As someone who, for a very long time, was a diehard Saturday Night Live fan, I was excited to watch the 50th Anniversary Specials.
I've watched the show for as long as I can remember and I have always loved the LIVE aspect of it. Warts and all. Granted, I did tire of all the Trump stuff with Alec Baldwin because they beat that like a dead horse and it wasn't funny. I don't mind some politics in my comedy, but when it became such a constant, I had to turn away. Having said that, the show has kind of found a new rhythm again, so that's a good thing for them.
So as I said - I watched the 50th Anniversary Special on Sunday night, and I watched the special of "SNL 50 Years of Musical Performances" Documentary (which was excellend, with a lot of behind the scenes stuff about the performances through the years), and ESPECIALLY the SNL HOMECOMING CONCERT (which took place on Friday night, live from Radio City Music Hall. THIS is a MUST watch for any fan of the show and music in general, but more on that later).
Here's some thoughts I had watching the 50th special on Sunday night- in no particular order (and with some video links)
*Paul Simon, in my opinion, is THE greatest American singer/songwriter. Period. Time, however has caught up with his voice- and it really showed during the opening number- “Homeward Bound”. He dueted with Sabrina Carpenter and a lot of people were grinding her for being off key. I, on the other hand, think she was extremely respectful of Paul and tried to just support him, but you can’t sing harmony when the lead is off the mark. So kudos to her. I love Paul Simon, but it was a rocky start to the show.
*Adam Sandler’s “50th” Tribute song was pitch perfect. Perfect sentiment, perfect mix of funny and emotional, and a bit of insider stuff for the cast and crew. Once again – can somebody besides me please stand up and give this guy the credit he deserves?? He’s one of the best in the business-
*Holy crap! Did they just SAY THAT on tv? Don’t get me wrong- I LOVED it- but I was surprised the censors let so much get by! The Scared Straight skit with Eddie Murphy, Keenan Thompson and Will Ferrell had a ton of funny euphemisms for backdoor sex and it was laugh out loud funny!
*The Debby Downer skits were only funny when Rachel Dratch broke character. On this special, she didn’t break once. So…..
*Speaking of Eddie Murphy- he CRUSHED the imitation of Tracy Morgan (who was standing right next to him) in the “Black Jeopardy” skit.
*Miley Cyrus and Britany Howard torched “Nothing Compares to You”. And nobody ripped up a photo of the Pope this time.
*The giant SNL cast skit about New York, featuring a bunch of broadway hits- including a skewering of former Mayor Rudy Guiliani with a parody of Hamilton’s “My Shot” – was really good (even if awkward at points), especially the giant ensemble ending number of “One Day More” from ‘Les Mis”.
*I have always and will always love Molly Shannon. She’s hilarious no matter what she’s doing.
*Bill Murray, ranking the Update anchors was good because it looked like he was actually enjoying himself-
*and how cool was it to see JACK NICHOLSON for the first time in forever? Sure he only intro’d
Adam Sandler - but the fact that he was even there was a great surprise!
*Of all the GREAT character bits Will Ferrell did on SNL, they chose to bring back Robert Goulet? Who the **** thought that was a good choice???? Dumb.
*Amy Poehler and Tina Fey could read the friggin phone book and I'd watch...
And the finale was Sir Paul Mccartney doing the Beatles "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight" - and like Paul Simon, Mccartney's voice was clearly showing the years. I mean - the guy is 80 something, right? I LOVE Mccartney - but the man is human! Still- the audience was digging it-
*And I’ll finish with this- what you SHOULD watch- is the SNL 50TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE CONCERT on the Peacock app! And even though I enjoyed Sunday nights show- Friday nights concert at Radio City Music Hall (performed in front an audience of SNL members, musical and host guests, staff and families)- was INCREDIBLE! It’s worth it just to see Post Malone teaming up with Nirvana for a fiery “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, or Brandi Carlisle’s “The Joke”, Eddie Vedders tribute to Tom Petty, and – believe it or not – The Backstreet Boys “I Want it That Way” (for which the audience lost it’s shit!). ADD to that some great skits like Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer’s HILARIOUS “Culp Medley” and Andy Samberg and Lady Gaga doing a live version of "Dick in a Box" – and it was a GREAT show! Check it out!
I can't post any of the videos- but you have to check them out on the Peacock Platform -
Anyway- if you like SNL - the specials are worth the watch on Peacock or YouTube or whatever-
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