SNL Plays All the Hits in Starry, Sentimental 50th Anniversary Special

If you double the length of a roller coaster you get twice the peaks and valleys.

That’s a fair metaphor for SNL50^: The Anniversary Special, which produced both in abundance on Sunday night.

But the odds are good that if you committed your Saturday nights to this show for all or part of the past half century, you were feeling largely appreciative of all the entertainment and the memories the special brought back.

Was it more sentimental than hilarious? Probably. But at least for longtime fans, the sentiment hit home.

It hard to imagine any in that group not moved by Adam Sandler celebrating the years given to the show my many of its performers, or by John Belushi walking through a graveyard, talking of that great first cast and how they all expected him to be the first to go. (He was, of course.)

I saw that film when it first aired, and it seemed ominous then. It was gut-turning Sunday night.

Many favorite sketches from the past turned up with familiar players in them, like the “Bronx Beat” girls Betty and Jodi (Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph) joining forces with Mike Myers’ Linda Richman  (of “Coffee Talk” fame).

Kate McKinnon reprised her gloriously weird alien abductee Colleen Rafferty, this time with the unlikely addition of Meryl Streep as her equally low life mother (quite a first SNL appearance for a major star).

The “Scared Street” gang was back, with the suburb addition of Eddie Murphy, doing their physical and extreme-language routine. Bobby Moynihan’s “Drunk Uncle” was again a hit on “Weekend Update,” paired with Cecily Strong’s “Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party.”

“Update” in general was a smart mix of real contemporary commentary from Colin Jost and Michael Che with some visits from previous anchors, notably Bill Murray, who has been a special comic voice from his first moment on SNL.

On the clip side, there was a clever look at how some of the show’s historical bits that trafficked in ethnic and sexual stereotypes would have a hard time playing to today’s audiences, though the inclusion of one of the true classics of the show, the racial-slur showdown between Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor, showed that not everything would be better today. (If that sketch were ever vetoed, it would be a travesty. It is among the best things ever on SNL.)

Several other sketches likely were chosen for their appeal to different generations of fans, and probably didn’t make more veteran viewers change their minds about their era being the best one. The “Anxiety” SNL Digital Short didn’t seem to win many laughs from the mostly older studio audience, but probably did well with fans watching at home. Ditto Domingo.

The music choices reflected the attempt to cross generations—Sabrina Carpenter in a duet with Paul Simon (a great friend of creator Lorne Michaels) and Lil Wayne balanced by Paul McCartney, another great Michaels friend. (A third, Jack Nicholson, got a cameo as an introducer.)

McCartney was the obvious choice as the closer, playing a trio of Beatles songs off Abbey Road. He was not in great voice (not bad for 82) but the audience clearly loved it, singing along, and maybe some of the viewers were as well.

That was one sentimental highlight, though it was likely impossible to top Sandler, who has become kind of the singing voice of the longtime cast members. Returning to host in 2019, he brilliantly memorialized Chris Farley with an original song, and he arguably topped it Sunday night with this song.

Steve Martin provided another highlight with a sharp monologue in his classic style.

Mostly the show reminded viewers why they’ve stuck with this iconic show through the years. It was revolutionary when it began and somehow has stayed relevant and strong and essential.

It has become something of a chronicle of a half century of American life, and completely worthy of the celebration it got.

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