Saturday Night Live paid subtle tribute to its own legacy on the 50th anniversary of its premiere, ending the show with a final bumper photo that echoed a familiar image from the original 1975 opening montage.
The image featured the show’s original title—NBC’s Saturday Night—rendered in the typeface of its early-season credits. Amy Poehler, who hosted this week’s episode, was shown sitting in the driver’s seat of a yellow taxi, eating a slice of pizza.
The visual, photographed by SNL‘s resident portrait photographer Mary Ellen Matthews, called back to a shot from the show’s original opening, in which a cab driver is seen from the same perspective, eating a slice of watermelon—one of the earliest glimpses of the show’s street-level New York sensibility.
Though SNL formally marked its 50th anniversary last season with a weekend of tributes in February, this week’s episode fell on the exact 50th anniversary of the show’s first broadcast—October 11, 1975.
Poehler acknowledged the milestone in her monologue, saying “tonight is actually very special night for the show, not just because I’m here, but because 50 years ago today, on October 11th, 1975, the very first episode of SNL aired.” She added with a wink, “That episode was hosted by George Carlin. And just like George Carlin, I’m extremely high.”
Later, Poehler reflected on how much has changed since the show’s debut, joking, “You know what’s nice about turning 50—you start to not care about what people think. And that’s what’s so great about SNL. She’s obviously stopped caring.”
Watch Poehler’s full monologue below:
They should’ve done *all* of the bumpers in that style.
When Poehler introduced the musical guest’s first song, she was wearing a tee shirt with a picture of the original SNL cast on it.