SNL50: The Anniversary Special

They brought an impressive array of celebrities and past cast members for this much anticipated special. Wondering who might pop up next did hold your attention. The novelty of seeing past and current cast members and the odd celebrity thrown together in skits was entertaining to some degree. There were also skits that mixed characters from different seasons, or were modern versions of old skits - all adding a novelty to the show.

BUT BUT BUT!! But novelty is not enough for a comedy show. Strip away the novelty and the skits simply weren't funny or clever or well fleshed out. The only skit that struck as funny at all was the UFO sketch with Kate McKinnon, Meryl Streep, Jon Hamm, Woody Harrelson, Pedro Pascal, and Aidy Bryant. The humor was mostly due to Kate's dialogue and delivery (and Harrelson and Pascal trying not to crack). Overall there's disappointingly little that sticks out at memorable, which is sad for a 50th anniversary show crammed with celebrities.

This has just about everything you could possibly want in an SNL homage. I watched it with my teens who had recently gotten into watching Weekend Updates every week, and it was a blast from the past, blending past and present beautifully. Just watching the crowd, it's fun to look out (and point out) who was there. Right from the get go it was evident everybody channeled real love into this special, and everybody was enjoying their time, well aware of the fact that they were taking part in a historical event. I can't even say exactly what my favorite moment was, but even the nostalgic, emotional beats hit just as hard as the humor.

If you've ever enjoyed SNL, this is well worth your time!

I appreciated the opening that paired Paul Simon (from the second ever SNL) with Sabrina Carpenter (from RIGHT NOW). I personally wish that they had picked a different right now "it" girl - but that's just me. Paul at the end was just magical. Those two numbers alone were done with more respect for the audience and the artists than the entire "music" special. I love both Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard. The comic material was great. They found cool ways to remind us of how wide and deep the talent of the cast and the celebrities that have been on that stage over the years is. Overall, I enjoyed this a lot.

Great show, so many awesome celebrities. It was a walk down memory lane. Really liked it, some of my favorite people on the planet. I have been watching for the whole fifty years. The commercials were brutal! I would have given it a ten out of ten but the commercials were really bad. They are torture. I don't know who picked the SNL graveyard skit but that was in poor taste. I am not sure if having eight two year old performers is a good idea, it was a little sad. After a couple of hours of the same commercials I started to hate them and blame companies for having awful commercials. Thanks for not trying peacock.

SNL 50: The Anniversary Special was a highly anticipated event, bringing together past and present cast members, legendary hosts, and iconic sketches to celebrate five decades of Saturday Night Live. While the nostalgia factor was strong and there were definitely some standout moments, the special ultimately felt like a mixed bag, earning a solid 6 out of 10 from me.

The best parts of the show were the well-executed callbacks to classic sketches and the surprise guest appearances. Seeing former cast members reprise their roles brought back great memories, and there were a few genuinely funny new bits that reminded us why SNL has lasted so long. The tribute segments honoring late cast members and behind-the-scenes legends were also touching and well done.

However, the pacing was inconsistent, and some segments felt like filler rather than a true celebration of SNL's legacy. While nostalgia is great, certain sketches dragged on too long or felt more like a rehash than a fresh take. Additionally, the balance between old and new cast members felt a bit off-while longtime fans may have enjoyed the throwbacks, newer audiences might have felt a little left out.

Overall, SNL 50 was a fun but flawed tribute. It had some great highs but also some lows that kept it from being truly great. A solid watch for longtime fans, but not quite the perfect anniversary special it could have been.