Simon & Carpenter (Homeward Bound)
- Wow. Strange but intriguing combo right off the bat. Appreciate the deep cut, though.
- I do like the “wasn't born yet/neither were her parents” jab which Paul seemingly took in stride.
- I gotta say Sabrina's doing a good job of holding her own against Paul vocally here.
- Seems a little somber to open rather than close with, but no complaints here.
Montage
- While this was visually dazzling, I found it a bit strange that Darrell Hammond only announced the musical guests but I also realized that if they announced all the cast members and guests on the show that might take five whole minutes. Plus, I do like the small sense of surprise this lends to the show.
Monologue
- Overall, I liked Steve's monologue (especially the end…heh, great job, Steve! Loved the whole thing!) but (*looks around and whispers once he is absolutely sure Steve Martin is out of earshot*) I honestly liked his 40th monologue a bit better. That one felt a bit more fresh and original (probably since we hadn't seen Steve host with or without Marty as recently in the lead up to SNL40 as we had leading up to this one).
- I guess neither Steve nor Tom Hanks were entirely wrong about the monologue being “the weakest part of the show”.
- Those “diversity hire” and “Gulf of Steve Martin” jokes came off odd to me but the rest of Steve's stand up.
- I especially liked the sudden Letterman cutaway and the “writers’ tribute”
- I heard Steve (and possibly Mulaney & Marty?) were workshopping material for this monologue at the Comedy Cellar a few days ago (and you can kinda tell since quite a bit of it seems personal and not about SNL in particular).
- Yeah, I think maybe more than just two hosts may have committed murder, John (but that's a discussion for another time).
- Marty's cameo was fine. He gave it just the right energy that the “ICE! Get him!” gag came off just right and didn't feel too inappropriate.
- I mean, full disclosure, I may mot have laughed as much at the Martin Short/ICE gag because something like that actually happened to my sister at her job…but I'm also dealing with recent unemployment and a much more recent death in the family right now. I'm not gonna let either of those things affect my enjoyment of this special. I'm using it to distract myself from those things anyway. Moving on…
Lawrence Welk
- Wow, is it just me or is Armisen really showing his age more than ever in his Lawrence Welk role?
- Well, I've always been pretty ambivalent towards Dooneese…but I have always liked Ferrells’ Goulet. I also liked Kenans’ contortionist and the idea of Gasteyer and Johansson as backup Singers.
- Most of all, I…can put up with them shoving Kim Kardashian into the background of this sketch where she can't steal too much focus until Wiig does a drum solo on her skirt covered ass which…guys, c'mon.
- I did like the surprise gag of Dooneeses’ sudden third hand making an appearance.
- It makes sense that they would work this into a new 21st century anniversary special that airs in prime time (especially the first third) but I probably would've liked this a bit better if it didn't so closely resemble the second iteration of Lawrence Welk/Dooneese they actually did during Ferrells’ second hosting stints (and the one with Jon Hamm they did during Wiigs final episode really).
- They also did this as the cold open to the Betty White/Jay-Z episode from May 2010. I mention that as a positive because with this in a prominent spot at the top of the rundown and all the former cast cameos, this really does feel like a much bigger version of the “event” that episode was…which is good.
Black Jeopardy
- Ok, now HERE'S something I could always get on board with! I liked them including Tracy as “Darius” and Eddie as Tracy.
- Eddie's impression of Tracy was fun. The voice he used was a bit high but he's got Tracy's delivery down perfect. If anything, Eddie just sounds like a much younger version of Tracy (or he may have been channeling Tracy Jordan from 30 Rock/TGS more than Tracy Morgan of SNL fame).
- I really liked them using Black Jeopardy as a way to address the shows’ troubles with diversity that apparently lead into it's troubles attracting (let alone keeping) a black audience at times.
- I did like the “wrong” guesses of In Living Color, Showtime At The Apollo and Soul Train (as telegraphed as they seemed).
- I do appreciate how they tried to work in Chris Rock and Tom Hanks’ character “Doug” to make it seem reminiscent of the Jeopardy sketch from the LAST big anniversary special (as sloppily executed as those seemed but, hey they never have enough time to rehearse the live sketches in these so I can forgive that) but was the audience just…AFRAID to laugh at the “handshake” gag they rehashed from the original Black Jeopardy…that had Tom Hanks in it?
- Even if it came out feeling like the second Black Jeopardy sketch in history that Eddie Murphy participated in that was slightly…botched. This was the first genuine highlight of the special for me.
Stone & Shannon
- Ok, I guess this was one of three definite “crowd pleasing” moments they just HAD to do but I appreciate the meta acknowledgement of this being too “on the nose”.
- I guess a similar meta acknowledgement of how Sally O'Malley should chronologically be 75 now would've been too much to ask or just ruined the whole bit. I don't want to nit pick. It's supposed to be a fun night.
Physical Humor Montage
- Ok, if we do absolutely HAVE to have some clip packages in this I do appreciate what a unique and clever theme this feels like.
- I do like how they expanded on this theme so it could include everything from Chevy, Farley and Mollys’ falls and general body slams to genuine heartfelt dancing to modern pretaped blood and gore (even sneaking Aykroyd's Julia Child in there).
Kelsey and Matts’ Vow Renewal
- Oh God, here it comes. Let's just get the most inevitable moment out of the way.
- I do like Shannon and Short flubbing their way through this intro.
- I heard a rumor that Steve Carell was originally supposed to be in this but had to drop out at the last minute. Is there any truth to this? Is that why Marty's in this?
- Hey, there's Sabrina of course. I think maybe they wanted to make sure they put her only two segments on as early as they could since they figured she might have young fans who need to get to bed early in case they're school ISN'T closed for Presidents’ Day. (I know she's not exactly a teeny bopper or anything but I do know she got her start on the Disney Channel, so a lot of youngins must've followed her from there).
- Ok, back to this sketch. Don't put it off any longer.
- I guess they're spoofing a song from Wicked I don't quite recogni…oh, it's “Defying Gravity”. Cute.
- Yeah, this by far my least favorite “You Belong With Me” parody ever. (I mean, it's T. Swift so I don't think we really need to ask ourselves “why now in 2025?” here). I think you can all easily guess what my actual favorite “You Belong With Me” parody is but just in case…
- Yeah, Sabrina. What the hell IS this song? I mean, really.
- The inclusion of Bennet, Mooney, Samberg & Yang might have been my favorite part of this. Sadly, it crumbled after this with the introduction of Pedro Pascal as Domingos’ bro “Renaldo” (who may or may be Bi, apparently) and Bad Bunny as “hot brother, Santiago.”
- Couldn't they have just said Matt cheated on Kelsey with Sabrinas’ character and left it at that?
- This last third of this seemed like a jumbled mess with all the additional “lore” to the Domingo saga they tried to tack on but at least it somehow didn't feel like it ran on too long or anything.
Deep Thoughts
- Oh hey! I really dig this quick little palette cleansing throwback to the era that introduced me to the show!
Poehler & Fey's Q&A
- Overall, I liked this much more than the Seinfeld hosted Q&A from tye 40th (much more clear, concise and coherent, free of any moments that will age horrendously years from now) and it managed to beat the high bar set by the Hanks hosted Q&A from the 25th.
- Mostly I liked this for how they tried to pack some sheer strangeness into this (especially with Paytons’ odd commercial rant which was the perfect note to end this on).
- Hey, Conans’ in the audience!
- Tina & Amys’ “beauty secrets” were very funny and I liked the back & forth between Quinta & Tim (although I am enough of an SNL nerd myself to point out that Sade was actually on in November 21, 1992 and December 14, 1985 but NOT March of 1993)
- I'm…not really sure Blake & Ryan should legally even be there (I mean, I'm sure they need a break from everything) but I did like how they didn't even address the lawsuit drama (maybe outside the “what have you heard?” part)
- I liked Nate Bargatze teeing up a random tribute to a specific wardrobe crew member named Donna.
- The Lovitz bit was funny and I liked the back and forth between JLD, Driver and her dog. Good to see JLD finally make an appearance at one of these anniversary shows!
- Gee, I sure hope Cher has the answer to MY question: why the hell is Kevin Costner here?
- I especially like the Keith Richards/Zach Galifianakis bit but now I have another question: how come Mick Jagger has never been at one of these anniversary shows?
- I could've done without the Hamm/Bad Bunny bit (and Momoas’ bit if I'm being honest).
- I liked the Seth/Sharpton/Romano bit for the self awareness (they pretty much said what I was thinking)
- I also liked Fred Armisens’ bit referencing an obscure cut sketch from his era. Only a true SNL nerd would appreciate the humor in Fred Armisen calling a 2005 episode “pretty bad…front to back”.
- I appreciate how they didn't make the Kevin Spacey/Kanye jokes feel too gratuitous either.
Digital Short: Anxiety
- While there may have been a small part of me that may have preferred a Please Don't Destroy or TV Funhouse over this, I will always have a certain fondness for The Lonely Island and their digital shorts so this was a welcome sight.
- I thought the Duran Duran/Flock Of Seagulls-esque heavy 80s synth pop beat dovetailed well with the theme of this (although I feel like they could've backed off the IBS stuff a little bit) and I appreciated the Molly & Ana cameo. Bowen and Andy work very well together (even if this mostly seems to be Bowen gently airing out some personal issues with the show itself).
- Somehow, I doubt that Eddie Murphy and Billy Crystal were among the cast members who suffered the most anxiety while on the show.
- Of all the vintage anxiety A.I. deep fakes in this, the melting Mr. Bill was my personal favorite.
- I also appreciate how well they worked in Sarah, Parnell, JAJ, Kenan, Taran, Beck and Forte along with various crew members.
- Speaking of Forte, did the first two verses of this remind anyone else of his “Women's Herstory (Did You See What I Did There?)” Weekend Update song from March 2010? Come to think of it, this whole song sounded like they just mixed that with "Space Olympics" and an inverted version of “Here I Go (feat. Charli XCX) but I don't really have a problem with that.
Nothing Compares 2 U
- This might have been a stronger performance than their number at the homecoming concert on Friday night.
- This song fits Miley Cyrus’ and Brittany Howard's vocal and musical styles so well it almost makes you forget how “out of left field” the choice of song feels.
Weekend Update w/Jost, Che & Meyers
- Ok, well…I guess they didn't have too many other choices if they DIDN'T want to just repeat what they did at SNL40 but Jost & Che had decent jokes and seemed to know what wouldn't be appropriate for this event.
- I especially liked Che's “Norm/O.J” joke and Josts’ “Chevy/Kenan” and “Quademic” jokes.
- Mostly, I liked how this was more focused on showcasing the best (well, most of the best) characters from 2010s era Weekend Update and their original performers rather than having the big name celebrity guests reenact their favorite characters from the 20th century. I liked seeing Drunk Uncle, (I especially cracked up at the line “cam you yassify my chickpea pasta?”) Cecilys’ now pregnant party girl and especially Fred and Vanessas’ “Lornes’ Friends From Growing Up”.
- Wait, didn't Colin himself write most of these? What a coincidence (if true).
- I loved seeing Bill Murray subtly tease Colin Jost with his own Top Ten Update anchor ratings (even though it seems like he or someone mixed up his old Oscar picks with the old top ten bit from Wayne's World for some reason?)
- I especially liked Murray's “ignorant slut” callback as well as his “girl on girl” and “could OJ have really done it?” lines.
- Boy, I guess ol’ Billy here decided to treat anyone who hosted Update during the non-Lorne years who wasn't a blood relative of his like the best supporting actors and actresses at the Oscar's, huh? (Sorry Charlie, Gail, Mary, Christine, Brad, Christopher, Joe, Tim, “Fernando” and most of the hosts from late season 9 and early season 10).
50th Close Encounter (*someone whispers in Casey's ear*) oh, what's that? They actually did fewer than 50 of these? Hmm, that sounds about right
- I figured they might be doing another one of these. Well, it's definitely a decent way of working Kate and Aidy into this special
- Hamm, Pascal and (especially) Harrelson are nice additions to this.
- This is another series of sketches I've always been pretty “eh” on. They never quite hit right for me because of all the manufactured breaking but I don't hate it.
- These do hit all the same beats comedically and the addition of
Ana Gasteyer? Nope? Nora Dunn? Hmm, not quite? Meryl Streep? Yes! Wow! Meryl Streep as Colleens’ mother is putting this above all the others already.
The Stagehand
- Wow, I never thought a “Chad” Short could make me this emotional. This was a great way to work in Laraine as herself into the show. I also liked how this was different from other Chad pretapes in that it wasn't centered on Laraine either falling for him or hitting on him in some way.
- While we're on the subject of the surviving original female cast,I do wish they could've somehow worked Jane Curtin into the actual show though, but hey…I understand that Jane may have only wanted to be in the audience given what she's said publicly about her experience on the show and the fact that she seemingly only likes to appear on camera in every OTHER anniversary show since she wasn't featured in the 25th (and if not…well, I also understand why some cuts definitely had to be made)
50 Years (Sandlers’ Song)
- Jack Nicholson makes his obligatory “huh, why hasn't this guy ever hosted?” appearance.
- Speaking of goofball cast members that the youngins’ like bringing unexpected emotion out of me, I loved how Sandlers’ song here had the exact right mix of nostalgia, reverence, accessible inside jokes about the show and sheer silliness.
- I especially liked the digs at Speilberg, NY mag critics, anti semitic musical guests, nepo interns, Downey and Jost. I wonder how much of this is from Sandlers’ own personal experience with the show anyway?
- Who the hell is this “Speedy” guy anyway? I'm genuinely curious.
- This also seemed to serve the same function that the actual “In Memoriam” reel that Bill Murray introduced in the 40th Anniversary since referenced much loved cast AND crew members who are no longer with us. I guess this provides some balance for those who may think this special was too focused on modern recurring sketches and lacked real sentiment or proper tributes to the shows’ history and to those we lost.
- Funny that he should mention Forte and show a clip from the “Spelling Bee” sketch as I'm wearing my “Business” t-shirt with the image from that sketch on it as I type this.
History of New York (Hotdogs & Heroin)
- This was another heavily recurring sketch I was expecting them to bring back for tonight and honestly I wasn't totally against this.
- Even though we literally got another big Mulaney musical four and a half months ago the last time John hosted a regular episode, this felt appropriate for a big 50th anniversary celebrity gala special that they'd go all out for.
- Also, it still feels even more appropriate to give Mulaney a spotlight to acknowledge his contributions to the shows’ comedic sensibilities (and just modern comedy tastes in general stand up or otherwise) given how big of a name he's become in the world of comedy in general.
- Maya Rudolph, Adam Driver, Paul Schaffer and G.E. Smith did a stellar job with the first number.
- Nathan Lane was a pleasant surprise but “Cocaine And Some Vodka” to the tune of “Hakuna Matata” didn't quite work for me (thankfully that was really the only one)
- The Forte/Sudeikis/Wiig Les Miserables Times Square number was fun if not incomprehensible. Jenna Ortega and Kevin Costner really made it for me.
- Perhaps what I liked most about this one was how it made full use of the studio space and sprawled around from set to set, into the audience and back to home base.
- This was honestly a really fun way to dig Kates’ Rudy Giuliani out of mothballs. Lin Manuel Miranda was a fun addition to this and they really slammed ol’ Rudy here.
- I'm already sick of seeing Sarah play male political roles after seeing Kate & Aidy do that exact thing so much for nearly four years, but I did like Mulaney calling her out on the weakness of her Bloomberg impression. I always liked Armisen's portrayal better anyway.
- Oh, so THAT’S what they put out that casting call for a 7 foot tall guy for. A non-impression of Bill Deblasio. Ok. It was also nice to see Devon Walker as Eric Adams again.
- The Scarjo/Rudd/JAJ “Suddenly eBikes” number was fun too. I got a small kick out of Spade sitting out the finale. Nice enough way to work him in there.
- I liked the small callbacks to Diner Lobster previous Mulaney Musicals in the “One Day More” finale. Nick Jonas? OK.
- Most of all I liked how they snuck in Taran, Ana and most of the male cast members from that mid-to-late 2010s era when these were more or less a regular fixture on SNL as Mulaney kept hosting (Alex, Beck, Kyle, Cecily, Mikey et al).
Baldwins’ Best Commercials
- Ok, maybe literally any other person in this building could've read Alecs’ lines here (I did like that “Alex” joke) but he is part of the shows’ history for a reason and he did just fine with his material here (although “Third Year Veneers” landed better for me than “After Update” sleeping pills did).
- I did like his inclusion of Sarah here and I liked how this commercial montage was a mix of old crowd pleasers and quick deep cuts.
- This may seem like an obvious choice for a clip package, but I liked how they did something different here considering that at the 40th, some of these commercials were just folded in to the general pretape/short film package we saw. I always thought it made a bit more sense to give the fake commercials their own segment anyway.
50th Bronx Beat (*someone else whispers in Casey's ear*) What? Oh, don't tell me…
- This is another “take it or leave it” sketch for me. I appreciated the Conan “shoutout” and I'm glad they did more than just playfully flirt with Miles’ Teller (why him of all people, though?)
- Looks like the fixed the mic/audio issues for the YouTube edit
- Speaking of “take it or leave it” estrogen heavy talk show sketches, I genuinely appreciated seeing Mike Meyers as Linda Richman again.
- While I wasn't always the biggest Coffee Talk fan, I am always intrigued to see characters from long gone eras of SNL interacting with one's from this century.
- Honestly, it's nice to see Mike Meyers dig another old Chara out of mothballs that WASN'T Wayne Campbell or Dr. Evil.
- Most of all, it's gratifying to see the show acknowledge the similarities between these two sketches and make me feel like I wasn't the only person who wanted to walk up to Maya & Amy in the middle of one of these and say (with love of course) “Hey ladies, Mike Meyers just called. He wants Coffee Talk back”.
- I did like Mayas’ “stem cells/snail sperm” line and Amys’ line about “only drinking six days a week”
- Yes, it's both the 50th anniversary of SNL and the 34th (?) anniversary of Mike Meyers repeating these same jokes in every Coffee Talk sketch he's ever done.
- (*Casey sees a third person approaching him and tries to cut them off*) Ok yeah, I know this isn't literally the 50th Coffee Talk either. I wasn’t even gonna make that joke again. Thank you. Moving On…
Lil Wayne & The Roots
- Well, at least this was the only time we saw Dave Chappelle on this special considering he just hosted the second to last regular episode that aired before this special (and a lot of people certainly weren't happy about it then).
- Yeah, possibly the weakest musical performance of the actual special (the concert on Friday night was AMAZING but who cares?) but hey, I'm a sucker for that song “Lolipop” (heh, see what I did there?)
- Speaking of the Homecoming concert, anyone else legitimately get chills during that Lonely Island medley? (particularly the “Dear Sister” shoutout?) Anyone else hoping they'll eventually put up the ENTIRE Culps medley on Peacocks’ YouTube channel? I mean, that was my second favorite moment of that whole show and I'd like to watch it as a standalone clip in more than just bits and pieces online.
In Memoriam (for sketches & characters that did NOT age well)
- I do love the misdirect here but even more than that I love that they just leaned straight into the fact that as a show that has been around 50 years they will have a LOT of material that will not hold up now so, yeah…they might as well put it all out there since they know people are gonna complain about all of these (or have already done so at some point…or made some idiotic comment along the lines of either “lol this was the actual funniest part of the show” or “lol remember when SNL was actually funneeeeyyy?” or that this is somehow disrespectful to do this in place of an actual SNL40 style In Memoriam reel. Grow up.)
- So yeah, while I did like this initially, it does lose a bit of it's luster the more I chew on it and see other useless online reaction to it.
- Is it just me or did they PURPOSELY leave out that clip of Jimmy Fallon as Chris Rock out if the pixelated "questionable makeup" montage? (And yes i've watched it closely enough a few times to notice it wasn't actually in there). However, I do see that they included Horatio Sanz as Aaron Neville in there, so…I feel a bit vindicated there from when I mentioned it on the premiere episode of my podcast. (See that, Deej?)
- Their definition of “body shaming” is a bit more questionable than the clips they labeled as such.
- Plus, people can still at least use it as a cudgel against Baldwin himself (hell, the show itself even did that when they still prominently featured him more than the actual cast).
- Perhaps most shocking of all would be their decision to exclude Trump and Musk from their list of “questionable hosts”. I mean, why SHOULDN'T they be up there with Simpson, Blake, Diddy and Fogle? As Jost said during Update, they know this may be their LAST season anyway.
- One thing I'm surprised by is the treatment of the “Word Association” sketch. I remember just before SNL40 (y'know, the LAST big anniver…ah, you know what I'm talking about by now) they aired the sketch completely uncensored (with a content warning beforehand, but still) and treated it with the utmost reverence as if it were as groundbreaking as “All In The Family” was at the time. I'm not even going to argue with their decision now to air a censored/beeped version of the sketch. I'm just gonna say that I think it's quite baffling.
Debbie Downer
- Ok, I'm glad Rachel Dratch is finally getting her flowers (and getting featured as much as her female cast mates, really) and I appreciate seeing Fallon actually keyed into a modern day SNL sketch performance. I even liked a lot of Dratchs’ jokes. Other than that, this came off pretty damn awkward.
- Did anyone else think that we were getting a five timers club/platinum lounge sketch at first until they realized that Drew Barrymore was the only actual five timer onscreen and that Jimmy Fallon and Ayo Edeberi have only hosted four times between them?
- Speaking of sketches that feature Fallon and Dratch together, is anyone else a little bit disappointed that we got this instead of an Update on what Sully & Denise have been up to these past eight years? I realize it might be a bit of a stretch to fit them into the theme of this special but we kinda already got a cameo from Debbie in the 40th…but not a full sketch like this, so…Yeah, all right. Now that I think about it this is actually fine.
- Robert Deniro was actually OK here. He didn't really help this feel less stilted or anything (Barrymores’ intense energy with him was…odd) but I liked his speech about wanting a break from the state of the world with this special (hell, as I've stated much earlier that is the exact same reason I was watching this). I also liked his sternness with Dratch and his gently strangling her.
- The “I can't have children/I told you that, Jimmy” line was cute and not too over the top but, eh.
Scared Straight
- Here's another late 2000s/early 2010s sketch that I may have semi soured on due to it's repetition, forced breaking and over reliance on “scatalogical” humor but looking back I remember liking these a lot in spite of all of those things. I guess I've been too mentally conditioned by the “samey-ness” of seasons 34-37.
- I do like how they used Marcello and Longfellow as the “young punks” in this but Mikey Day seems a little old for his part. Maybe Emil or Dismukes could've been used here instead?
- I did like how they referenced Harry Potter as the first movie…because, what the hell? This feels like as right a time as any to urinate all over J.K. Rowlings’ legacy…y'know, given what she's like now.
- Most of all, I liked how they worked Eddie Murphy (couldn't he have played Tyrone “C-I-L-L My Land Lawd” Green?) and Will Ferrell (someone must've been watching himself some Reno 911 recently) into this.
- Even though the “scatology” can get a little gratuitous in these at times, I appreciated the added meta twists of Murphy and Ferrells characters referencing real life movies they starred in.
- I also liked the added twist of Ferrell's character initially putting a positive twist on things trying to show the kids the upside of prison life before getting aggressive. I especially like him rushing through the first half of his own “Elf” reference and getting straight to the point on that one.
- Everyone's timing and delivery seemed a teeny bit off due to breaking and probable lack of rehearsal time but, hey…that honestly just made it more fun.
- Did I just hear Eddie try to slip through an MF bomb on air? Boy, I was sure THAT would've gotten people talking…but somehow it didn't.
Garrett Morris Presents “Don't Look Back In Anger”
- Nice to see Garrett again introducing one of the more poignant Schillers’ Reel films of the original era.
- It functions well as a Gilda/Belushi tribute (in that it reminds me of the type of tributes they gave just to those two specifically in the 15th and 25th anniversary specials)
Paul McCartney Medley
- Even though Sir Pauls’ voice…ain't what it used to be, he's still got it and this was a very strong performance nonetheless.
- I guess I was wrong about which singer/songwriter named Paul should've closed this special (especially since Macca is literally performing a song with the words “and in THE END” in it). Nice additional Farley nod, by the way.
Goodnights
- I got a big kick out of seeing Gary Kroger (right next to Lorne) Terry Sweeney, Ellen Cleghorn, Finesse Mitchell and (eventually) Chevy Chase featured so prominently right up front on stage.
- I also thought Laraine holding up a photo of Gilda was very sweet.
Now, I've determined that there was enough new live content in this special for it to qualify as two actual episodes of this season and thus it should be ranked with the rest of season as such, so…
Ranking The 50th Season Best To Worst
- SNL50: The Anniversary Special (02.16.2025)
- Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
- John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
- Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
- Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
- Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
- Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)
- Martin Short/Hozier (12.21.2024)
- Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)
- Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
- Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
- Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)
- Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)
Ranking All Of The Previous SNL Anniversary Specials From Best To Worst
- SNL50: The Anniversary Show (02.16.2025)
- SNL 40th Anniversary Special (02.15.2015)
- 25th Anniversary Special (09.26.1999)
- 15th Anniversary Special (09.24.1989)
Ranking All Of This Seasons Official SNL50 Branded Retrospective Material From Best To Worst
- SNL50: The Homecoming Concert (02.14.2025)
- Ladies And Gentlemen…50 Years Of SNL Music (01.27.2025)
- SNL50: The Anniversary Special (02.16.2025)
- SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night - Season 11: The Weird Year (01.16.2025)
- SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night - Five Minutes (01.16.2025)
- SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night - Written By: A Week Inside The SNL Writers’ Room (01.16.2025)
- SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night - More Cowbell (01.16.2025)
Overall Thoughts
- Even though it got off to a slightly rocky start and had a strangely rushed and jumbled together feel from the get go, I absolutely loved this special. It was the very best I could've hoped it would be for the culmination of SNLs’ big 50th anniversary special airing in the year 2025.
- I mean, hey…when you're covering five whole decades of television history you kinda HAVE to rush through or gloss over some things from the distant past, so…why NOT just focus as much attention and effort as possible on legitimizing sketches and performers from the last 20 years to honor the last 50? I'm sure others my age and younger appreciate that because in a way, our eyeballs and YouTube clicks and what not seemed to be the main thing pushing it past 31.
- I especially liked how it was “sketch heavy” enough that it genuinely felt like two regular episodes of SNL smashed together rather than just a collection of famous celebrities just introducing a series of clip packages in tuxes and evening gowns.
- I also liked how it captured the exact same vibe that the homecoming concert did (in that it properly honored the shows’ history without feeling too self indulgent or up it's own…y'know)
- It's also fitting and appropriate that the 50th anniversary honor what SNL gradually became after the 40th (or mostly just from years 41-47) where most of the current cast are basically treated as glorified extras who are only there to support the big, flashy celebrity cameos and two to three “standouts” of the current cast that Lorne Michaels THINKS all of America is waiting with baited breath to see on our screens! I say this with love of course since they have briefly backed off of this for a bit one or two seasons ago where the cameos were mostly fun and unexpected and not JUST there to fill big political roles but most of season 50 (including tonight) felt like we were headed back in that direction anyway.
Special Thanks
- I'd like to congratulate our dear friends Jon Schneider and James Stevens of the Saturday Night Network on securing their gig doing red carpet interviews for this event! Good job, guys! It's truly rewarding to all of us who follow you to see all the hard work you guys are doing paying off!
- I'd also like to thank Jon specifically for creating SNN and not only giving me a space to start getting into podcasting myself but also for connecting me with someone who also wanted to start their own SNL related podcast and put out an open call live on air for a new co host.
- Of course, I'd also like to thank Deej Barens for creating the We Heart Hader Podcast, inviting me into her podcasting space and allowing me to be her cohost. It feels incredibly gratifying to be able to help create and launch something that I consider to be a spin off to the SNN Patron Feedback Shows (at least in spirit).
Closing Thoughts
- Well, for the most part, that lived up to all the hype for me.
- You may have also noticed that I eschewed my usual letter grades for each segment and avoided using any harsh profanity. I also went a bit lighter than usual on plugging my podcast. I chose to do those things out of reverence and respect for the occasion and the shows’ massive history.
- My next blog post is going to be a ranking of all of Bill Hader’s Vincent Price sketches from best to worst. That should be out next Thursday to coincide with the release of the next episode of the “We Heart Hader” podcast.
- After that, I am most likely just going to write up full length reviews of whatever the next planned episode of SNL is that will be airing March 1st so, I hope to have that ready to be published by the evening of March 2nd (as is my standard procedure!)
- Have a good lower half of February and stay warm and safe out there, everyone.
