Live from New York, it’s the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary!
On Sunday, February 16th, nearly 15 million people watched the iconic late night comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live celebrate their 50th anniversary with a three hour live special.
The special included appearances by past cast members and celebrity guests who have made memorable appearances on the show in the last 50 years.
The three hour show included the recreation of popular sketches over the years as well as new sketches that celebrate the show’s huge milestone.
The show opened with a duet by Paul Simmon and Sabrina Carpenter of “Homeward Bound,” – the same song that Simmon sang with George Harrison on SNL’s premiere in 1976.
Just like the regular weekly SNL episodes, the 50th anniversary show featured an opening monologue. Steve Martin, who has hosted SNL 16 times, was chosen to do the anniversary show’s monologue and centered the monologue around the idea that just like him, SNL is now “old.” Martin’s monologue also featured guest appearances by John Mulaney and Martin Short.
The anniversary show included recreations of many iconic SNL skits from over the years. The first live sketch of the night was a rendition of “The Lawrence Welk Show” which featured Will Ferrell, Kristin Wiig, Scarlett Johansson, Ana Gasteyer, and Kim Kardashian. Another iconic sketch that got recreated was “Black Jeopardy,” which featured Kenan Thompson, Leslie Jones, Eddie Murphy, Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, and Tom Hanks.
One of the most talked about sketches of the night was the newest addition to the Domingo “universe,” a sketch titled “Domingo: Vow Renewal.”
Domingo was a character first introduced back in October in a sketch titled “Bridesmaid Speech.” The original sketch follows four bridesmaids singing a spoof of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso,” recapping their bachelorette trip. Throughout the song it is revealed that on the bachelorette trip, the bride Kelsey cheated on her now-husband, Matt, with a guy named Domingo. Domingo, played by fan-favorite SNL cast member Marcello Hernandez, then shows up at the wedding to confirm that he did hook up with Kelsey during her bachelorette trip.
The skit ultimately went viral on social media, which led to a second Domingo sketch back in November titled “Babymoon.” In this sketch, it’s Kelsey and Matt’s baby shower and to celebrate, Kelsey’s four friends prepared another song, (this time a spoof of Chappell Roan’s “HOT TO GO!”), about the babymoon trip the girls took to Miami. In the song, it’s revealed that not only has Kelsey been in contact with Domingo, but Domingo is the father of one of her unborn twins! Domingo then appears and tells Matt that the two of them are going to be daddies, and they can co-parent together in Miami.
For the anniversary show, the Domingo storyline was continued with a sketch titled “Domingo: Vow Renewal.” The sketch begins with Martin Short and Molly Shannon as Kelsey’s parents explaining that Kelsey asked for a vowel renewal for her and Matt. Kelsey’s four best friends, (this time, one of them being Sabrina Carpenter), decided to sing about their girls’ trip to New York with a spoof of “Defying Gravity” from Wicked.
After singing about what seems like a tame trip, the girls begin to sing a spoof of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me,” where it’s revealed that Kelsey still thinks about Domingo. When Domingo appears, Matt is upset that Domingo is ruining an important event for him again.
Matt’s four friends then appear to sing a spoof of “Espresso” about their guys’ trip to Arizona. In the song, it’s revealed that Matt slept with a man named Renaldo, played by Pedro Pascal, while on the trip. Domingo then reappears, and reveals that Renaldo is his older brother. Bad Bunny then makes an appearance as Domingo and Renaldo’s “hot brother.” The hilarious and celebrity-filled sketch then ends with Carpenter doing the “Defying Gravity” riff.
The show also featured moments where celebrity guests interacted with the audience. Emma Stone introduced a video segment that showcased some of the best physical comedy seen on SNL in the last 50 years, and Molly Shannon joined Stone for this introduction by reprising her character Sally O’Malley. Later on, Tina Fey and Amy Poler hosted a hilarious audience Q&A segment which featured many celebrity appearances.
There were two super funny pre-recorded video segments that aired during the show. The first one featured Andy Samberg and Bowen Yang singing a song about how all SNL cast members have anxiety. The second video segment featured Laraine Newman visiting the SNL set with the company of Pete Davidson reprising his character Chad.
The 50th anniversary show also included the iconic “Weekend Update” segment hosted by its weekly hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che. Throughout the segment, many past SNL cast members made appearances as some of their iconic characters over the years. Cecily Strong came back to play “The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started A Conversation With At A Party” and Bobby Moynihan appeared to play “Drunk Uncle.”
Past “Weekend Update” anchor Seth Meyers had his own moment to host the segment where he introduced Fred Armisen and Vanessa Bayer who played “Lorne’s Friends From Growing Up.” Bill Murray, who was also once a “Weekend Update” anchor, then made an appearance where he ranked the best “Weekend Update” anchors of all time.
Kate McKinnon had the opportunity to reprise her role as Ms. Rafferty during a recreation of the timeless “Close Encounter” skits. The skit also featured Pedro Pascal, Woody Harrelson, Aidy Bryant, Jon Hamm, and Meryl Streep. Later in the night, Rachel Dratch got to reprise her role as Debbie Downer in a sketch that featured Jimmy Fallon, Drew Barrymore, Ayo Edebiri, and Robert De Niro.
Overall, the SNL 50th anniversary show was incredibly funny, entertaining, and enjoyable!