I have never lived in an America without Saturday Night Live, and while my parents technically remember such a time by far the vast majority of their lives has involved hearing “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” on the occasions they tuned in to NBC on Saturday nights at 10:30 (because that’s how Mountain Time roles–it also meant I could watch without having to stay up all night).
Now SNL has turned 50, and on Sunday(!), February 16 they ran a three+ hour special celebrating the half century of the sketch comedy show. For what it’s worth, you should watch it whether you’re a fan of the show or not. The celebratory special captures everything that’s good and bad about the show, and for that reason it’s worth your time to jump on to Youtube (or Peacock or wherever) and see what you missed.
The bad is that SNL has a tendency to be a bit too trendy, caught up in the political moment and oblivious to how things might sound in a decade, year, month, or week. Some of the humor is over the top, and some of the sketches just aren’t funny.
The good is that some of the sketches are funny, some of the humor lands just right, and some of it will be timeless (just as some of the humor in the past is timeless). What’s more, the SNL folks know all of the weaknesses, and go so far as to highlight (some of) them–obviously as part of a bit, and one that lands very well.
They also know their strengths, and in this special we get to see a lot of them on display. We’re still too close to know what will last and what won’t, but I think one that probably will stand for a while is Adam Sandler’s obviously heartfelt tribute:
This is SNL at its best–creative, funny, critical, and dedicated to getting the laugh, even if there are times when heartfelt sadness keeps peeking through.
So even if you don’t like SNL or sketch comedy, I’d suggest giving this a watch even if only so you can put your finger on the pulse of a cultural phenomenon that has been around for half a century, and that looks to be around for another half.
Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO
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