Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special

Sunday night, Sharon and I watched the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special.

I have always been a Saturday Night Live fan. Although I am not sure if it was the first time I saw SNL, I have a very strong memory of watching a skit with Nooter.  It was Steve Martin and Bill Murray pointing and asking “What the hell is that…?”.  This skit ran in October of 1979, more than forty-five years ago.

I read Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests in June of 2020.

During COVID, I watched the first season. Over the last couple of months, I have been working my way slowly through the second season.

Ahead of the anniversary special, Bill Simmons listed his top ten episodes on his February 14, 2025 podcast,. The list included:

1. Stevie Wonder - season 8, episode 19 - May 7, 1983;
2. Richard Pryor - season 1, episode 7 - December 13, 1975;
3. Jim Carrey - season 21, epiode 20 - May 18, 1996;
4. Steve Martin - season 3, episode 18 - April 22, 1978;
5. Tom Hanks - season 14, episode 1 - October 8, 1988;
6. David Alan Grier - season 21, episode 8 - December 9, 1995;
7. William Shatner - season 12, episode 8 - December 20, 1986;
8. Tom Hanks - season 15, episode 13 - February 17, 1990;
9. Eddie Murphy - season 45, episode 10 - December 21, 2019, and;
10. Christopher Walken - season 18, episode - October 24, 1992.

Simmons also listed some honorable mention episodes, including:

• Justin Timberlake - season 32, episode 9 - December 16, 2006;
• Lindsay Lohan - season 29, episode 18 - May 1, 2004;
• Sting - season 16, episode 11 - January 19, 1991;
• Eddie Murphy - season 10, episode 9 - December 15, 1984;
• John Goodman - season 23, episode 12 - February 7, 1998;
• Adam Sandler - season 44, episode 20 - May 4, 2019, and;
• Betty White - season 35, episode 21 - May 8, 2010.

I am going to start a separate project to work my way through these seventeen episodes.