Saturday Night Live has spent the weekend celebrating its 50th anniversary. On Friday, February 14, NBC aired SNL50: The Homecoming Concert—a live show broadcast from New York City’s Radio City Music Hall on NBC—with performances from David Byrne and Robyn (singing “Dancing on my Own”), Lady Gaga and Andy Samberg (delivering a rendition of The Lonely Island’s “Dick in a Box”), and more.
Tonight, Lorne Michaels & co. followed up the concert with SNL50: The Anniversary Special, a three-hour live production with musical performances, monologues, and new takes on classic sketches, all featuring special guests from throughout the legendary comedy show’s history. Scroll down to watch selected clips of the night.
SNL 50 kicked off with Sabrina Carpenter and Paul Simon on the Studio 8H stage, where they performed a duet of the Simon & Garfunkel song “Homeward Bound.” “I sang this song with George Harrison on Saturday Night Live in 1976,” Simon said. “I was not born then,” Carpenter added, “and neither were my parents.” Then, the two delivered the show’s signature introduction: “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”
A monologue from Steve Martin followed, as well as several sketches, including a parody of The Lawrence Whelk Show with Fred Armisen, Will Ferrell, and Kristen Wiig making her return as Dooneese, the oddball fourth sibling of the musically-inclined Maharelle Sisters. Keenan Thompson, Leslise Jones, Tracy Morgan, Eddie Murphy (as Tracy Morgan), Chris Rock, and Tom Hanks all appeared in “Black Jeopardy.”
Sabrina Carpenter returned for a third entry in SNL’s “Domingo” series (Ariana Grande and Charli XCX, respectively, appeared in the previous two iterations). This time, Kelsey (Chloe Fineman), her bridesmaids, and her childhood bestie (Carpenter) had taken a trip to Manhattan to see Wicked before her vow renewal to Andrew Dismukes’ Matthew. What began as a parody of “Defying Gravity” shifted into into Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me,” and predictably, it turns out Kelsey’s still holding a candle for Domingo (Marcello Hernandez). But Matthew’s groomsmen—Samberg, Bowen Yang, Kyle Mooney, and Beck Bennett—had a comeback, performing their own version of “Espresso” and revealing Dismukes’ own tryst with Domingo’s older brother Ronaldo (Pedro Pascal). Finally, Bad Bunny joined the party as the third “hot brother,” Santiago.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler then took the stage for a Q&A portion with some of the special’s celebrity audience members. SNL “superfan” Quinta Brunson asked: “In the March 13, 1993 episode, Tim Meadows whispered something to musical guest Sade—what was it?” Meadows, also in the audience, said he’s probably asked her if she wanted to drink some Zima in his dressing room, play Mortal Kombat I, and watch the “new, cool” Menendez trial. Cher didn’t have a question, but she did “have a lotta answers,” and Keith Richards wanted to know if anyone had seen the scarf he left in the studio in 1988.
Yang joined Samberg for a pre-taped New Jack Swing musical number about SNL’s legacy of anxious cast members, complete with an IBS rap courtesy of Sarah Sherman and Chris Parnell. Aubrey Plaza then introduced Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard as the night’s second musical guests. The duo traded verses and Howard played a guitar solo on a cover of the Sinéad O’Connor song “Nothing Compares 2 U.” A Weekend Update segment paid tribute to former Update host Norm Macdonald, who died in 2021 at the age of 67.
The night’s next big musical moment came courtesy of Adam Sandler, who played a song on guitar in honor of SNL’s 50 year history. John Mulaney also led a Broadway revue of New York City though the decades with an impressive roster of guests, among them David Spade, Pete Davidson Maya Rudolph, Adam Driver, Nathan Lane, Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis, Kate McKinnon, Lin Manuel-Miranda, Scarlett Johansson, Nick Jonas, and Keenan Thompson returning as the infamous Diner Lobster.
As the night began winding to a close, Lil Wayne stopped by 30 Rock with Questlove and the Roots as his backing band to perform a medley of hits, including “Uproar,” “Lollipop,” “6 Foot 7 Foot,” “Mrs. Officer,” and “A Milli.” Finally, Paul McCartney closed out the show by playing “Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End” from The Beatles’ 1969 album Abbey Road.
Saturday Night Live’s 50th season, which kicked off in September, has featured performances from Jelly Roll, Coldplay, Stevie Nicks, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Mk.gee, Charli XCX, Shaboozey, Gracie Abrams, Glorilla, and Timothée Chalamet.
