NOTE: For this special, only the full-length new comedy segments will receiving a rating. None of the intro segments or highlight reels will be rated.
Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
JUSTIN & JIMMY
JIF & Justin Timberlake [real] do medley of SNL characters’ catchphrases
— A nice way that Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake segue into this SNL medley song.
— This SNL medley song is fun as hell, well-detailed, and is featuring great segues. And, as an SNL nerd, I am absolutely loving all of the rapid-fire references from various eras. So rapid-fire, in fact, that I can’t even catch them all in my current viewing.
— Even the Debbie Downer walk-on adds well to this.
— Great shot of the much-larger-than-usual, celebrity-filled audience when Jimmy and Justin are saying LFNY.
STARS: ****
OPENING MONTAGE
— Very cool motif to this, with how matching shots from different opening montages are shown either side-by-side or one after another.
— I’m really liking the occasional SNL clips that are shown in side-by-side thin bars throughout this.
— Lots of great little new touches to the usual season 40 theme music, giving it a very epic, special, almost-goosebumps-inducing sound.
— An overall strong anniversary special opening montage, and a huge improvement over the one from the 25th Anniversary Special, which I’ve always felt was drab and seemingly a little half-assed.
MONOLOGUE
Steve Martin & Tom Hanks [real] debate comedians vs. actors as SNL hosts
— Steve Martin, after comparing this anniversary special to a high school reunion: “A high school that is almost all white…”
— The usual great Steve Martin-style one-liners from Steve.
— A very memorable gag were Steve mentions Jon Lovitz as an example of SNL greats no longer with us, which is immediately followed by a perfect cutaway to a baffled and offended Jon in the audience.
— Alec Baldwin, after Steve says he counts this as an extra hosting stint of his: “Steve, this isn’t official – it’s Sunday.” Steve: “*I* don’t know that.”
— Melissa McCarthy noticeably looking a lot thinner than she did in her previous SNL appearances.
— Steve, to Chris Rock: “I actually forgot you were a cast member.” Chris: “So did the writers.”
— Not even Billy Crystal’s typical smug-fest can hurt this monologue for me.
STARS: ***½
1975-2015 HIGHLIGHTS
clips of SNL moments from throughout its 40-year history
— Ah, seeing that opening clip of SNL’s inaugural Wolverines cold opening in this particular context brings back significant memories for me as a reviewer, given the fact that it was (obviously) the very first sketch I reviewed in this SNL project of mine.
— Very nice how, among the very famous, often-seen clips during the 1975-1980 highlights, they include Laraine Newman’s forgotten, underrated Sherry character, presumably because of an appearance that character will be making in a certain new sketch later tonight.
— On a similar note to above, I appreciate how the 1980-1985 highlights aren’t just an Eddie Murphy/Martin Short/Billy Crystal montage, and are including some stuff from that era’s lesser-remembered cast members.
— The point where this chronological highlight reel reaches the 1999 period is significant for me, as 1999 was the year I first discovered SNL.
— Also significant when this highlight reel reaches the then-current era (which I guess can still be called the current era today in 2021), because it really makes me realize just how far along I’ve come in this SNL project of mine.
— Overall, a well-put-together and fun 1975-2015 highlight reel. While I liked how the previous two anniversary specials aired a separate highlight reel for each five-year period instead of airing a single highlight reel of all the eras like tonight did, it was fascinating to witness the evolution of SNL in tonight’s highlight reel. However, one thing I miss from the previous two anniversary specials was an individual highlight reel(s) of musical guests. While this 40th Anniversary Special showed a few poignant musical guest clips throughout this 1975-2015 SNL highlight reel, that’s not the same thing. The 25th Anniversary Special aired an individual highlight reel for each decade of musical guests, and the 15th Anniversary Special did something I especially love and found fascinating to watch, where they showed a single highlight reel of musical guests in reverse chronological order, going from the then-current year 1989 to 1975 (though, for some reason, they completely snubbed season 10). I’d love to see an updated version of the latter musical guest highlight reel, going from today to 1975, or even the other way around, going from 1975 to today.
SUPER BASS-O-MATIC 2150
technology of Super Bass-O-Matic 2150 has changed little since 1976 model
— Our first misstep of the night. I guess SNL’s hearts are in the right place here, but this verbatim Bass-O-Matic reprisal feels pointless, and it’s painfully obvious that Dan Aykroyd no longer has anywhere near the manic fast-paced delivery he had in his younger days, which played a part in why the original Bass-O-Matic commercial was so fantastic. His generic, slow-paced delivery in this reprisal doesn’t work nearly as well with this material.
— At least the disgusting visual of a dead, uncooked fish being destroyed in a blender on live TV is always worth a good laugh.
— Certainly nice that they’re having Laraine reprise her brief role from the original version of this sketch (and the now-forgotten Bat-O-Matic variant), even wearing the exact same outfit.
— Ha, a genuine gaffe at the end of this, where Dan can’t get the blender to work after cramming several fish into it. Instead of giving up and just smiling into the camera when that gaffe happened, it would’ve been nice if Dan threw in some kind of ad-lib, which 1976 Dan Aykroyd probably would’ve done.
STARS: **
BUMPER
bumper slide recognizes former host Buck Henry
CELEBRITY JEOPARDY
Sean Connery (DAH) & many other celebrities irk Alex Trebek (WIF)
— YES!!!!
— Feels interesting seeing a current cast member appear with SNL alums in a new comedy bit in this anniversary special.
— A good decision to put Alec’s always-hilarious Tony Bennett impression into this sketch.
— And there’s our obligatory category mix-up of tonight’s Celebrity Jeopardy sketch: Darrell Hammond’s Sean Connery misreading “Who Reads” as “Whore Ads”. However, the camera accidentally zooms in on the wrong part of the board during this gag, which hurts it a little. Presumably, the reason for this gaffe is the lack of a dress rehearsal, as SNL doesn’t do the traditional evening dress rehearsal for their anniversary specials (well, at least not the 25th and 40th anniversaries; not sure about the 15th).
— I mentioned in a recent review that Kate McKinnon’s initially-hilarious Justin Bieber routine was starting to wear slightly thin for me earlier this season, but it’s working for me in this particular venue.
— YEAH!!! Norm Macdonald’s Burt Reynolds out of nowhere!
— And, of course, Norm’s Burt makes Will Ferrell’s Alex Trebek refer to him as Turd Ferguson. Classic.
— As always, Norm’s Burt is IMMEDIATELY killing in this sketch.
— An interesting coincidence(?) about Taran’s Christoph Waltz suddenly filling in for Kate’s Bieber is the fact that the real Bieber and Waltz hosted back-to-back episodes two years prior to this. If this order of succession had continued throughout this sketch, Jay Pharoah would’ve replaced Taran’s Waltz as Kevin Hart, given the fact that the real Hart was Waltz’s successor as a host two years prior.
— I’m loving the escalation to this sketch, with more and more celebrities randomly appearing out of nowhere as contestants. Also a great way to get cast members and former hosts involved, given the gigantic amount of people at SNL tonight.
— I like how Jim Carrey’s appearance as Matthew McConaughey even has a voice-over from him, ala his Lincoln ads.
— And there’s our second obligatory category mix-up of tonight’s Celebrity Jeopardy sketch: Darrell’s Connery misreading “Let It Snow” as “Le Tits Now”. By far the funnier and more classic of the two category misreadings tonight.
— The return of Turd Ferguson’s old cowboy hat!
— A big oh-so-wrong laugh from the Bill Cosby bit. Also funny is Ferrell’s Trebek panicking after that, and explaining “We filmed that back in June!”
— Speaking of the Bill Cosby bit, it would later be revealed that SNL originally wanted Eddie Murphy to play Cosby in this, but he declined because he “didn’t want to kick a man when he’s down”.
— Aw, no “Final Jeopardy” segment in tonight’s installment of this sketch?
STARS: ****
INTRO
PED & LEJ introduce clips of SNL auditions
— Nice to see SNL’s two newest cast members get their own little segment in this anniversary special.
— There’s something I strangely like about the pair that Pete Davidson and Leslie Jones are making here, despite (or maybe because of) the juxtaposition of their personalities. Over the years after this, we’d pretty much never see them paired together on the show. Hell, I can barely even think of any times they so much as interact with each other in sketches.
AUDITIONS
clips of SNL auditions
— Oh, I absolutely love the idea of this particular highlight reel. These auditions are a blast to see.
— Given what an SNL pro Amy Poehler would go on to be, it’s actually charming to see a display of greenness in her audition clip, when she’s completely lost on how to start her audition.
— Speaking of charming, the SNL queen of charm, Gilda Radner, is exuding her trademark charm all throughout the clips we see of her audition.
— Baby Kenan!
— Very meaningful how they’re using clips of Phil Hartman’s audition as a way to introduce different themes (e.g. characters, impressions) within this audition highlight reel.
— The portion showing auditions from unhired people who later went on to become superstars is particularly fascinating.
— It’s often been debated just when exactly Jim Carrey auditioned for SNL. The general consensus seems to be that it was in 1980 for season 6, but if you look at his audition clips in this highlight reel, they’re clearly from 1986 for season 12, as the visual quality of the clips and the stage that he’s auditioning on match the clips of Phil, Jan Hooks, and Dana Carvey’s season 12 auditions (some comparisons below).
In fact, I recall once hearing that, after these season 12 auditions, Lorne had to decide between Carrey and Carvey (funny how there’s only a one-letter difference between their last names), and ultimately, he chose Carvey. Too bad we couldn’t have gotten both, though I have a hard time picturing Jim’s trademark comedy style fitting in with that late 80s cast. Maybe that would’ve made a nice contrast, though.
— I remember that, when this anniversary special originally aired, I completely failed to recognize Zach Galifianakis in the “auditioners who didn’t make it” segment. I wondered who the heck that was, and felt bad that I couldn’t figure out his identity, especially given how I easily recognized all of the other now-superstars in that “auditioners who didn’t make it” segment. Zach looks like a completely different person in that audition compared to his now-trademark look.
— Speaking of Zach’s audition, does anyone know when exactly it took place? I know he had a guest writing stint at SNL towards the end of season 25. Is that also when his audition clip came from, or was that from a different time. Thanks in advance if anyone answers my question.
— Great decision to end this audition highlight reel with another charming clip of lovable Gilda.
INTRO
Robert DeNiro [real] introduces clips of SNL representations of NYC
— Uh-oh. Robert DeNiro live and onstage by himself? Well, that certainly spells disaster.
— Aaaaaand there goes the obligatory long blank pauses, halting delivery, and constant tripping over words that we’ve come to expect from DeNiro’s SNL appearances.
— When this originally aired, I did at least like DeNiro’s description of Rob Reiner’s season 1 monologue (which I hadn’t yet seen at the time), because, as I mentioned in my review of that monologue, DeNiro’s description of it here made me fascinated to finally see when it came time for me to review that episode for my SNL project.
NEW YORK HIGHLIGHTS
clips of SNL representations of NYC
— Again, seeing clips from SNL’s very first episode makes me nostalgic for when I first started my SNL project.
— As a born New Yorker (and currently living in New York), this New York highlight reel really speaks to me.
— I really like how the New York-themed clips from SNL sketches and short films are being interspersed with related shots from various SNL opening montages.
— A significant part when we reach the 9/11 portion of SNL’s timeline in this chronological New York highlight reel.
— That Alicia Keys “Empire State Of Mind” musical performance (from the season 35 Charles Barkley episode) never fails to make me emotional as hell, even moreso here with how audio of it is being played as we see wonderful and touching behind-the-scenes photos of cast members and hosts in New York City outdoor locations. The song and these photos go together so beautifully, and, again, it also speaks to me as a New Yorker. I’m not ashamed to tell you readers that my eyes are tearing up right now during this portion of the highlight reel.
— Ooh, I love how they even include an obscure season 6 clip of Gilbert Gottfried in the Pepe Gonzales short film (which I sorely underrated in my review of it, and would now give a much higher rating if I ever had a chance to review it again).
— Overall, bravo. This SNL New York highlight reel was beautiful, moving, and extremely well-put-together.
BAND SHOT
going to commercial, G.E. Smith [real] plays guitar with SNL Band
INTRO
Keith Richards [real] introduces Paul McCartney
— Ha, Keith Richards is seemingly standing in the wrong part of the home base stage, making the shot of him look kinda awkward.
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Paul McCartney [real] performs “Maybe I’m Amazed”
INTRO
Jack Nicholson [real] introduces political humor clips
— I’m still dumbfounded over the fact that Jack Nicholson somehow never hosted SNL.
— I’m enjoying the grim picture that Nicholson is painting of what the world was like in 1975 when SNL debuted.
POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS
political humor clips
— That classic “black control room operators” clip from Jesse Jackson’s season 10 monologue never fails to slay me, no matter how many times I’ve seen it.
— The portion of this highlight reel where they reach the first Bush/Gore debate sketch is significant for me, as that’s the cold opening of the very first episode where I started regularly watching each new episode live from beginning to end as an SNL superfan. (Prior to that, I was only a casual SNL viewer and would seldom watch full live episodes. I’d usually flip back-and-forth between it and MADtv during the first half-hour of the SNL episode, and would often opt to watch something on cable during the last half-hour of the SNL episode.)
— A fun byproduct of seeing all of these various chronological highlight reels in this anniversary special is that you get to see how much SNL’s visual quality evolved from year-to-year.
THE CALIFORNIANS
pool boy (Bradley Cooper) & (Betty White) are a couple
(DAS) & (CES) say “buh-bye” to Californians performers
— Oh, why, why, why, SNL???
— Well, at least, much like earlier tonight, SNL gives a nod to Laraine’s forgotten Sherry character. Speaking of which, I remember some online SNL fans didn’t recognize Laraine in this sketch, due to her older age. (Possibly adding to the confusion among those SNL fans is the fact that I recall it once being pointed out that Laraine seemingly got a nose job by this point). During that discussion, one of those SNL fans even wondered if that was Stevie Nicks.
— The celebrity-filled audience is noticeably (and rightfully) not all that into this sketch, compared to SNL’s easy-to-please audiences of regular people in other episodes. That being said, the celebrity audience isn’t quite as hard on this sketch as I had remembered.
— Such an interesting novelty seeing Laraine Newman and Bill Hader standing side-by-side in a sketch. If only it was in an actually funny sketch.
— Bradley Cooper at least is coming off as a natural for this sketch.
— As for a former host who’s NOT coming off as a natural for this sketch? Taylor Swift. While she certainly surprised and impressed me with her general hosting performance back in season 35, her performance in this sketch is pretty dreadful. I also remember an online SNL fan pointing out that, even for this recurring sketch’s standards, Taylor’s Californian accent was so exaggerated that she downright sounded like she was doing an un-PC mentally-challenged voice.
— As always, Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen have been giggling their way through most of this sketch. By comparison, the usually-easily-breakable Bill Hader is keeping it perfectly straight in this.
— I strangely appreciate how Betty White isn’t even attempting a Californian accent, and is just using her normal voice. Something about that decision is perfectly on-brand for Betty, and I don’t want to see her get sucked into the usual lame routine of this recurring sketch by doing the same dumb Californian accent that everyone else does.
— If they were going to give Betty some (much-deserved) airtime in this anniversary special, couldn’t they have at least given her actual funny lines in this sketch? Her long, non-comedic rambling in this sketch just leads to a cheap, unfunny make-out session between her and Bradley (something SNL previously did better with Betty and Will Forte in a MacGruber short).
— Ah, an actual welcome segue, as this sketch suddenly turns into a Total Bastard Airlines reprisal. Interesting choice to have Cecily Strong paired with David Spade here.
— Oof. While I’m enjoying this Total Bastard Airlines reprisal (far more than anything in the Californians portion of this sketch), the whole back-and-forth that David had with Bradley was ROUGH.
STARS: ** (the Total Bastard Airlines portion boosted the rating a tad)
WEEKEND UPDATE
as Roseanne Roseannadanna, Emma Stone [real] reads a viewer’s letter
as Stefon, Edward Norton [real] takes notes from Stefon & a jealous SEM
as Matt Foley, Melissa McCarthy [real] lectures AMP & JAC
Land Shark eats TIF
— Extremely mixed feelings on this special Update trio, given my well-documented ire towards the Fey/Poehler era of Update, and the fact that the re-pairing of them in tonight’s special Update trio is further glorifying their already-overglorified Update era. But screw it, we got Jane Curtin back at the Update desk! That alone is worth it.
— Tina and Amy’s jokes tonight aren’t bad so far, and I do like how the jokes are all SNL-related.
— A hilarious Fox News slam from Jane, delivered perfectly by her. She’s still got it. I’d pay money to watch a new Update with modern-day Jane anchoring it by herself.
— Speaking of me having mixed feelings, I don’t know why, but that’s my reaction to the whole “celebrities playing their favorite SNL character” portion of this Update. SNL’s heart is in the right place here, and I appreciate that these celebrities are getting to live out a dream, but there’s something about the way this is being executed that isn’t fully clicking for me. It doesn’t help that Edward Norton’s Stefon impression was fairly lousy here, which is surprising, given what a solid impressionist he proved to be in general in his season 39 hosting stint.
— Jane’s naturally giddy reaction when agreeing with Tina and Amy on how fun this is is such a charming moment.
— A decent reveal of the Update desk being a breakaway when Melissa McCarthy’s Matt Foley crashes through it.
— The ending of this was kind of a mess, especially with how awkwardly the Land Shark bit was executed.
STARS: ***
WEEKEND UPDATE HIGHLIGHTS
Weekend Update clips
— Love the start of this highlight reel, with a chronological succession of clips of (almost) every Update anchor doing their sign-on.
— Geez, was that the best joke they could’ve picked from a Colin Quinn-era Update? The joke itself wasn’t bad, but that absurdly long pause Colin took before delivering the punchline sadly sums up how awkward he generally was as an anchor.
— A few of the clip choices for Update jokes from other anchors are also rather questionable.
— I like how, instead of being shown in chronological order, the clips of Update jokes and memorable Update guests are being shown in a random order, as it feels pretty fun to see so many vastly different Update eras being shown one after another in a scattered sequence.
— Ah, an all-time classic O.J. joke from Norm. An Update montage wouldn’t be complete without one.
— Cecily’s tenure as an Update co-anchor has been completely snubbed in this entire highlight reel, which is surprising to me. I know her Update tenure was short-lived and not all that well-received (deservedly so, in my opinion), but it still seems odd for SNL to act like her Update tenure never existed, especially given how recent it was at this time.
CHEVY CHASE TRIBUTE
Weekend Update anchors KEN, NOM, SEM, COQ pay tribute to CHC
CHC’s words of thanks are repeated by GAM for the hard-of-hearing
— Seth Meyers: “23 people have anchored the Weekend Update desk.” Norm: “And this fact may surprise you: a few of them…were men!”
— An unintentionally very funny moment where, fittingly, Colin accidentally flubs the end of his line in which he blames his mumbling habit as an anchorperson on the cue cards constantly being dropped. Even funnier, he follows this flub by turning his head and making an “Aw, dammit!” face.
— After all these years, Kevin Nealon has still got it when it comes to his masterful subliminal routine.
— Can’t help but notice that Seth is the only one of these four anchors who has nothing comedic or particularly noteworthy to say here. He’s just delivering boring, straightforward lines, which is further proof of just how bland and lacking in a distinct Update persona he is, especially when compared to the three anchors he’s standing onstage with (and I’m not even all that big a fan of Colin’s Update tenure, nor the last third of Kevin’s Update tenure).
— Haha, Norm intentionally ruining his intro of Chevy Chase by jokingly delivering it in the most terrible, bizarre, stalling manner he possibly can, which makes Seth openly laugh his ass off. Only Norm could get away with ad-libbing something like this and make it hilarious.
— Oh, man. Chevy. Just…what can I say about how notoriously, shockingly horrible and unhealthy he looks and sounds in this? I mean, geez, the man can even be seen quietly going “Ooh!” in a pained manner when merely walking down a step to reach the front of the home base stage. And, judging from the audience’s eerie silence during his horribly-delivered sarcastic quip, “Thank you for that……………………..oh, oh……………………..lovely tribute” , you can just SENSE the entire audience thinking to themselves, “Oh, wow. What the hell happened to him???”, just like I and other viewers at home were thinking when this originally aired. To call this simply uncomfortable to watch would be a gigantic understatement.
— Ah, good ol’ Garrett to save the day! The “News for the hard-of-hearing” reprisal from a suddenly-appearing Garrett Morris thankfully takes away at least some of the depressing, cringeworthy feel from this Chevy segment.
STARS: Not sure this constitutes as a full-length comedy segment, and if it does, I’m lost on what kind of rating to give it. I really liked the pre-Chevy half of this with Norm, Kevin, Colin, and Seth, but the Chevy half itself? Oof.
COLON BLOW
Rerun from 11/11/89
BUMPER
bumper slide recognizes former commercial parody producer Jim Signorelli
BAND SHOT
during commercial, Cheryl Hardwick [real] plays piano with SNL Band
MUSICAL ACTS
MAS & Beyonce (MAR) pay tribute to SNL’s union of music & comedy
Garth & Kat make up a song; Marty & Bobbi perform a medley
Frank Sinatra (JOP), Derek Stevens, Operaman perform
musical performances inspire an interruption from What Up With That?
Steve Martin [real] performs “King Tut”
Nick “Ocean” & PAS perform the love scene from Jaws
Elwood & Zee (JIB) Blues perform “Everybody Needs Somebody”
— Uh, what’s this talk from Martin Short about only having hosted SNL just once? Which two of his THREE hosting stints is he forgetting? His season 12 and 22 stints?
— Was NBC’s Martin Short/Maya Rudolph variety show already in the works by this point, thus explaining this pairing of them?
— Before I have yet another aneurysm over yet another Garth & Kat sighting, I’m going to enjoy the dead silence that I remember this appearance of theirs deservedly receiving from the celebrity-filled audience.
— Ugh, I just realized that, with the Californians sketch having aired earlier tonight, this Garth & Kat appearance is actually our second display tonight of typical self-indulgent breaking from Fred and Kristen.
— Aw, dammit. Much like the Californians sketch, the audience is actually laughing a little more at this Garth & Kat commentary than I had remembered.
— Like I said in my review of the Culps revival in Ferrell’s season 37 hosting stint, it’s an interesting and fun novelty seeing The Culps cover popular 2010s songs during their usual medley, given how associated these characters are with the late 90s/early 00s era of music.
— Another nice instance tonight of SNL giving an unexpected nod to the often-neglected Ebersol era, as Joe Piscopo gets to reprise his Frank Sinatra.
— Awkward moment where Dana has to actually prompt the audience to applaud at the end of his Choppin’ Broccoli reprisal. Ha, he had a very “What’s WRONG with you people?!?”-type non-verbal reaction towards the audience.
— Great to see a new Operaman bit after such a long absence.
— I see Sasheer Zamata has randomly been added in as the newest of the two What Up With That backup singers, a role she never played prior to this. Did Vanessa Bayer not feel like reprising this role tonight? Still, I appreciate that SNL surprisingly gave the typically-underutilized Sasheer something to do in this anniversary special.
— I like how Jason Sudeikis’ new beard makes his typical gleeful facial expressions as his dancing red tracksuit character from What Up With That look even more crazed here.
— Ha, Steve wearing a flesh-colored garment under his King Tut costume, ’cause SNL knows nobody wants to see a 60/70-something-year-old Steve Martin shirtless.
— And here comes the best moment of this whole Musical Acts segment, and one of the absolute best moments of this entire anniversary special: the Jaws song from Bill Murray’s Nick The Lounger Singer.
— Bill is absolutely KILLING IT in this hilarious Jaws song, and is showing that, after all these decades, he hasn’t lost a single step as his Nick The Lounge Singer character.
— I think you can even hear Leslie Jones’ distinct laugh off-camera at one point during this Nick The Lounge Singer bit. Also, in the backstage area behind Bill during this segment, Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock (both getting prepared for an upcoming segment) can be seen watching Bill’s musical number, and Chris is clearly loving it.
— Ha, Bill gets so into his intense singing of this Jaws song that he even ad-libs(?) a muted-out passionate shout of “goddamn” at one point. I guess the fact that it was muted out shows that this special is airing on a seven-second delay. They would also mute out what appeared to be an s-bomb from Chris Rock a little later in this special.
— Yeeeaaah, I could do without this geriatric Blues Brothers revival (and you thought it was sad to see 1998 Dan Aykroyd still doing this routine), and I’m not too crazy about the decision to have it close out this whole Musical Acts segment, though it is pretty fun to see all the performers from earlier in this segment gather together onstage during the climax of the Blues Brothers number.
STARS: ***
EDDIE MURPHY TRIBUTE
CSR credits EDM with being his comedic inspiration & saving SNL
EDM is happy to be back at SNL
— Nice and heartfelt words from Chris about Eddie, especially him going into detail of 1) how he was inspired by Eddie to become a comedian, and 2) the important and groundbreaking things Eddie accomplished as a cast member, including saving SNL from cancellation in 1981.
— Chris: “Eddie hosted the show while he was still a cast member. I’m sure the rest of the cast loved that! Shit, I was on the show for three years, I was lucky to get a guest spot on Punky Brewster.”
— Ah, here’s the man of the hour in this Chris Rock segment: Eddie Murphy, making his first SNL appearance in over 30 years. This was a huge deal at the time.
— Aaaaaaaand Eddie’s segment is already over, after he came out, said absolutely NOTHING noteworthy (just generic “Great to be back” mumbo-jumbo), and threw to a commercial. That loud sinking sound you heard was the collective disappointment from SNL fans all over the world. I mean, what the hell?!?!? All that long-winded, glowing build-up from Chris Rock to such a highly-anticipated, long-awaited SNL return for the legendary Eddie Murphy, only for…THAT to be what we end up getting when he finally appeared? An epic letdown, to say the least. I remember how, between all the notoriously bad movies he had been doing since the mid-90s and now this huge disappointment of an SNL return he made here, this anniversary special made me come to the depressing conclusion back in 2015 that Eddie no longer “had it”. Thankfully, the year 2019 would later prove me wrong, between the highly-acclaimed Dolemite movie and Eddie’s SNL hosting stint. I actually haven’t seen the latter yet (for those who don’t know, I’ve been on a hiatus from watching new SNL episodes ever since December 2018), but I’ve certainly heard many glowing things about how successful he was in that episode. (That, the season 44 Adam Sandler-hosted episode, and the season 45 “SNL At Home” episodes are the ones that I’m most eager to watch when I review episodes from December 2018 and beyond. I would’ve included the second Dave Chappelle episode in there, given how much I love his first episode, but I’ve heard some not-so-great things about his second one.)
— What the hell went wrong the end of this? As if Eddie’s little (very little) “Great to be back” speech wasn’t awkward enough, we get an extremely awkward, baffling, and uncomfortable moment afterwards where he confusedly says to someone off-camera, “I thought you guys were gonna.. right there…no?”, then shrugs his shoulders and says “Okay, well, I’ll say it again”, and then proceeds to comically repeat his “Great to be back” speech as the show abruptly goes to commercial. I do admit that him repeating his speech actually made me (and the audience) laugh, but what the hell happened there in general?
BUMPER
bumper slide recognizes former producer Dick Ebersol
INTRO
Derek Jeter & Peyton Manning [real] introduce sports-related clips
— There’s nothing I can really find to say here. A decent pairing of two of the better athlete hosts SNL has ever had, at least.
SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS
sports-related clips
— Again, I can’t find anything to say here, but this is a well-edited reel.
ESPN CLASSIC
Pete Twinkle & Greg Stink do a spot for show sponsor Epilady
— Very nice to see these characters back, and it’s a clever decision to follow the sports highlight reel with this.
— The usual funny clueless comments from Will Forte’s character.
— Jason: “Epilady Feminine Razors – unsightly hair growth can sure be a drag, so when you’re munchin’ carpet, don’t let it be shag! (*long pause while the audience laughs hysterically*) Epilaaaadyyyyy!”
STARS: ****
INTRO
Win Butler & Candice Bergen [real] introduce Miley Cyrus
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Miley Cyrus [real] performs “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”
BAND SHOT
during commercial, Steve Turre [real] plays conch with SNL Band
AUDIENCE Q&A
Jerry Seinfeld [real] takes questions from celebrities in audience
— Jerry Seinfeld’s opening bit about being told that Brian Williams was a member of the original cast probably looked dumb on paper, but was well-delivered by Jerry.
— So fun to spot cast members, hosts, and other celebrities in the audience throughout this segment.
— Uh…I hate to ask, but is John Goodman drunk off his ass here? He certainly sounds it, and it doesn’t seem to be acting.
— Blah at James Franco’s emails bit. Unfunny, and very unnecessary for this anniversary special.
— Ah, the always-hilarious Larry David in his first SNL appearance since his days as a disgruntled writer in season 10. It’s also interesting seeing him here when you know in hindsight that this is just half a year prior to the Bernie Sanders impression giving Larry a renewed life on SNL.
— A nice surprise to see SNL give Ellen Cleghorne her own moment here. Also, her voice sounds almost completely different from how it sounded as a cast member.
— Upcoming SNL host Dakota Johnson asking Jerry Seinfeld for hosting tips is a fitting coincidence, given the fact that, much like her, Jerry himself hosted the first regular episode after SNL’s last anniversary special prior to this: the 25th Anniversary Special.
— Always a delight to see Timmy Meadows.
— Hilarious comment from Tim in regards to Rolling Stone Magazine’s infamous SNL cast ranking.
— Ha, boy, that Randy Quaid comment from Jerry…
— Oh, I forgot about this Sarah Palin appearance.
— Aaaaaand, with Palin’s appearance, we of course get a joke about her hypothetically choosing Donald Trump as her running mate in 2016. Oof, to say the least.
— Jerry, to Larry David: “You goin’ to the afterparty?” Larry: “…….NO!”
— Much like the Eddie Murphy segment earlier tonight, this ends awkwardly, as the director apparently missed his cue to cut to commercial after Jerry says “We’ll be right back” (a line that, in the director’s defense, was kinda drowned out by audience laughter), resulting in a long, awkward stretch of silence until Jerry says into the camera, “What? I said we’ll be right back.”
STARS: ***
MOM JEANS
Rerun from 5/10/03
BUMPER
bumper slide recognizes former photographer Edie Baskin
TRACY MORGAN MOMENT
Alec Baldwin [real] & TIF salute injured TRM
clip of Brian Fellow & parrot
bumper slide recognizes former cast member TRM
— A nice, touching, and funny segment with Tina and Alec honoring a still-injured-from-a-tragic-car-wreck Tracy Morgan. This segment also comes off interesting in hindsight, knowing Tracy would make a big post-injury comeback on SNL the following season.
— Alec’s Tracy Morgan impression always cracks me up.
— I’m glad that the Brian Fellow clip shown here to honor Tracy is from my personal favorite Brian Fellow installment: the parrot-involved one from the season 27 The Rock-hosted episode. I wish this clip of it went on longer, though.
INTRO
Christopher Walken [real] introduces Kanye West
— Wow, Christopher Walken’s brief intro here has a strangely spooky, grim-as-hell color filter on the screen (which is for Kanye West’s about-to-start musical performance), which is jarring but strangely fitting, given Christopher’s knack for naturally coming off creepy.
— Christopher’s voice noticeably sounds very aged and frail here, which is a sign of how much older he’s gotten since his last hosting stint. Presumably, him getting up there in age is the reason he no longer hosts SNL. A shame, because, like many other SNL fans, I’d still like to have seen at least one more Walken hosting stint after his 2008 one.
— Kinda hard to tell, due to how frail his voice sounded, but it sounded like Christopher mispronounced Kanye’s first name as “Can-ye”, which is lovably on-brand for Christopher.
— Oh, and by the way, this brief, straightforward, non-comedic intro sadly ends up being the ONLY thing Christopher gets to do in this entire anniversary special. Are you kidding me, SNL?!? A legendary, beloved recurring host like him being relegated to just doing a very brief, non-comical introduction to a musical guest??? And after how much Christopher memorably stole the show in the Audience Q&A segment from the 25th Anniversary Special???
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Kanye West [real] performs “Jesus Walks” & “Only One”
Kanye West, Vic Mensa, Sia [real] perform “Wolves”
INTRO
Louis C.K. [real] introduces clips of SNL films & other non-live material
— I absolutely love the quick, deadpan “Shut up” ad-lib that Louis C.K. jokingly makes in response to one off-camera audience member cheering something at him right after he started speaking.
— Very funny points from Louis about how SNL as a whole needs to be taped, and that they’ve been doing the show wrong for 40 years.
FILM HIGHLIGHTS
clips of SNL films & other non-live material
— Great way to start this, with the “Push button to explode building” bit with Tom Davis in season 7.
— I love the section of this highlight reel where we’re shown the names of famous directors who made some of SNL’s short films.
— As always, my heart warms and my eyes water up from the mere sight of Phil Hartman and Jan Hooks in the Love Is A Dream short.
— The Deep Thoughts clip shown was an excellent choice, and perfectly sums up Jack Handey’s style of humor.
— Some great segues throughout this highlight reel, like how they segue from the aforementioned Deep Thoughts clip to the TV Funhouse opening title sequence.
INTRO
Zach Galifianakis [real] introduces Digital Short
— The usual hilarious gag from Zach Galifianakis that he can sell effortlessly.
— I love the little “Wally, next card, please” comment that Zach randomly says to an off-camera Wally the cue card guy.
THAT’S WHEN YOU BREAK
ADS & ANS salute breaking in sketches with “Simply The Best” variant
— Great how this anniversary special even has a new Lonely Island Digital Short.
— Love this pairing of “Adam Samberg” and “Andy Sandler”, as Zach humorously introduced them as.
— Nice that this short has even given the always-underrated Chris Parnell a supporting role throughout.
— A fantastic premise to this short, focusing on moments of performers breaking in sketches over the years.
— Hilarious involvement from Bill Hader, especially the sudden tone shift after his initial “F(*bleep*)k you!” reaction to being insulted by Andy and Adam.
— Even the random mid-song interlude where Lorne is honored is fun and pulled off well.
— Love that one of the breaking clips is from the ad-lib-heavy Don Rickles episode (one of my all-time favorite episodes).
— The “And here’s another one of Fallon & Sanz” bit is a particularly excellent and memorable part of this short.
— Andy: “(singing) And we also made a movie that bombed!” Adam: “(speaking) Why would you bring that up???”
— Some of the breaking clips shown here are noticeably from dress rehearsal, including a never-before-seen clip of Julianna Margulies breaking HARD when trying to spit apple pie into Chris Kattan’s mouth in the famous Bird Family sketch. Seeing that particular dress rehearsal clip makes it all the more impressive that Margulies and the rest of the performers managed to perfectly keep a straight face in the live version of that sketch (aside from the part where Will Ferrell nearly choked on some food while going off on an angry tirade).
STARS: ****½
BAND SHOT
going to commercial, PAS plays organ with SNL Band
INTRO
BIM introduces In Memoriam reel
— A straightforward but classy intro from Bill.
IN MEMORIAM
Leon Pendarvis [real] plays piano during In Memoriam reel
JOL protests his erroneous inclusion in In Memoriam reel
— A wise and fitting decision to precede this In Memoriam reel with a clip of John Belushi in the legendary Don’t Look Back In Anger short.
— Man, right at the very start of the In Memoriam reel, that slow motion close-up of the then-recently-deceased Jan Hooks is already making my eyes tear up, and is reminding me of how emotional I got when reviewing the tribute to her in the then-recent Bill Hader-hosted episode.
— Very classy how this In Memoriam reel is not only featuring cast members, but behind-the-scenes crew members as well.
— I recall it being speculated that the action figure sitting on Phil Hartman’s shoulder in the photo of him is possibly the Charles Rocket action figure from the Saturday Night Live Action Dolls sketch in season 6. It’s not. (side-by-side comparison below)
— After Phil’s portion of this In Memoriam reel, we get a clever decision to have Chris Farley’s portion immediately follow the now-legendary clip of him being cradled in Phil’s arms at the end of the So Long Farewell sketch from Phil’s final episode as a cast member.
— Charming and lovely Gilda, fittingly saved for the very end of the non-comedic portion of this In Memoriam reel. My tears from earlier are coming back again…
— Ha, a great callback to the Jon Lovitz gag from the monologue.
— A strong bit after the In Memoriam reel where Bill Murray states that one particular SNL alum death came too late for them to include in the reel, then after a pause, Bill reveals “Generalissimo Francisco Franco…is still dead.” I remember some online SNL fans said their heart practically skipped a beat before the Generalissimo Francisco Franco reveal, as they genuinely thought Bill was being serious about an SNL alum having just died.
WAYNE’S WORLD
Wayne & Garth present the Top Ten Things About SNL
— YES!!!!
— Fun decision to have a typical Wayne & Garth Top Ten list be on the topic of SNL.
— During the first shot of Kanye West getting forced back into his seat in the audience, I like how Taran Killam can be seen behind him initially laughing and then playing along with the gag by jokingly making a serious “Watch it, Kanye” facial expression toward Kanye.
— Mike Myers and Dana’s delivery is noticeably slower than it was even just a few years prior to this when they revived Wayne’s World in Dana’s season 36 hosting stint. They’re still doing absolutely fine here, though, when you accept the fact that they’re not their young selves anymore.
— Solid recovery from the awkward gaffe with the “Wigs” label on the Top Ten board initially being stuck behind another label, and I like how even Kanye gets in on at the action by ad-libbing a “pretend to get up angrily” move after Mike and Dana ad-lib another “Sit down, Kanye!” towards him.
— Love the bit with Mike and Dana both doing spot-on Lorne impressions. Dana’s is especially strong.
— A classy way to end this Wayne’s World segment, by giving SNL’s crew their props for all of their hard work.
STARS: ***½
BUMPER
bumper slide recognizes former writer JID
INTRO
Jack White [real] introduces Paul Simon
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Paul Simon [real] performs “Still Crazy After All These Years”
GOODNIGHTS
LOM joins everyone onstage
— Man, look at all the decades of SNL power on that home base stage right now. An absolutely incredible sight to behold.
— Ha, a gathering of the SNL Fallons: Siobhan and Jimmy! (the second-to-last above screencap for these goodnights, though it’s hard to see them behind the scrolling credits)
— Speaking of Siobhan, I believe it was said in a press release that the only cast members SNL invited to this anniversary special were people who were in the cast for more than one season (or, in the case of Martin Short and Billy Crystal, I guess one-season wonders who also hosted), due to space limitations in the audience. If that’s true, how did one-season-wonder Siobhan make it in? In fact, I think I heard that the also-one-season-wonder Denny Dillon was in attendance at this anniversary special.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very well-put-together anniversary special, and it was an absolute blast to watch and review. As much as I loved the 15th and 25th Anniversary Specials, I really appreciate how this 40th Anniversary Special went in a much different direction than them, especially with how this featured plenty of new sketches. And the novelty of seeing cast members from different eras working together was so fun. Lots of great and well-edited highlight reels, too (my favorites being the ones for New York City, auditions, and short films). And, much like when I watched (but didn’t review) SNL’s 15th and 25th Anniversary Specials earlier in this SNL project when I arrived at those respective parts of SNL’s timeline, I kinda looked at the retrospective aspects of this 40th Anniversary Special as my own personal celebration of how far I’ve made it in this SNL project of mine in such a short amount of time. Given the fact that I’m now 40 seasons into this project as opposed to the comparatively-measly 15 and 25 seasons I was at when watching the previous two anniversary specials, it made me even more proud when the old SNL clips shown in this 40th Anniversary Special would make me reminisce about having previously reviewed those clips in the respective episodes they originally aired in.
— After having watched and reviewed this special right now, I’m so glad I came to the decision to make the one (and ONLY) exception in my strict “I will only review regular episodes in this SNL project; no specials allowed” rule. All the credit in regards to me coming to that decision goes to the people in the comments section of my reviews who convinced me to review this anniversary special. Thank you so much, commenters. I’m not going to lie. The past week or so prior to this review, I had been feeling burned out on doing reviews for this project of mine, and lacking a bit of the motivation I once had for it. Reviewing 40 seasons on a day-to-day basis for 2+ years will do that to you, even if I am currently close to reaching the finish line of this project. Plus, you have to understand just HOW MUCH of my time this project consumes daily. However, watching and reviewing this anniversary special just now has given me a renewed sense of motivation, inspiration, and general appreciation for this huge “review one episode on a daily basis” undertaking I’ve gotten myself into. That renewed motivation, inspiration, and appreciation will hopefully be enough to take me through the remaining amount of time I need to officially complete this project.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
That’s When You Break
Celebrity Jeopardy
Justin & Jimmy
ESPN Classic
Wayne’s World
Monologue
Musical Acts
Audience Q&A
Weekend Update
Super Bass-O-Matic 2150
The Californians
My full set of screencaps for this special is here
TOMORROW
Dakota Johnson. After all of the long and hard work it took for me to put this 40th Anniversary review together, it’ll be a relief to go back to reviewing regular, normal-length episodes. Also, given how utterly exhausted I am after spending days putting this 40th Anniversary review together, and the fact that I want to give people enough time to read and comment on this very lengthy 40th Anniversary review, I’ll be posting my review of the Dakota Johnson episode the day after tomorrow. Thanks for understanding.
