The SNL 50th Anniversary Special was a great birthday treat!

Photo in Public Domain

I was twelve when SNL (then “NBC’s Saturday Night) premiered. While I didn’t watch the initial episodes, it soon became a show everyone was talking about. Prior to this, comedy/variety meant The Carol Burnett Show, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, and…Tony Orlando and Dawn. I watched all of those shows but SNL was something very different. Chevy Chase’s falls, the killer bees, “cheezeburgas”, and so many others became so big I started watching every week and wow, did I become a fan! Soon I was putting my tape recorder (this was before “videotaping” existed) up to the TV and recording every live episode. I’d listen to those cassette tapes every night before falling asleep, hearing myself laugh and laughing again. I’d look forward to various recurring sketches and characters but perhaps no one more than Gilda Radner and her characters Emily Litella, Lisa Loopner, and, one of my favorites of all-time Roseanne Roseannadanna. Man did I love those bits!

Gilda as Emily Litella with Raquel Welch. Photo in Public Domain.

As the years went by, SNL came in and out of my life. I missed most of the 80s and started coming back to it during the era of the Church Lady and Wayne’s World sketches. As my husband Frank and I started settling into recording SNL and watching it a day later we became big fans of Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey (“I can see Russia from my house!”), Amy Poehler, Heidi Gardner, Vanessa Bayer, Keenan Thompson, Bowen Yang, and so many more.

So how was the 50^th anniversary special? Quite good for the most part. There were some sketches with the current cast that fell a bit flat, but the best bits featured the return of many former cast members and some significant guest stars. It was great to see Fred Armisen, Vanessa Bayer, and Cecilie Strong on Weekend Update. I loved Laraine Newman reminiscing on the set as Pete Davidson played his “Okay” character. Meryl Streep playing the mother of alien abducted daughter Kate McKinnon was a real treat.

There seemed to be a weird glitch in the broadcast around the two-and-a-half-hour mark where Peacock only featured a split screen of Buck Henry and Tina Fey while the band played on…and on. Otherwise, it was great to see new Debbie Downer, Black Jeopardy, and Drunk Uncle. The best parts of the show featured former cast members such as Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Bill Murray, and Jason Sudeikis sparring with current members such as Mikey Day, Marcello Hernandez, Colin Jost, and Michael Che.

In the end, love or hate various casts, but SNL is an American institution and it’s been part of my life for fifty years. It makes me laugh even in my own darkest moments. Near the end Paul McCartney, at age 82 did a powerful performance. He’s twenty years my senior. I guess there’s still more to come! Happy Birthday to me!

National Association of Memoir Writers