‘SNL50’ Review: ‘Saturday Night Live’s’ 50th Was a So-So Show That Wasn’t Really for Us
About halfway through “SNL50,” a sketch-comedy show that ran longer than “The Brutalist” (and also featured Adrien Brody), Laraine Newman walked into the iconic Studio 8H to gaze in wonder at the stage she helped cement as an American landmark. “God, 50 years,” Newman said, a sentimental melody playing as the original cast member started her walk down memory lane. Or, to be more accurate, she tried to walk down memory lane, but Chad — an uncaring stagehand and recurring favorite played by Pete Davidson — kept interrupting her journey. Her initial reverie was cut short by the piercing buzz of his cordless drill. Her thoughts on the magic and dysfunction of her iconic colleagues bored him so quickly he walked out of frame. When she asked him to put the spotlight on her, so she can “feel what it’s like to walk on that stage one more time,” he carelessly punched buttons, quipping “my bad” after a clock nearly fell on top of her.
Always the charitable professional, Newman thanked Chad for spotting her and said, “I had so many wonderful memories here. I’m sure you do, too.” But Chad, of course, does not. His only memory — compared to her rose-colored visions of Steve Martin and John Belushi, Gilda Radner and “that famous sax” — was from a few seconds ago, when the clock smashed into the concrete. “OK,” Chad said, and whether he’s stoned out of his mind or just naturally detached remains an open question.
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Either way, the point is clear: The former series regular visiting “Saturday Night Live’s” home of the last 50 years is overwhelmed with emotions. The regular guy who just works there couldn’t care less. It’s nostalgia vs. boredom, and it’s a battle everyone watching “SNL50” waged within themselves. Well, those of us watching at home, at least.
To be fair, it’s hard to be as checked out as Chad when Meryl Streep is cooing at Pedro Pascal, “A good mother can also be a bad girl,” and Jack Nicholson emerges from retirement to introduce Adam Sandler’s latest silly-to-soppy original song. There was no shortage of star power on display at “SNL50,” NBC’s three-and-a-half hour celebration of “Saturday Night Live’s” 50th season, but there was a noticeable sense of carelessness — a general vibe that just by putting on the various costumes and wigs, people would get what they were going for enough to have a good time. The staggering number of celebrities involved were always going to be able to carry the show across the finish line without completely losing the audience at home. It just felt like the folks swept up on stage were having way more fun than those of us stuck watching from the couch. “SNL” doesn’t always feel like that, and “SNL50” didn’t have to.
Like a reunion where everyone wants to have a good time but nobody wants to plan out exactly how that’ll happen, “SNL50” didn’t seem to care whether anyone who didn’t go to school at 30 Rock would enjoy seeing all the alums goof around. After all, when your class clowns are Steve Martin and Martin Short (the former of whom delivered the opening monologue with aplomb), Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (whose Q&A session delivered the first true belly laughs), and Kristen Wiig making Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte kiss (in a sketch that perfectly blended ambition with retrospection), who wouldn’t enjoy one more rambunctious study hall?
Still, with that much talent in the room (or, in a joke that became an unfortunate metaphor given the night’s shaggy sketches, with that many great writers standing outside), audiences can expect a higher standard than much of what happened on Sunday night’s “Saturday Night Live.” In her first-ever appearance on “SNL,” Streep broke out laughing. So did Pedro Pascal, who also missed his cue during his first sketch with Sabrina Carpenter and Bad Bunny. With so many movie and TV stars being thrown into a sketch cold, too many opening lines were flubbed, and a handful of punchlines were fumbled. Jimmy Fallon made sure to break during a Debbie Downer sketch, which one could argue is its own form of commitment to the bit, but despite Friday night’s “SNL Homecoming Concert” special, there were as many musical guests as there were retrospective video montages, neither of which added much in the form of memorable entertainment.
Admittedly, it can’t be easy filling out a sketch show that stretches longer than most modern baseball games, but the over-reliance on clip reels felt especially misguided as sketch after sketch twisted itself into knots trying to fit in as many stars as possible. You could see Tom Hanks rushing in to replace Eddie Murphy in “Black Jeopardy,” which dinged the 10-time host’s “SNL50” unveiling (and made losing Murphy’s stellar Tracy Morgan impression sting a little bit more). “Bronx Beat” with Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph called Miles Teller out of the audience and then almost called it quits (the bit just wasn’t working), before pivoting into a surprise reveal of Mike Myers’ Linda Richmond (which didn’t really go anywhere either). “Vow Renewal” worked well enough, but it still served as a warning sign for a night filled with long, awkward sketches instead of additional, sharper sketches.
The best offerings knew how to wield their time, whether they were quick about it or gained momentum as they went. Andy Samberg and Bowen Yang’s digital short on “Anxiety” clocked in at just over four minutes, but still found room for Chris Parnell to make a mini “Lazy Sunday” reunion, loads of crew member cameos, and a savvy (if truncated) revival of “Schweddy Balls,” where archival footage of Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon morphed into a newly recorded scene of the radio duo rapping. Fey & Poehler’s Q&A ran for nearly 10 minutes but could’ve gone the full hour (especially if they circled back to Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her dog), while John Mulaney’s New York 50th Musical was closer to 11 minutes, yet used its time to incorporate callbacks, cameos (Nathan Lane, you legend), historical asides, and the night’s greatest recurring game: “Who can find the most flustered celebrity sitting in the audience?” (Kevin Costner, congratulations, you won!)
All three featured plenty of moments even the most casual “SNL” viewer could enjoy — although I gotta tip my hat to whoever came up with the meta joke of Lane singing “Cocaine and vodka, what a wonderful phase” to the tune of “Hakuna Matata” — even if they were also clearly a ton of fun for the cast. (“Anxiety” felt particularly cathartic, on a night with a few oddly confessional moments.) If only more of the show felt similarly geared toward both crowds: John Q. Public at home and Jon D. Hamm in the studio.
Oddly, “SNL50” was chock-full of callbacks but light on actual nostalgia. Sandler’s song came the closest to yanking at our heartstrings, and that’s only because he can’t keep the love for Chris Farley out of his voice (nor should he ever try). Displaying basic human compassion is still a good thing, especially from our A-list celebrities, and “SNL50” could’ve gone that route. The 50th Anniversary event — which really began in September with the launch of the season, peaked this week with a slew of tributes, and will continue through the show’s actual 50th anniversary on October 11 — could’ve supported a very different “SNL50”; one that dedicated itself to melancholic memories of the past rather than actual live sketches in the here and now.
Instead, it went the other way. It crept away from big feelings even as its tenor prioritized the thousands of current and former employees who showed up to pay tribute to Lorne Michaels. Anyone in the room was likely weepy a few times throughout the night, but no one at home needed to worry about finding their tissues. If you were crying or laughing, odds are you were in the room where it happened, not the living room where most of us watch.
Grade: C+
“SNL50” is available to stream on Peacock.
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