15 Feb 2015 10:16 PM PT
Tonight an all star-studded red carpet and special three and a half hour Saturday Night Live celebration took place in Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, New York. It was a reunion of all reunions. It was wonderful to see past hosts and cast members from every generation of the show, and it was sad to realize how many of them have been lost since the inception of the show. Lorne Michaels was given a tribute to outdo most tributes tonight with the event.
List of guests included: Fred Armisen, Dan Aykroyd, Alec Baldwin, Jim Carrey, Dana Carvey, Chevy Chase, Bradley Cooper, Billy Crystal, Jane Curtin, Miley Cyrus, Robert De Niro, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, James Franco, Will Forte, Zach Galifianakis, Ana Gasteyer, Bill Hader, Jon Hamm, Tom Hanks, Derek Jeter, Norm MacDonald, Peyton Manning, Steve Martin, Melissa McCarthy, Paul McCartney, Tim Meadows, Seth Meyers, Garrett Morris, Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Kevin Nealon, Laraine Newman, Jack Nicholson, Edward Norton, Joe Piscopo, Amy Poehler, Colin Quinn, Chris Rock, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, Molly Shannon, Martin Short, Paul Simon, David Spade, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Christopher Walken, Kerry Washington, Kanye West, Betty White, Kristen Wiig. There were also a few surprise guests like former Governors Sarah Palin, Rudy Guliani, and (on archive film) Edward Koch.
The event started out with a musical tribute and walk down memory lane with Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake.
Following the musical open, Steve Martin did a monologue and then a celebrity line up.
We bring you what we believe are the best moments and least favorite moments of the celebration.
Best Moments:
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Celebrity Jeopardy – Impressions are always delicious in these skits. Sean Connery was hilarious, Jim Carey as Matthew McConaughey’s Lincoln ad personna was hilarious and this skit continues to bring good laughs.
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Weekend Update with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Jane Curtain – These ladies are great on their own, but Melissa McCarthy’s impression of Chris Farley was a riot, as was watching Ed Norton try to be Stefan who then was greeted by Bill Hader’s Stefan giving him lessons. Very funny.
- The Californians – Really funny to see the “Valley” family and Bradley Cooper stole the show. Taylor Swift fit right into the family as well. While the Betty White/Bradley Cooper kiss at the end was for laughs, it was kind of gross as well and probably left up to personal taste to decide if that was a hit or miss.
- Wayne’s World – Always funny and Mike Myers/Dana Carvey brought it as always.
- Auditions – Fascinating always to see how people get selected to be on shows and SNL auditions are no exception.
- Faux Musical Number with Martin Short and “Beyonce” (Maya Rudolph). Opera Man (Adam Sandler) made an appearance as did “Garth and Kat” (Fred Armisen & Kristen Wiig).
- Cold Open Musical Number – Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon were great with their cold open and “drop in” guests. (see first clip above)
- Digital Short – Musical number with Adam Sandler, Andy Samdberg, and others.
- Jerry Seinfelds Q&A – Great to see Larry David and others. Amusing segment.
Least Favorite Moments:
- Most Musical artists. As iconic as Paul McCartney and Paul Simon are, their ages are showing through their vocal chords. It was kind of painful to realize that they were losing their ability to reach notes and hold control of their vocals. Kanye West, not even sure why he was there! His number took up precious time that could have been better used.
- Pacing. While we loved the flashback footage given throughout the show, it would have been nicer to have selected a few pieces and shown the full skits to have a better appreciation for them. The oldest skits were so long ago most don’t remember enough about them to know what they were about and many younger generations never saw them so had no idea what was happening in a lot of the flashbacks to appreciate and laugh at the material.
- Tribute to those who have passed on. This was okay, but it left zero impact. So many incredible people were missed and yet it seemed like they were glossed over in the tribute and even in the skits. It was a shame because they were the foundation of the show and the reason it was so successful. I guess there was a disconnect with old and current from a writing perspective. I felt this tribute should have nailed it for those who deserved it and it just was “meh”.
Overall the three and a half hours were felt. This is not a good sign for such an iconic show. It almost felt like they were parading famous individuals across a stage without really giving them a purpose or even a tribute to their work. Where were some of the most famous skits? The montages rushed past the archives without really giving us a sense of the great moments from the past eras. Honestly instead of seeing Emma Stone try to portray Gilda Radner, I would have rather seen them actually show a full skit with Gilda. No offense to Ms. Stone. She is an outstanding actress in her own right, but Gilda she is not. It may have worked better to have selected 3 top skits from each decade, show the archived skits and interleave a couple live skits between. The guest list was overwhelming. The musical artist numbers really didn’t add to the show and that time could have been better used with good archive footage.