “Domingo.” Even though the character Domingo — Marcello Hernández — just debuted this past fall, he has already proven to be an iconic SNL sketch, so it makes sense that they would do another recreation of it for a “Vow Renewal.”
This time around, it is the groomsmen — Bowen Yang, Andy Samburg, Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett — who sing a parody of “Espresso,” — with a little help from Sabrina Carpenter. It is revealed that the groom Matt — Andrew Dismukes — had an affair with a man named Renaldo — Pedro Pascal — during their boy’s weekend.
Renaldo happens to be the brother of Domingo, and it tied the story together perfectly. It made for some great commentary from the family and friends involved, and I was impressed on how these sketches keep getting better — especially when recurring sketches can feel repetitive at times.
Would it really be a SNL special without a Tina Fey and Amy Poehler moment? In short, it would not, and a Q/A was a perfect way to highlight this dynamic duo.
With celebrity features from Quinta Brunson, Ryan Reynolds, Seth Myers and Tim Meadows, the duo addressed common questions about SNL, both on and off topic. Nevertheless, when Ryan Reynolds asks a question, he hints at the current lawsuits between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively, drawing a strong reaction from Lively — his wife.
At one point, Peyton Manning asks if Lorne is retiring — the hot question of the night — and once he discovers he is not, Manning encourages him to not retire. He complains about all the public appearances and commercials he partakes in, and retirement is not as glamourous as it is made out to be.
Miley Cyrus, Brittany Howard and The Roots perform “Nothing Compares 2 U”
Introduced by Aubrey Plaza — who was wearing a tie dye shirt in honor of her husband, Jeff Baena, who recently passed away — Miley Cyrus, Brittany Howard and The Roots sang “Nothing Compares 2 U,” by the late Sinead O’Connor.
This performance was monumental for SNL’s history. In 1992, when Sinead O’Connor was the musical guest, instead of singing her hit song, “Nothing Compares 2 U,” — written by Prince, but made famous by her second studio album — she sang “War” by Bob Marley acapella.
Once she finished her performance, she ripped a photo of Pope John Paul II into pieces, stating “Fight the real enemy.” O’Connor completed the act with the hope of bringing awareness to sexual abuse in the Catholic Church but was met with much public backlash. She was banned from the show and often mocked during the show for years to come. Many people saw this as a way of SNL apologizing for the way they treated her after the incident.
What better way to transition from that symbol-filled performance than with a Weekend Update with Michael Che and Colin Jost?
This Weekend Update was filled with many classic Che and Jost jokes, but more importantly, the return of some iconic characters. “Drunk Uncle” — Bobby Moynihan — and “The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With” — Cecily Strong — both made an appearance. They even had a crossover moment when it was revealed that “Drunk Uncle” is the father of “The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation Withs'” child.
Alongside that, Seth Myers took a seat at the Update Desk, interviewing “Lorne’s Best Friends from Growing Up” for old times sake.
Even with these iconic update guests, I could not help but long for Stefon — Bill Hader. Hader did not make an appearance in the entire show, and I have to say, I was very disappointed. He shaped such a large time period of SNL, especially with Stefon, and without him, it felt as if the special was missing a little piece.
Kate McKinnon returns with “A Close Encounter”
Next up, we had yet another return of a classic series: “A Close Encounter.“
Kate McKinnon returned with some of her best work, also known for trying her hardest to make the host break by violating their personal space for the sack of the bit.
This time around, Meryl Streep came out as McKinnon’s mother, and it was perfection. Their mannerisms perfectly mirrored each other from the manspreading, tapping the ashes out of the cigarette and describing their experiences of how the alien abduction ended with each of them losing their pants.
It is pretty impossible to mess this sketch up, as it has become a SNL classic, and it still makes my stomach hurt from laughing every time I watch it.
This next one was a tear-jerker to say the least.
Adam Sandler performed a song called “50 Years,” highlighting the common experiences of SNL cast members over the past 50 years in a tribute to Lorne Michaels.
Although some lines received strong reactions from the audience, the tributes within the song led to emotional responses from many people, including Sandler himself.
Sandler specifically provided tributes to Norm Macdonald and Marquette Alumni Chris Farley — two of his fellow cast members from his time on the show. Sandler sings, “Six years of our boy Farley; Five of our buddy Norm,” appearing slightly choked up at the mention of their names.
At the end of the song, a series of clips are played with cast members, musical guests and hosts saying “Goodnight” from home base, and Farley can be seen wearing a gray Marquette Sweatshirt.
Undoubtedly, in my opinion, this was the best part of the show. Sandler had an incredible performance and was able to perfectly encapsulate the impact of SNL on so many people’s lives — even if they were never on the show. I have found myself rewatching the song multiples times, as it was an amazing tribute to such an iconic show.
New York Through the Decades: A Musical
After Sandler’s song had people pulling out the tissue box, John Mulaney quickly had us laughing again with one of his iconic musical parodies.
The ten-minute sketch takes the audiences through five decades of New York City, highlighting songs from “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Fame,” “The Lion King” and so many more. There were celebrities and cast members from almost every decade, from David Spade to Chloe Fineman.
People are offered hot dogs with heroin, speak about the 80s obsession with cocaine and vodka and Kristin Wiig dresses up as the green M&M. It does not get more chaotic and SNL than that.
“The Bronx Beat” with Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph is BACK and they are chattier than ever.
With this iconic sketch, Miles Teller and Mike Myers both made appearances — and barely spoke a few words with how chatty the talk show hosts were.
This sketch felt like a warm hug, not only because they talked about “Sweater Weather,” but because it is such a classic sketch, and provided such a large sense of nostalgia as I watched it. How can you not love Poehler and Rudolph together?
Something the general public often fails to acknowledge is that the term “Debbie Downer” was created by SNL, so it was only fitting that they brought her back for the 50th anniversary special.
In the sketch, Jimmy Fallon, Ayo Edebiri, Drew Barrymore and Robert De Niro all attempt to enjoy a peaceful night, but Debbie Downer — Rachel Dratch — bartended at the event, kept bringing the mood down with her depressing topics from microplastics to even one of her oldest jokes, where she announces that she cannot have kids.
In the final flashback of the show, Garrett Morris introduces “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” a 1978 film shot by Tom Schiller, highlighting all of the original cast and their achievements — or lack thereof.
It was the most SNL-way to honor the people who started it all, by slightly making fun of them and acknowledging that this show would be nothing without them.
In its entirety, “SNL’s 50th Anniversary Special” was truly spectacular. They did a phenomenal job of recreating many of the sketches that people have continued to love for years, while adding a modern twist to a few of them.
This show has created so many stars and legends through iconic moments and characters that it was only fair that the show’s anniversary special was iconic within itself, even if it did premiere on a Sunday night.
“SNL’s 50th Anniversary Special” is available for streaming on Peacock.
This story was written by MaryKate Stepchuk. She can be reached at marykate.stepchuk@marquette.edu.
