In the photo: (LR) Leslie Jordan, Tracy Morgan and Eddie Murphy during the “Black Jeopardy” sketch for “SNL50: The Anniversary Special”.
Chris Haston / NBC
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tilting legend
Chris Haston / NBC
How much you enjoyed the Sunday evening special to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live Probably depends on the serious Snl to start.
If everything you expected was an entertaining evening and filled with nostalgia where former distribution members and friends of the celebrities of the show have rebounded in and outside the sketches according to some of the most notable characteristics of the program, then You have probably appreciated the special – which extended well after its planned execution time of three hours.
But if you were looking for a collection of performances that could somehow place the story of this comedy institution in perspective – or if you wanted the spectacle to take some of these old revered sketches and use them to comment on modern times – you were probably disappointed by what the Snl The crew was deployed.
Admittedly, it was a great deadline. Presenting a sprawling extravagance live, with the crew and the staff adorned with formal outfit while trying to bring together a program more than twice as long as the usual episodes of Saturday were not a small feat.
And the list of celebrities involved was really impressive, especially Meryl Streep – during his first appearance acting in the series – Jon Hamm, Ryan Reynolds, Drew Barrymore, Robert de Niro, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, Ayo Edebiri, Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Simon and Paul McCartney, alongside former distribution members such as Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bill Murray, Martin Short and many others.
As often happens with SnlAnticipation leading to the Sunday show may have been greater than any program could really deliver. And some sketches seemed so initiated, watching them was like hanging out at the meeting of a high school that you never attended.
But there were multitudes of ups and downs for any fan of the program. Many sincere cameras and classic sketch reminders were worthy of a show that served as the basis for the establishment of Hollywood comedy for decades.
Here is a short trip through notable moments.
Steve Martin delivered a kind monologue, but John Mulaney brought more bite
Steve Martin made a lot of jokes about his age and his status as “Saturday Night LiveThe rental of diversity, “with the skill of a pro which hosted the show 16 times. A little where his longtime comedy partner Martin Short was transported after Martin called the immigration police on the band CANADIAN CANADIAN ACTITURE AND A LITTLE WAED.
But it was old Snl The writer John Mulaney who really brought the pain when he noted: “During 50 years, 894 people organized Saturday Night Live. And that surprises me that only two of them have committed murder. “”
He may have referred to OJ Simpson and Robert Blake, two celebrities accused of murder who welcomed Snl. But actor Alec Baldwin was also in the room. (You may remember that a judge Repelled involuntary charges for involuntary Against him last year after a filming on a film set.) Which could have been lagging behind in the locker room a little more tense Sunday evening.
Eddie Murphy quickly became the Night MVP, followed by Will Ferrell
Most of the first sketches were not all inspired – why did they rekindle Lawrence Welk satire of the show? – But Murphy made a return to “Black Jeopardy” one of the first funniest moments with his impression of Tracy Morgan, who stood next to him playing another character.
Murphy launched a notch a little later, playing a condemned in a return to the classic “Scared Straight” of the show, flanked by Kenan Thompson and – my finalist for the Night MVP – Will Ferrell, who shone in each sketch where it appeared.
Cool as it was to see a lot of celebrity cameos, too many sketches took place for too long
It was a treat to see Tina Fey and Amy Poehler come back, leading a Q-E-A that they finally admitted to be just an excuse for Shoehorn in a bunch of celebrities. But as the list extended from Ryan Reynolds, Quinta Brunson, Dear and Keith Richards in Seth Meyers, Jason Momoa and Tim Meadows, we started wondering if the charm carried thin.
Ditto with sketches Bringing Back Rachel Dratch’s Debbie Downer, Kate McKinnon’s Ufo Lady Ms. Flatty (With Meryl Streep as Her Mom!) And Mike Meyers’ Linda Richman Character Dropping Into Poehler and Maya Rudolph’s Bronx Beat Show – All Wonderful Callback Which could have been improved by making them shorter.
Certain musical performances have revealed the tension of bridging generations in entertainment
Instead of a typical “Cold Open” sketch to start at night, Paul Simon started the special duo during prime time with Sabrina Carpenter on a touching version of her song “Homeward Bound”.
Simon, who spoke publicly of fighting hearing loss, offered a sensitive performance but seemed to have trouble staying on the key.
Similarly, even if the rock superstar, Paul McCartney, brought a mixture of Beatles medals to close at night – “Golden Slumbers”, “wear this weight” and “The End” – he too seemed to have a little struggle with high notes, revealing the limits of these musical heroes which were involved with Snl Since early. (My favorite musical moment of the night was the rocking duo between Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard on “Nothing compares 2 U”, the song of Prince Sinead O’Connor sang on SNL in 1992, before tearing an image of an image of John Paul II from the time.)
Who attended, who participated and who was not sometimes part
Five of the seven actors who appeared in the first season of Snl are still alive, but they didn’t have much presence in the Sunday show.
LANAIN NEWMAN appeared in a pre-paved sketch where she visited the set with the character of Gen Z distraught from Pete Davidson, and Garrett Morris presented a replay of the show of the show Classic film “Don’t watch angry”, “ In which John Belushi survived all other distribution members (it was an inner joke when the film was released for the first time in 1978, due to the Hard lifestyle of Belushi. He died in 1982).
Jane Curtin and Chevy Chase were present, but did not appear in any sketches; Dan Aykroyd did not seem to be present, while Gilda Radner died in 1989.
Some former distribution members did not seem to be at home, including Dana Carvey, who played Joe Biden for a large part of last season, and Bill Hader, who was in the series for eight years.
Mulaney directs one of the best sketches of the night, a bizarre musical on the dark side of New York
Similar to his sketch “dinner lobster” from years ago, Mulaney directed a bizarre musical on the story on the dark side of NYC who made Nathan Lane sing on cocaine and vodka in the air The Lion King ‘S “Hakuna Matata” and Lin-Manuel Miranda singing a twisted version of Hamilton To Rudolph Guiliani from Kate McKinnon, who exclaimed: “I throw my blow!”
In the end, when a giant banner moved displaying the title of the newspaper “New York in Ford: who died now?” it seemed Snl had finally passed nostalgia to deliver the kind of biting eccentric humor that maintained the show for five decades.
Jennifer Vanasco has published this story.
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