SNL 40: A Night to Remember Forever

Saturday Night Live Twitter

SNL 40 Highlights

The star studded event was a whirlwind of performances and skits more potent than the Grammy’s and tributes more endearing than the Oscars, effectively exhibiting the essence of classic SNL.

If you’re wondering where everyone from celeb town was on Saturday night, they were probably on SNL to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the show. Literally a quarter of Hollywood starlets showed up to celebrate 40 years of laughs from the legendary show Saturday night live, which features a multitude of hosts or 4 decades. On Sunday the SNL’s 40th anniversary special broadcast took three and a half hours on prime-time TV night and was undoubtedly a huge success with immensely high ratings.

What a night. #SNL40 pic.twitter.com/OOjqFJcOzq— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015

Keep the applause going! #SNL40 pic.twitter.com/MMAaempBQt— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015

Before the show had even started the red carpet was an event in itself. The red pathway into the studio was littered with multiple A-list stars and had its own share of memorable moments. Taylor Swift owned the SNL 40 red carpet in a baby blue mini dress while politician turned reality TV personality Sarah Palin baffled everyone when she appeared in a sexy silver number.

Yeah, what if? #SNL40 pic.twitter.com/IodYkpY8Hg— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015

On the very same carpet Jim Carrey created an awkward moment when he addressed a taboo topic in defense of Brian Williams (the shamed and suspended NBC anchor-man) while the superstars present in the hearing vicinity made their best ‘Uh-Oh’ faces.

.@bibbymoynihan and @JimCarrey. #SNL40 pic.twitter.com/hBSczs6LSb— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015

Live from New York, it’s #SNL40! Watch now on @NBC.
https://t.co/jFMtz93a9j— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015

The show was opened by Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake with a rap monologue in which they took the audience through a hilarious medley of SNL’s 40 year history. The perfectly timed catchphrase rap started with Fallon singing a typical SNL opening, until Timberlake jumped into the intro. Together the duo sang about all best skits throughout SNL’s past and delivered adorable excellence and finished with a ‘So check us out’.

The spotlight then reverted to Christopher Walken who delivered an unforgettable skit about cowbell. Walken’s performance about more Cowbells was so well received it was one of the top trends within a few hours.

The list of skits was endless with a variety of comedic interventions by numerous former cast mates and guest hosts. The most ridiculously steamy skit of the night was ‘The Californians’ by Kristen Wig, Bill Hader, Kerry Washington, Bradley Cooper, Betty White and Taylor Swift. ‘The Caliornians’ is a mock soap opera about a bunch of California natives, which only give hysterical directions on driving around in California roads. The pool boy character of Cooper delivered a shocking moment when he made out with legend Betty White who played Aunt Lana that became the most talked about moment of the show …What do you think Bizarre or Fantastic?!

Mike Myers and Dana Carvey the famous Wayne’s World team made an appearance and mockingly appealed to Kanye West not to storm the stage while they were presenting their piece and explicably said ‘Kanye, Sit down’ in front of the entire audience. The twosome then offered a glimpse at their list about the top ten best things about SNL. The duo after finished relating the list went on to utter their famous lines No Way… Wayyyyyy!!!).

An incomparable and provocative performance was delivered by Kanye West when he laid flat on his back on the stage to sing ‘Jesus Walks’ and then ‘One Way’ and ‘Wolves’. It was hard to judge whether the performance was great or downright odd but it was the first time Kanye performed his new single ‘Wolves’ in front of a live audience. Fellow singers and collaborators Sia and Vic Mensa on the soundtrack ‘Wolves’, also joined Kanye on the stage. Sia’s vocal performance and her new wig is still being greatly appreciated on the social media platform. According to some fans Kanye and Sia are the only artists performing with a little diversity in a sea of tedious acts, whether the diversity is positive or negative is yet to be seen.

Keith Richards’ gave a mirthful introduction to the Beatles performance by taking a jab that in the early 60’s a band rom England changed the world. But then Richards revealed his masterstroke and said enough about the Rolling Stones and welcome the Beatles.

Paul McCartney and Paul Simon the renowned members of the Beatles performed a duet of their hits ‘I’ve Just Seen a Face’ followed by an emotionally wrecking rendition of ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ filled with nostalgia. The classic but powerful performances left the audience in awe feeling a romantic ambiance and were one of the highlights of the evening.

Thank you #SNL40! Here’s to 40 more! Photo by @MJKIM_lalala pic.twitter.com/S4IPuIuRLa— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) February 16, 2015

On the other hand wild child Miley Cyrus toned down for her performance on SNL and covered the famous song ’50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’ originally performed by Paul Simon who was also in attendance during the piece. The raunchy singer known for her racy costumes surprised everyone by wearing a (gasp!) demure white pant suit with flowery embroidery.

Cyrus continued the nights’ musical tributes by performing the classical hit and took the opportunity to show off her vocal range. However a majority of fans on social media such as twitter were not as appreciative as the audience on SNL and compared Cyrus’ cover as literally a destruction of the song.

Yeah, @MileyCyrus pretty much destroyed it covering Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” #SNL40 pic.twitter.com/iGAJQpp0vg— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015

Steve Martin the former cast member of SNL took the chance to refer to the racial controversy of the show in a comedic light. Martin compared the night to a high school reunion where the school is SNL and the guests are all the mostly white students.

Bill Murray the guy with a direct line to our funny bone delivered a spectacular tribute to the best musical comedy moment in the 40 years of SNL. Murray revived Nick Ocean with him in the performance or movie themes without lyrics.

Without the use of any instruments, Murray simply used his vocals to mimicked the Jaws theme into a ballad ‘You made me part of you’ about love affairs, while footage of the sharks destroying a boat from Jaws is seen in the background. The crowd cackled with laughter and was left wondering like Murray ‘Why? Jaws? Jaws, Why?’.

Oh, hey, Bill Murray. #SNL40 pic.twitter.com/ZOfKHBuUtS— Mashable (@mashable) February 16, 2015

Chris Rock took the podium to signal the arrival of Eddie Murphy his comedic inspiration. Rock explained when he was young he didn’t believe comedy was a job until he saw Eddie Murphy on SNL and it changed everything for him. Murphy then emerged on stage to a standing ovation by the audience. Murphy addressed the crowd by declaring his love for the show and asking for a bigger applause for everyone present. Murphy started his career on SNL about 30 years ago and went on to become a comedy gold. After an absence of 3 decades his appearance lasted only 73 seconds and left some viewers feeling ‘Awkward!’.

We agree, Eddie. #SNL40 pic.twitter.com/6Q5c0toJ4W— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015

Alec Bladwin and Tina Fey also gave tribute to their SNL and ’30 Rock’ funny man co-stars Tracy Morgan who couldn’t attend the event due to injuries obtained in a car accident. Baldwin related Morgan would have loved to be attendance but is still recovering and Fey shared that if Morgan had been in attendance he would have liked to make us all pregnant (whatever that meant!).

“If he were here tonight… Tracy [Morgan] would remind us that more than anything, he would like to get us pregnant.” —Tina Fey #SNL40— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015

Tina Fey further went on to touch upon the sensitive subject of notorious drug use of SNL cast by addressing the audience and announcing the presence of their long-time pal Cocaine in the festivities.

The Whoa! Moment came when Jack Nicholson took to the big screen of SNL after a five year absence from the public eye, to deliver a politically themed (No Jokes!) hilarious montage. Viewers were simply happy to see the re-emergence of the extremely talented star back on screen.

Melissa McCarthy played a wood crushing sentimental motivational speaker Marr Farley.

Melissa McCarthy pays tribute to Chris Farley. Amazing. #SNL40 pic.twitter.com/P0ClNL8kiU— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015

She literally smashed the table and the comedic competition with her fabulous dive over the podium, while fellow alums like Amy Poehler look on in shock and wonder.

The world can always use more Matt Foley. Thanks Melissa McCarthy! #SNL40 pic.twitter.com/YvhGGyQcvw— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015

On a sadder tone during a night filled with mirth the appearance of Chevy Chase raised worried questions. The veteran comedian who was part of the original cast of SNL when it commenced 40 years ago in the 70’s sounded unlike himself and rambled during the interview portion. The odd quality of his voice concerned fans and viewers about his health.

Other performances consisted of Beyonce portraying Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer singing ‘Uptown Funk’.

Maya Rudolph channeling Beyoncé as only she can. #SNL40 pic.twitter.com/lmesZbtrbb— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015

Adam Sandler along with Andy Samberg debuted a short story about how the dire consequences of not being able to control giggle and keep a straight face in certain situations to the delight of the crowd.

*to the tune of Tradition* #SNL40 pic.twitter.com/j9JSSDZZV4— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015

Emma stone carried out an epic impersonation of Gilda Radner as the timeless Roseanne Roseannadanna.

Emma Stone got to live every comedy nerd’s dream by playing Roseanne Roseannadanna on #SNL40. pic.twitter.com/riF4euy7r4— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015

Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte’s ESPN Classic segment is really funny.

In Celebrity Jeopardy, Darrell Hammond portrays Sean Connery, Kate McKinnon becomes Justin Bieber and Alec Baldwin plays Tony Bennett in a funny way. Watch the video of their performances below.

Watch video clips of some other best moments of #SNL40 beolow:

The night was a raging success as was proved by Google when it released it list of top ten trends in the world on social media the next day. The first five spots have been snagged by the 40th anniversary of SNL as its numerous on goings were the most discussed about topics around the world on the internet. #SNL40 is one of the reigning trends on twitter as of this moment with the hype still fresh.