By Derek Krayenhagen—If you have enjoyed SNL over the years than what they did Sunday would be perfect for you. SNL took us back through forty years of comedy in a nearly three and a half hour special.
From seeing the greats that have walked the stage like: Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Dan Akroyd, and Steve Martin to seeing the new cast of characters they have today.
SNL paid tribute to the great hosts and musical acts that have appeared throughout the years as well as having many of them appear Sunday night or be in the audience as well.
Just like any SNL show there was some hits and misses. A true SNL fan will appreciate this fact, especially with all the moving pieces that Lorne Michaels had to play with.
Some key high points in the show were things like: Paul McCartney and Paul Simon performing, both were spectacular but what else would you expect?
“Weekend Update” was great as well, but when has “Weekend Update” ever disappointed? Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg show off a digital short about “when you break” or giggling live during a skit.
My favorite skit from the past was the closing sketch, “Wayne’s World.” Mike Myers and Dana Carvey bring back their rocker selves for a memorable top ten list of why SNL is great and they even take a couple of jabs at Kanye in the process.
Some of the lows of the show were things like: the Eddie Murphy spotlight. If you are a true SNL fan you will understand what Eddie Murphy means to SNL, so you would understand why he has his own tribute but disappointingly enough his tribute was about 95% Chris Rock talking about him and 5% Eddie being like, “well that is it guys.”
One of the worst and overdrawn sketches was the “Californians’.” Frankly, it just wasn’t funny. A star-studded ensemble of cast members and SNL alums should have carried this sketch but it just fell flat. Everyone was doing horrible Californian accents and it was just a mess. The only memorable part was when Bradley Cooper and Betty White shared a kiss.
Two segments that deserve to be in the “you shouldn’t fast forward through” category are when SNL paid tribute to all the music they have done on the show themselves, like the “Blues Brothers”. All acts appeared on stage or had a segment of singing that most everyone will find entertaining.
There was also a Q&A section of the show with Jerry Seinfeld that held its own. Some questions were set up pitches for homeruns and others felled flat but definitely worth noting when watching this special.
Overall the SNL 40th Anniversary show was exactly what you would have expected it to be, humorous at times and utterly stupid in others. The best way to watch this special is on TiVo so you could fast forward through the unnecessary parts but still enjoy the comedic action of some of the greats who have graced that stage.
If this is something you would want to see, you can still catch the whole show on Hulu. The show is streaming online elsewhere, all you have to do is search just a little bit.
Leave a Reply