Saturday Night Live understandably went all out for its 50th anniversary. After all, it’s one of the longest-running programs in television history. The day before the historic season began on September 27th, the film Saturday Night, directed by Jason Reitman (Up in the Air), premiered in the theaters. The film begins as Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle, The Fabelmans) arrives at NBC studios the night of the first episode and concludes with Chevy Chase announcing, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night” for the first time. In between, the film is a behind-the-scenes look at the chaotic 90 minutes leading up to the debut broadcast. The relatively unknown ensemble is excellent with LaBelle particularly embodying the harried director barely holding it all together. Its January 25th streaming date was a nice setup for the pilot episode which NBC aired on February 15th (at 11:30 p.m., of course) as part of the anniversary party weekend.
October 11, 1975. The show didn’t even know if it would air until seconds before show time. Were the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” prepared for the live spotlight? John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner all flash signs of what was to come despite their unsettled debut. Host George Carlin kept it grounded while Janis Ian, and particularly, Billy Preston, livened up the proceedings.
The three-hour SNL 50th Anniversary Special aired on February 16th (after a one-hour red carpet intro). The special followed the typical format. Steve Martin had the honor of the opening monologue and Paul Simon shared the stage with Sabrina Carpenter for the musical opener. Noteworthy sketches included Lawrence Welk (Fred Armisen), Black Jeopardy (Kenan Thompson), Q&A (Tina Fey and Amy Poehler), Debbie Downer (Rachel Dratch), canceled sketches (Tom Hanks), and Weekend Update with current hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che. Montages clips included physical comedy and commercial parody.
The musical documentary Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music, directed by Questlove, premiered on January 27th as a lead up to the anniversary specials. It opens with a montage of the musical guest intro “Ladies & Gentleman…” with a split screen of musical guests over 50 years. I knew right away this was going to be the highlight of SNL’s 50th celebrations. Where to begin? Name a significant band and they have performed on SNL. The testimonials all noted how nervous they were and to this day still regard the SNL performance as a career milestone. Some of the performances that jumped out at me were the Rolling Stones (“Respectable”), U2 (“I Will Follow”), Franz Ferdinand (“Take Me Out”), B-52’s (“Rock Lobster”), Patti Smith (covering “My Generation”), and David Bowie (“The Man Who Sold the World”).
SNL has always pushed the boundaries. They provided a platform for newer artists, as well as burgeoning musical styles. The Funky Four became the first rappers to perform on TV (thanks to an assist from Debbie Harry). Fear became the first punk band to graduate to a TV studio from the “armpit” basement clubs such bands typically frequented. Comedy and music had never been such bedfellows, until Belushi and Aykroyd donned bee costumes as the first incarnation of the Blues Brothers. And if you’re on the edge of popular culture and you’re doing it live, you better be ready for some controversy. Rage Against the Machine with Steve Forbes as the guest host was just asking for trouble. Ashley Simpson committed the cardinal sin and got caught lip-syncing. Kanye broke the mold (putting it mildly) and left the building. And, of course, Sinead. The doc covers all these moments, and many more.
My favorite parts of SNL over the years are the opening sketch and Weekend Update. In this today’s climate of hip-hop and pop dominance, the musical guest is usually not appealing, but I still force myself to watch it and every so often I’m pleasantly surprised. The sketches have always been 50-50, but sometimes they are truly hilarious. That’s what makes these best-of SNL anniversary shows so much fun. The music rocks, the jokes land, and the marvelous parade of cast members remind you of how audacious the concept of SNL was…and still is.
(There was a third three-hour special which I didn’t see: SNL50 The Homecoming Concert which aired on Friday, February 14th to launch the anniversary weekend. It was a star-studded celebration with a lineup of musical guests hosted by Jimmy Fallon and aired live from Radio City Music Hall.)
(The Saturday Night film is streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The pilot episode and all episodes of SNL are available to stream on Peacock. All three 3-hour specials are also available on Peacock.)
Trivia: Chevy Chase left SNL midway through the second season and was replaced by whom?
Trivia: Who has hosted SNL the most times?
Answers below
Answers: Bill Murray replaced Chase and Alec Baldwin has hosted 17 times (Steve Martin is next with 15)