‘Saturday Night Live’ 40th anniversary special was a three-and-a-half-hour nostalgic trip

Saturday Night Live celebrated its 40th anniversary with an incredibly long tribute show that was completely bathed in nostalgia, as it should have been. Sure, it would have been great had the episode not been so stuck in the past, but come on. If a show has somehow been on for 40 years, it deserves an opportunity to pat itself on the back.

Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon got things started with a musical monologue that name-checked past characters and hosts. Then, Steve Martin came on to joke about the hosts. It made it clear what the format for the rest of the night would be. Celebrities came out to read cue cards introducing clips, or sadly, some came out to do nothing.

The most disappointing moment of the night (especially if you were following on Twitter - and if you were, you were the butt of a Tina Fey joke) was when Eddie Murphy came out to just... say hello? Remind people he was still alive? It sure was infuriating to see him back on the stage just to say “hi” and lead into a commercial break. Chris Rock gave him a great build-up, but it was certainly anticlimactic.

At least some former SNL players came out to play. Dan Aykroyd re-did the Bass-O-Matic and Bill Murray brilliantly reprised Nick Ocean to sing the “Love Theme from Jaws.” (You BASTARD, JAWS!) Jane Curtin did a too-short Weekend Update bit with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, giving her the line of the night. (“I used to be the only pretty blonde woman reading the fake news... now there’s a whole network devoted to that.”) Sadly, the rest of the Weekend Update was taken up by Emma Stone, Melissa McCarthy and Edward Norton playing their favorite past SNL characters.

Mike Myers and Dana Carvey did a priceless Wayne’s World, taking shots at Kanye West, who they made sure did not interrupt their sketch. Will Ferrell sparred with a surreal Celebrity Jeopardy panel that was updated to include Kate McKinnon’s Justin Bieber. Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg also reunited for a new short film, recognizing all those great moments when cast members break into laughter during sketches.

There were a few duds, though. The Californians went on a little too long and was only saved by Bradley Cooper’s make-out session with Betty White. Martin Short and Maya Rudolph’s musical moments segment was meandering, although Murray’s Nick Ocean moment was brilliant. West gave a bizarre performance on his back and even as a Paul McCartney fan, I have to say that performance of “Maybe I’m Amazed” wasn’t that great.

SNL also paid tribute to the stars who are no longer with us. Murray came out to introduce the segment, which played out like the familiar in memoriam segments from awards shows. Fey and Alec Baldwin also mentioned that Tracy Morgan was not there, which gave them an opportunity to take a funny dig at Brian Williams.

We do have to wonder how well the tribute special would have played if it was shorter and tighter, but again, you can’t blame NBC for letting one of its crown jewels take a bow. The peacock doesn’t have much else going for it, so why not? At least it meant we got another round of Celebrity Jeopardy.

A new SNL will air on Feb. 28.

image courtesy of Kristin Callahan/ACE/INFphoto.com