Live From New York...
it was a great Sunday night
I’ve never been a religious Saturday Night Live viewer; I usually tune in when someone interesting is hosting or something interesting happens during the week that I want to see them parody.
However, I am aware of the cultural impact of the show and it’s something that, as a pop culture enthusiast, means a great deal to me. This show has spawned hundreds of careers, given us deeply funny, iconic and heart warming moments to look back on, like a time capsule of humanity. Whether it’s the post-9/11 show, Kate McKinnon singing ‘Hallelujah’ or Adam Sandler performing a song about Chris Farley, the show gives society what it needs at certain times.
There is also the notion of watching something happen in real time and knowing just how Saturday Night Live might parody it; like a presidential debate, Luigi Mangione, or a celebrity death like OJ Simpson. There are few things I love more than waking up on a Sunday morning, looking on social media and seeing what is going to be cemented in our vernacular — like Domingo or a particularly funny Weekend Update joke.
Saturday Night Live is a cultural institution that even when it doesn’t seem funny to you, someone out in the world is laughing. Like anything in the pop culture zeitgeist, popularity ebbs and flows — sometimes a show is good, sometimes it’s bad but it always finds it’s way back to where it started.
It’s fitting then, that the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary special was one of the best nights Hollywood has ever seen. It was completely star studded, with unexpected appearances, hilarious callbacks to iconic sketches and a really beautiful tribute to one of the best shows we’ve ever seen.
I’ll admit, I was a little off put when Sabrina Carpenter and Paul Simon opened the show with a slow, sad song but things quickly picked up thanks to Black Jeopardy and Eddie Murphy causing everyone to break character.
I wasn’t sure what to expect as the night went on but had tears streaming down my face for most of it. I was so happy to see Kristin Wiig’s ‘Dooneese’ sketch, a fantastic Weekend Update and even the Bronx Beat with an appearance by Mike Myers who it feels like we were waiting on all night.
My standout moments though? All callbacks to previous sketches — alien abduction featuring Meryl Streep, Debbie Downer with Robert DiNerio and of course, the completion of the Domingo triology.
I didn’t think we’d get a Domingo sketch in the special but it makes a lot of sense — it’s of course, very new but it took off without a hitch. It was immediately ingrained into pop culture icon status when Marcello showed up to the Short N’Sweet Tour dressed as his alter ego. It is only fitting that it gets a place in the 50th Anniversary special since it is the younger generations’ stand out sketch. As if it couldn’t get any better, we’ve added Martin Short, Molly Shannon, Pedro Pascal and Bad Bunny to the Domingo universe — with the extra addition of You Belong With Me and Defying Gravity as musical numbers.
It was true perfection.
Another sketch that had me on the floor, in both fits of laughter and actual sad tears, was John Mulaney’s tribute to New York. In what can only be described as a mini Broadway show, John & Pete Davidson put on an epic display of what it means to be a New Yorker. They took us on a journey from the 1970s when SNL premiered all the way through today, which is eerily similar to the 70s, fit with hotdogs & heroin, M&M hookers and of course, Rudy Giuliani, who at one time was thought to be our saving grace and now is just completely disgraced.
The skit had everything — Maya Rudolph as the Statue of Liberty, Nick Jonas singing Les Mis, Kenan reprising his role as the diner lobster and of course, Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton. There was even Scarlett Johansson as a battered woman signing about Citi bikes alongside Paul Rudd. It was exactly the New York Stefon had always described (Bill Hader’s absence was deeply felt throughout the broadcast, in my opinion).
It made me sad but it also overjoyed me because I love New York City so much. I love my hometown, I love being a Native New Yorker and you will never take that away from me.
The other sketch that nearly sent everything over the edge? Eddie Murphy and Kenan as prisoners, trying to ‘scare straight’ some shoplifters. Will Ferrel coming in his short shorts, causing them both to nearly break character and constantly referencing each other’s past work like The Nutty Professor and Elf. It was a beautiful way to close out the show, because soon after, Paul McCartney bellowed out an Abbey Road medley which was moving and poignant.
A few other notable moments:
Adam Sandler on guitar, summing up what it means to be part of this show
Amy & Tina doing a Q&A with the audience
Julia Louis Dreyfus and her service dog, alongside Adam Driver had me in tears
Ryan Reynolds answering ‘Why? What have you heard?’ when asked how he was.
Tom Hanks & the ‘In Memoriam’ for all the risky & rightfully cancelled sketches
Miley Cyrus & Brittany Howard singing Nothing Compares 2 U as a semi tribute to Sinead O’Conner and her ripping of the Pope’s photo on SNL that seemingly ended her career
The entire show was a beautiful tribute to the comedy that has shaped our lives for 50 years. It had something for everyone, and isn’t that what SNL is anyway? You might not think something is funny, but that just means it wasn’t for you and something else will tickle your fancy & make you smile.
Saturday Night Live is important, even when you think it isn’t, and I’m excited to see where the rest of the 50th season takes us and where the show goes from here.
In the words of Robert DeNiro, we just want to forget what’s happening in the world for 3 hours and last night, the show that is always there for us did that.