Tuesday TV Touchbase: Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special

Today's Tuesday TV Touchbase will be about this past Sunday's TV special celebrating the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live. 

Before we get to the special itself, a few words about the lead up to it.

Starting last year during NBC's coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics where so much broadcasting real estate was given to remind anyone and everyone that SNL's 50th anniversary was nigh upon us.

Interviews with athletes shared space with appearances by SNL cast members who were flown to Paris to comment on the Olympics and to be asked questions about SNL's 50th anniversary which was nigh upon us.

Over the intervening months, the build up to the SNL 50th anniversary special kept increasing in intensity and ubiquity.  News shows and talk shows not just at NBC featured SNL cast members past and present.  

Friday night featured a 4 hour concert event including a medley of Lonely Island tunes led by Andy Samberg and Lady Gaga.

In the absence of Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga performed his half of the classic "Dick In a Box".

That's her in the photo below with the gift box prop strapped to her waist.

If the link below is still active, you can see the whole medley including a returning  Chris Parnell joining Andy for "Lazy Sunday" as they convey via a very aggressive rap just where the best cupcakes can be found in NYC.

On Sunday just before the show itself, there was a red carpet event as celebrities arrive for the big show.

Oh my God! This is way too much attention!  

As for the show itself....

Instead of a sketch, the cold open is a performance of "Homeward Bound" by Paul Simon who performed that song on SNL in 1976 with George Harrison.  This time Paul is joined by Sabrina Carpenter whose vocals were very welcome as Paul was clearly struggling. (Paul Simon has admitted to hearing loss which makes it hard for him to sing.)   

Steve Martin does the monologue ("traditionally the weakest part of the show") where Martin Short does what he always does to insert himself in someone else's spotlight.  A problem Steve deftly solves by summoning ICE agents to deport Marty back to Canada.  

John Mulaney joins Steve to comment on the many people who have hosted SNL and out of just under 900, only 2 have committed murder.  (Mulaney clearly meant long ago hosts Robert Blake and O.J. Simpson but since Alec Baldwin was in the audience, well...  awkward!)  

Time to get busy with some sketches.   

We got another bizarre "Domingo" sketch and the return of "Black Jeopardy" with Tracy Morgan on hand as a contestant named Darius and Eddie Murphy as "Tracy Morgan" whose impression of Morgan was scarily spot on.

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler did one of those standard Q&A bits with the audience where conveniently place celebrities ask questions.  

This bit includes an appearance by that steely eyed smoldering sexy man beast known to us mere mortals as Adam Driver.  

And a DOG!!!! (Oh, who's a good dog!!!) 

Weekend Update anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost were joined by Seth Meyers and Bill Murray.

Murray ranked every anchor in “SNL” history — in front of Jost. (Spoiler: Jost didn’t make the list.) 

The segment also saw the return of a very-pregnant Cecily Strong (I think her due date is right this very minute) as the very pregnant “Girl You Wish Hadn’t Started a Conversation at a Party". Who's the father of Party Girl's baby?   Bobby Moynihan's Drunk Uncle, of course.  

We got a new "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey" still using that perfect melodious narration by the late Phil Hartman

If John Mulaney's around, we've got oursevles a musical sketch.  And this one is a time travelling epic that begins with a hot dog vendor (Mulaney) in 1975 greeting a couple of newcomers (Pete Davidson and David Space) who have arrived in NYC to make their dreams come true. Mulaney leads them through a musical journey forward in time with songs derived from The Lion King (with Nathan Lane), Little Shop of Horrors (with Scarlett Johansen and Paul Rudd) and Hamilton (featuring my good friend Lin Manuel Miranda).  We even get a reprise from Les Miserables with Keenan Thompson as the Diner Lobster and Cecily Strong as the waitress.  

Aubrey Plaza has been largely absent since the January 3rd death of her husband. So it was an emotionally fraught moment to see her introduce Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard's cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U.” 

Andy Samberg joined with Bowen Yang to for a Digital Short to demonstrate the ubiquity of anxiety among SNL cast members over 5 decades. 

We got a sweet pre-taped bit with  original cast member Laraine Newman visiting stage 8H and wistfully reflecting on those early years of the show, a poignant moment punctuated by the clueless ineptitude of Pete Davidson's Chad.  

Just like a regular 90 minute episode of SNL, this double size special (3 hours and 23 minutes! Whoa!) was hit or miss with other sketches. 

The return of "Scared Straight" (with Keenan Thompson, Jason Sudeikis, Eddie Murphy and Will Ferrell) and "Debbie Downer" (with Rachel Dratch, Jimmy Fallon and Robert DeNiro) came late in the show when we're all exhausted and these sketches seemed to be trying too hard to create a viral moment.   

We're back with some sweet nostalgia as Garrett Morris introduces Tom Schiller’s "Don't Look Back in Anger", the classic black and white short film that posits an elderly Jim Belushi who has outlived the entire original cast.  (The cruel irony was that Belushi was the first original cast member to die.)  

The show ends with a powerful if flawed musical performance by Paul McCartney.  

Did the 50th anniversary special of Saturday Night Live live upon to the hype? I will say "no" in that NOTHING could live up to that level of hype.  

But all in all, I will count the SNL50 special as a win with genuine laughs and heartfelt emotion and if it wasn't always good, well, over 50 years, that's also part of the deal for SNL on any given Saturday night. 

Well, that is that for this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase.

Next week, it's the first season finale for High Potential.   (For real this time.)

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.