I don’t think I’ve ever written about Saturday Night Live before. It’s one of those things that goes in and out of vogue, but is always around.
I have SNL to thank for my all-time favourite show 30 Rock and some of my favourite comedians, plus living legend Conan O’Brien.
SNL celebrated its 50th anniversary this weekend (in case you couldn’t tell from the dozens of adverts, documentaries, specials and the Saturday Night film that was released earlier this year).
The special is one of the strangest one-offs I’ve ever seen: A bunch of comedians, alums and celebrities with connections to the long-running programme. It felt voyeuristic at times, but still enjoyable. Anyways, here are my highlights:
Eddie Murphy wins the MVP:
No one brought the laughs like Eddie Murphy, first in his role as “Tracy Morgan” in the crowd-favourite “Black Jeopardy”. Others in the sketch included Kenan Thompson, Leslie Jones and, yes, Tracy Morgan. Of course Murphy steals the sketch with his spot-on impressions of Morgan, bringing the first two actor-breaks in the programme.
His second appearance was even more enjoyable, teaming up with Will Ferrell and Kenan in “Scared Straight”. What’s most shocking is that Eddie Murphy got the only bleep of the night, but some more suggestive things were left in.
What’s the best part of this? Murphy’s ultra-meta jokes on The Nutty Professor, Ferrell getting straight to the point on Elf, or those short shorts?
Close Encounter
Another modern-day sketch returns that’s really just a vehicle for Kate McKinnon to reprise one of her most notable characters in Collen Rafferty, the foul-mouthed middle-aged woman who describes her extraterrestrial encoutners in excruciating detail that will not pass the censors here.
Adam Driver’s got that dawg
Who is as captivating as Adam Driver, who played the straight man to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s gag during the Q+A session? I’ll tell you what: Adam Driver dressed as a hot dog.
Adam Sandler sings SNL 50
Sandler closes the first hour of the programme with a lovely song dedicated mostly to Lorne Michaels and the first cast of SNL, including the legendary Chris Farley.
I wasn’t expecting the sweetest moment of the night coming from Sandler, but he delivered a touching song to the dozens of people who came on the show before and after him. I imagine many are his friends.
One of those mentioned towards the very end: Good ol’ Norm Macdonald.
Norm Macdonald gets his roses
Speaking of legendary, Norm Macdonald received tonnes of posthumous praise. He also got a bit of heavenly vengeance after NBC sacked him decades ago for his unrelenting jokes on OJ Simpson (one of the biggest pop culture moments in the 90s).
No one was funnier than Norm Macdonald, one of the bravest comedians in the business who stuck his nose up to executives for the sake of his craft and at the cost of his job. I’m hard pressed finding a comedian who had the timing of Macdonald, who comanded every stage he walked on whether it be on SNL, a couch on a late-night show, some third-rate red carpet event, the celeb edition of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, on the comedy circuit or chasing away advertisers on his YouTube show.
Norm Macdonald was name-checked a few times on Sunday’s show. Of course, with Sandler’s touching song. But he was also unofficially GOATed by Bill Murray during his rankings of Weekend Update hosts. Murray even delivered an OJ Simpson joke (the kind that got Norm fired), which wasn’t the first of the night. John Mulaney delivered one during the opening monologue.
Heck, even Michael Che got in on the action. And when he name-checked Macdonald, the Candian export’s still popped up on our screen with, of course, a photograph of OJ Simpson next to him.
All were fitting tributes to a comedian who is deeply missed.
Fitzie’s track of the day: Ball and Biscuit/Don’t Hurt Yourself/Jesus Is Coming Soon, by Jack White
And now for your links:
Things you love to see: “Lille’s Nabil Bentaleb scores on return from heart attack”
Alasdair Gold: “What Vicario did to Bergvall after win, Maddison’s Tel chat and Postecoglou’s clever Spence move”
Jay Harris ($$): “Tottenham look like a team again – now they must sustain it”