- Showbiz names came together to celebrate the late night show’s 50th anniversary
- There were musical performances and sketches
- The spectacle lasted over three and a half hours
Saturday Night Live’s giant 50th birthday celebration will likely be remembered as one of the TV moments of the year.
In the run up to the three-hour extravaganza, broadcasters promised it would be the “crown jewel of a big weekend of events highlighting the trailblazing sketch series’ rich history.”
Read more: Who’s appearing in the SNL 50 special?
Details of what was going to happen were kept under lock and key for months, so it felt like anything was possible. There was a plethora of sketches, musical performances, unexpected link-ups and hilarious moments from celebrities and SNL alumni.
Here’s some of the big talking points from the special episode.
Steve Martin’s opening monologue
It wouldn’t feel right if Saturday Night Live didn’t begin with an opening monologue and the 50th anniversary special kept that tradition going.
Martin, who is a member of the Five Timers Club, did the honours. He joked that a “person born during the first season of SNL could be easily dead of natural causes” today. Later, he took aim at ICE, AI and more.
Adam Sandler’s original song
Sandler’s brought plenty of musical comedy to the set of SNL, given he started his career there. He was part of the show between 1991 and 1996.
He brought out his guitar again for an original song celebrating 50 years of the programme, which was equal parts sentimental and humorous.
“Everyone in this room has something in common, all of our lives were changed by this show/ Everyone in this room has something else in common, we weren’t allowed to use the little bathroom in Lorne’s office,” he sang.
Jack Nicholson made a rare public appearance to introduce Sandler.
Tom Hanks’ ‘In Memoriam’ skit
A lot has changed in SNL’s half century on air and the show self-deprecatingly winked towards that with this sketch hosted by Tom Hanks. It paid tribute to all the past SNL sketches that have “aged horribly”, including those with “problematic guests” including Diddy and R Kelly.
“Even though these characters, accents and let’s just call them ‘ethnic wigs’ were unquestionably in poor taste, you all laughed at them,” he quipped. “So if anyone should be cancelled, shouldn’t it be you?”
The tribute to New York City
A hybrid sketch and musical number told the story of how New York has changed since SNL started in 1975. It even featured Adam Driver dressed as a hot dog.
Later, Lin-Manuel Miranda parodied former Mayor Rudy Giuliani in a song mimicking his musical Hamilton.
Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard’s performance of Nothing Compares 2 U
Cyrus gave a powerful performance of Nothing Compares 2 U, accompanied by Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard and house band The Roots.
She sang the version popularised by the late Sinead O’Connor, who died in July 2023 at the age of 56. O’Connor made history on SNL in 1992 when she tore a photo of the Pope in half in front of the camera and said “Fight the real enemy.” This was in protest of the Catholic Church.
