On February 15, the long-running sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live, celebrated 40 years on the air with a three-hour-long special featuring some of the show’s greatest cast members, hosts and musical guests.
The celebration featured some of the most memorable skits of the past forty years including Celebrity Jeopardy, Wayne’s World, and a remake of the classic sketch, Bass-O-Matic ‘76. This night also featured the return of Eddie Murphy and Chevy Chase, two SNL cast members that have not graced the stage in over 30 years. Kanye West and Paul Simon, the first ever musical guest on SNL, provided musical interludes between themed tributes.
The show itself was OK to say the least. The majority of the skits were incredibly cheesy. The cast seemed to be more focused on praising themselves and the show than actual comedy. The music acts were some of the most tolerable in recent memory, and the tributes themselves are well prepared, even though there are many of them. The entire thing is three hours long. Making it to the end of the entire thing feels more like a chore than an entertaining way to spend a good chunk of your day. Halfway through it, I was too busy trying to spot my favorite cast members like it was a televised Where’s Waldo book than watching tribute after tribute. If the classics are more your cup of tea, you will be thoroughly disappointed since many skits of the ‘70s and ‘80s were shelved in between many others in tributes or are only given small snapshots before commercial breaks to be remembered. There were many good things and bad things to take away from this special.
If you are a longtime fan, which might be your entire life considering how old the show is, you will definitely derive some sort of nostalgic happiness from it. If you just got into the show, the entire thing may confuse you to no end. This museum of a special is better enjoyed after watching some classic skits or episodes. If you want to watch this episode to get laughing quickly, just watch the Celebrity Jeopardy skit and call it a day.