50 years ago, on the 11th of October 1975, the iconic line "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" were uttered on live television, forever changing the history of pop culture and TV. Created and still overseen by Lorne Michaels, the sketch-comedy show Saturday Night Live is currently in its 50th season, making it one of the longest running television shows in the United States.

Recently was the show's grand 50th anniversary special, which was a three-hour long live spectacle that reunited an incredible line-up of past cast members, notable celebrities, and many more SNL greats to revisit iconic sketches, pay homage to the SNL crew, and celebrate the show's legacy.

Celebrity Hosts and Special Guests

Image Credit: The Peabody Awards from Wikimedia Commons

The SNL 50th Anniversary Special was truly a gathering of the iconic celebrities that have made helped make SNL successful over the past 50 years. From former cast members like Kristen Wiig and Chevy Chase to memorable hosts such as Dave Chappelle and Tom Hanks, to even musical guests like Sabrina Carpenter and Miley Cyrus, the event was a real congregation of SNL royalty.

Take the Quiz: Which Squid Game Player Are You?

Ever wondered which player you’d be if you found yourself in the Squid Game universe? Take this quiz to find out which character matches your perso...

Monologue

Delivered by 16-time SNL host Steve Martin, the SNL 50 monologue set the tone for this anniversary special's comical and upbeat, yet retrospective and nostalgic tone. He opened with a joke about the monologue being the "weakest part of the show," but that was far from the case as he was joined onstage by comedy legends Martin Short and John Mulaney.

With jokes about the last-minute notice he was given before the show and the prevalence of AI in writing, this monologue set the hilarious, retrospective tone for the rest of the anniversary special.

Best Sketches

The anniversary special featured revamps and continuations of some of SNL's most iconic sketches, bringing back beloved characters with a new twist.

"Black Jeopardy!" is undoubtedly one of SNL's best sketches, so naturally, it was part of the anniversary special. A parody of the game show Jeopardy!, this sketch saw Tom Hanks reprise his role of Doug, and he was joined onstage by Tracy Morgan, Eddie Murphy, Leslie Jones, and Chris Rock. As usual, SNL wasn't afraid of some self-deprecating humour: one of this sketch's best moments came when none of the contestants could correctly identify the answer to a question as Saturday Night Live itself!

One of the more recent sketches that was continued was the viral "Bridesmaids Speech" sketch. In the original, when Ariana Grande was the host, she was joined by a group of bridesmaids singing a parody of Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso" at their friend's wedding. However, the lyrics soon revealed the details of an affair the bride had with Marcello Hernandez's character, Domingo.

This hilarious sketch was parodied numerous times online, and grew even more popular when Sabrina Carpenter "arrested" Domingo during one of her shows on her Short n Sweet tour. A second part was even included in Charli XCX's episode, this time with a parody of "HOT TO GO!" by Chappell Roan. For this third installment, an all-star cast was featured, including Sabrina Carpenter, Pedro Pascal, Andy Samberg, and Bad Bunny, as well as numerous cast members from the 50th season. This time, "Defying Gravity" from Wicked, Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me:, and "Espresso" yet again were parodied in a crowd-pleasing sketch.

Image Credit: Steven Dahlman from Wikimedia Commons

Recurring sketch "Close Encounters" was reprised for the 9th time during the special. The premise of the sketch is simple enough: a trio recount their otherworldly experiences (usually an alien abduction) to NSA officials. What makes these sketches truly hilarious is Kate McKinnon's hysterical portrayal of Ms.

Rafferty, with her increasingly absurd anecdotes. This time, she was joined by Pedro Pascal, Woody Harrelson, and Meryl Streep (playing her mother). And like always, she made the other actors break character in a fit of giggles.

Yet another hilarious recurring character was "Debbie Downer," played by Rachel Dratch. Since 2004, she has been serenading SNL fans with her absurdly negative opinions on everyday tasks, making pop culture history as the term "Debbie Downer" has now become commonplace. During the anniversary, she repeatedly cast a dark shadow upon Jimmy Fallon, Drew Barrymore, Ayo Edebiri, and Robert De Niro as they tried, in vain, to celebrate 50 incredible years of SNL.

"Weekend Update"

Since the show's beginning fifty years ago, the "Weekend Update" segment has been a staple of SNL, delivering news headlines which a humorous, satirical twist. Current Weekend Update hosts Colin Jost and Micheal Che were joined at the desk by ex-hosts Seth Meyers and Bill Murray for a hilarious segment.

The hosts delivered the news headlines with jokes as always, gave a shout-out to the SNL crew members, and remembered the late Norm Macdonald, who hosted Weekend Update from 1994 to 1997.

Highlights of the segment included the Cecily Strong reprising her hilarious recurring character "Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party" and Bill Murray ranking his personal top ten "Weekend Update" hosts.

Memorable Moments

There were many clips and montages celebrating the incredible achievement of SNL over the years, aiming to take the audience on a trip down memory lane. From Emma Stone to Molly Shannon introducing a clip about physical to comedy over the years to Tom Hanks announcing an "In Memoriam" segment about SNL sketches that have aged poorly, these videos were equal parts hilarious and nostalgic.

When Tina Fey and Amy Poehler took to the stage for an Audience Q&A, many celebrities got involved with the show. The pair called upon numerous guests, including Quinta Brunson, Ryan Reynolds, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, and Seth Meyers, who asked funny questions and even pulled other audience members into the fun.

Later on, the show's iconic "SNL Digital Shorts" made an appearance with a new short starring Adam Sandler and Bowen Yang. The pair sang about the anxiety faced by the SNL cast and crew in an increasingly crazy, almost psychedelic set.

Image Credit: Sigmafactor from Wikimedia Commons

Another memorable part was when SNL-alum, and member of the original not-ready-for-primetime cast, Laraine Newman was joined on a reminiscent journey through Studio 8H by Pete Davidson's returning character Chad. His repeated replies of "okay" to her thoughtful comments about her time on SNL were nothing short of hysterical.

Conclusion

Image Credit: NBCUniversal from Wikimedia Commons

Overall, the SNL 50 Anniversary Special served as a nostalgic look back at 50 years of groundbreaking comedy, a celebration of iconic characters, and a triumph of the incredible careers SNL has spawned. We hope that this iconic sketch comedy show and pop culture icon will continue for many more years to come!