Posted on 02/17/2025 4:09:28 AM PST by dennisw
It shouldn’t come as a shock that the best parts of the “Saturday Night Live” 50th anniversary special last night on NBC were seeing iconic stars back in Studio 8H again.
Everybody got to watch at least one of their favorites. It was the rare event that was just as nostalgic for 30-year-olds as it was for nonagenarians.
After Paul Simon, 83, kicked things off dueting on “Homeward Bound” with Sabrina Carpenter, 25, Steve Martin, who was never a cast member but hosted the program 16 times, began with a terrific opening monologue.
“A person born during the first season of ‘Saturday Night Live’ could, today, be easily dead of natural causes,” Martin, 79, said dryly.
The wild-and-crazy guy went on: “This is the monologue — traditionally the weakest part of the show. The monologue is like a rent controlled tenant: it’s not going anywhere even though it stinks.”
It was also a thrill to see Bill Murray back. During “Weekend Update” with Colin Jost and Michael Che, Murray, who was behind the desk for two seasons in the 1980s, ranked the best “Update” hosts of all time. He named the late Norm Macdonald, who was eegregiously fired by NBC in 1997 for ruthlessly going after OJ Simpson, No. 2.
“He made me ask the question of myself: Could OJ possibly have done it?,” Murray said in what felt like a low-key apology to the stand-up great.
Eddie Murphy returned for the “Black Jeopardy” sketch to hilariously play none other than Tracy Morgan, who was standing right next to him.
“James Earl Jones was my biological father!,” Murphy shouted, Morgan-style.
Laraine Newman, who appeared during the first five seasons, had a funny video segment with Pete Davidson attempting to relive her glory days.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
The offer of $3000 to the Beatles was a pretty good skit that had legs.
One of my favorite skits was Chris Farley interviewing Paul McCartney....
“Remember when you were with The Beatles? That was awesome.”
Gilda Live, was great....”Let’s Talk Dirty To The Animals”, only Gilda could get away with that, LOL!
I think it was 10,000 which they said was the funniest amount. 100,000 was a legit amount of money back then, 1,000 dollars would be just plain dumb.
“and you can split it up any way you like. If you want to give Ringo less, that’s up to you...”
So many great memories from Chris Farley.
I was watching on and off for another 10, even 20 years after that. They usually had one or two good performers even in those days. Then everybody I knew was gone and nobody they brought on was any good. Kristen Wiig was the beginning of the end for me, and when they brought Alec Baldwin on as Trump there was no point at all in watching anymore. Now I’m kind of allergic to the show.
Who was the not funny guy who did host duties? He was… not so talented in the art of comedy.
It was in Season 9 Episode 12 with Robin Williams and Adam Ant (Feb 11, 1984).
-PJ
The story about Downey is only reported on gossip sites like Reddit subtopics.
I'll go with the Hollywood Reporter on this story.
-PJ
“If you want to give Ringo less, that’s up to you.”
-PJ
Gilda was a very funny woman. Emily Litella is classic. So is Roseanne Roseannadanna (the name based on a New York TV journalist.)
The Judy Miller Show.
“What is the “decline” that you speak of, and how did the internet produce the decline?”
Free music via downloading ruined the music business. Because the money is just not there for new talent to develop.
Windows 95>>>
Led to internet everywhere>>>
Led to social media>>>
Led to the short attention span, dumbed down internet of today.
Internet portability via phones makes it all worse. Phones are ideal for interacting with the ADD-styled internet of today.
“Free music via downloading ruined the music business. Because the money is just not there for new talent to develop.”
I think the problem is more with listeners’ taste than the talent of the performers.
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