The best part of ‘SNL 50’ was the nostalgia — not the new stuff
NY Post
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.
