50 Years of Satire on Saturday

Julia Forest

Copy Editor

Happy 50th anniversary to “Saturday Night Live!” NBC celebrated the historic milestone by dedicating the whole weekend to the famous sketch comedy show. On February 14th, there was a SNL homecoming concert, which was hosted by Jimmy Fallon. Cher, Lady Gaga, Bonnie Raitt, Chris Martin, Nirvana, The Backstreet Boys, Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, the B-52s, and many others took to the iconic stage at Radio City Music Hall.

On February 15th, NBC reaired the very first episode of SNL. George Carlin was the host, while Billy Preston and Janis Ian were the musical guests. The original cast included John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Dan Aykroyd, and Laraine Newman.

The SNL 50th Anniversary Special took place on February 16th. The show opened with Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter singing “Homeward Bound.”

Steve Martin, who has hosted SNL 16 times since 1976, gave the opening monologue. John Mulaney and Martin Short also made appearances alongside Martin. Many familiar sketches made a comeback. The Lawrence Welk Show, Black Jeopardy, Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey, Weekend Update, Bronx Beat, Coffee Talk, Debbie Downer and more were featured.

The television special also highlighted some of the best physical comedy moments and commercial parodies that the show has seen in the last 50 years.

Each sketch was jam-packed with famous stars. Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer, Bowen Yang, Scarlett Johnansson, Kristen Wiig, Fred Armisen, Kenan Thompson, Rachel Dratch, Chris Rock, Robert De Niro, Molly Shannon, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Cecily Strong, Eddie Murphy, Nathan Lane, Bill Murray, and Maya Rudolph, among so many others, including the current cast of SNL, each had their turn in the spotlight. Even Meryl Streep made her SNL debut in a skit with Pedro Pascal, Kate McKinnon, and Woody Harrelson.

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler ran an audience Q&A, which showed off the celebrity filled studio. Quinta Brunson, Steven Spielberg, Ben Stiller, Larry David, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jerry Seinfeld, Conan O’Brien, Billy Crystal, Ray Romano, David Letterman, Catherine O’Hara, and Ryan Reynolds were some of the stars that could be seen amongst the crowd.

Tom Hanks presented an “in memoriam” for sketches, hosts and characters that have aged poorly over the years, which highlighted how much cultural norms have changed.

 Jack Nicholson introduced Adam Sandler, who sang a song about the different casts and crew members of SNL. Sandler concluded the song by remembering Norm Macdonald and Chris Farley’s impact on the show.

Aubrey Plaza introduced musical guests, Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard, who sang Sinéad O’Connor’s, “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Lil Wayne and The Roots also contributed to the music that night. Furthermore, Paul McCartney closed the musical acts with “Golden Slumbers” and “Carry That Weight.”

Martin Short, who recently joined the five-timers club back in December, closed the show by thanking Lorne Michaels, who created SNL. Michaels has been the producer for SNL since 1975.

Amongst the sea of celebrities behind Short, original cast members, Jane Curtin, Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, and Laraine Newman were there, with Newman holding up a picture of Gilda Radner, who passed away in 1989.

Without a doubt, “Saturday Night Live” has truly become an American staple and tradition when it comes to comedy. “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” remains to be a meaningful phrase to many.