10 Top Highlights From ‘SNL 50: The Anniversary Special’

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler quiz the stars

Halfway through a segment in which Tina Fey, 54, and Amy Poehler, 53, took questions from some of the evening’s celebrity guests, the duo basically admitted it was an excuse to show a bunch of stars who wouldn’t be appearing elsewhere on the special. In this case, the bit worked — thanks to some sharp writing and game performances. We see Jon Lovitz, 67, exiled outside Studio 8H and forced to sit at the American Girl Place store across the street from Rockefeller Center — so Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 64, could have a seat for her golden retriever. Keith Richards, 81, asked if anyone found a scarf he left backstage in 1988. Fred Armisen, 58, asked why Michaels cut one of his sketches after dress rehearsal more than a decade ago, then teased that he’s been revising the script and it will be ready “the next time [Kevin] Spacey hosts.” Best of all, Fey and Poehler introduced longtime backstage costumer Donna Richards, who’s “been dressing every host since 1977” and “has seen every host in their underpants.” (Richards quickly blurted out that Aquaman star Jason Momoa was her favorite host to dress — prompting Momoa himself to inquire about her availability after the show.)

Miley Cyrus performs “Nothing Compares 2 U,” a Prince song made famous by the late Irish singer Sinead O'Connor, who had a controversial appearance on "SNL" in 1992.

Virginia Sherwood/NBC

Nothing compares 2 strong musical guests

The husky-voiced Miley Cyrus delivered a wonderful performance of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” a Prince song that became a huge hit in 1990 for the late Sinead O’Connor —  who made a notorious 1992 appearance on SNL where she tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II on stage. Cyrus was joined by singer-guitarist Brittany Howard, bringing a rockier edge to the song.

Meryl Streep, left, plays mom to Kate McKinnon, center, as Pedro Pascal looks on during the alien abduction sketch.

Chris Haston/NBC

Meryl Streep as Kate McKinnon’s mom

The show’s best sketch — by a lot — reintroduced us to Kate McKinnon’s alien abductee Miss Rafferty, who faced a military panel interviewing her and other Americans about their experiences with extraterrestrials. As usual, Rafferty got increasingly graphic about what happened to her — especially in comparison to the gentler, less sexualized encounters of her fellow abductees (played by Pedro Pascal and Woody Harrelson, 63). “I was less cradled by light than grabbed by a giant claw,” she tells a general (Jon Hamm, 53). But she was soon upstaged by her mother — played by Streep, 75, as a chain-smoking, gray-wig-wearing mom who explains that Rafferty women “always attracted the freaks.” She turns out to be just as horny as her daughter — and just as hilarious — even delivering a punchline playing on one of the Oscar winner’s most famous films: “As far as underwear goes, this devil wears nada.”

Look back and cringe

While the show featured clip reels for physical comedy and advertising parodies, the cleverest came near the end of the show, with Tom Hanks, 68, introducing a sly In Memoriam for characters and segments “that have not aged well.” It was more like a mea culpa, rounding up cringeworthy scenes that perpetuated racist stereotypes (sometimes with questionable makeup), normalized sexual harassment, and spotlighted stars like Robert Blake and R. Kelly who were convicted of serious crimes after they appeared on the show.

Robert De Niro, left, gets a drink from bartender Debbie Downer (Rachel Dratch).

Todd Owyoung/NBC

Robert De Niro meets Debbie Downer

The 58-year-old Rachel Dratch’s Debbie Downer made a welcome return as a bartender serving anniversary guests like Jimmy Fallon, 50, and Drew Barrymore — taking their drink orders while cautioning about the surgeon general’s recent admonition that “even one drink can significantly reduce life expectancy.” Best of all, when Robert De Niro, 81, placed an order, she asked him, “You talking to me? … I have a dry eye so it’s hard to discern if you’re talking to me.” It was the perfect blend of pop-culture callback and absurdity.

Jason Sudeikis, left, Kenan Thompson and Eddie Murphy take the Scared Straight program for juvenile delinquents to hilarious heights.

Chris Haston/NBC

Eddie Murphy and Will Ferrell are straight-up scary

Murphy came back for another standout (and risqué) sketch, this time joining Kenan Thompson and Will Ferrell, 57, as ex-cons who admonish teenage shoplifters as part of a Scared Straight program. The sketch’s twist is that the convicts’ personal histories sound suspiciously like movies — The Nutty Professor for Murphy and Elf for Ferrell — and they got right up in the faces of the teens to deliver pun-filled warnings about how they’re likely to be sexually violated in prison. It’s a fate that’s not unwelcome for Ferrell’s character, who describes himself as “tough as press-on nails.” There’s a fun meta layer to the over-the-top raunchiness. 

Even the commercials got in on the act

The night’s advertisers leaned into the spirt of the evening with several specially shot comedic spots featuring familiar SNL faces. Ana Gasteyer, 57, and Molly Shannon, 60, reprised their roles as the double-entendre-dropping hosts of The Delicious Dish to chat up Samuel L. Jackson, 76, about his “sweet buttery buns” for a Capital One ad, while Volkswagen hired Kristen Wiig, 51, Bill Hader and Armisen to re-create their traffic-route-obsessed L.A. characters from their long-running “Californians” sketch. The Please Don’t Destroy trio of Martin Herlihy, Ben Marshall and John Higgins — who regularly produce sketches for the current SNL — get into some vehicular mayhem that would produce a big claim for State Farm Insurance. Current cast members Thompson and Marcello Hernandez donned matching pink hoodies to deliver a comedic rap for T-Mobile, while a spot for CeraVe dandruff shampoo showcased Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman going full heavy metal in a head-banging band called Naumore Dandruf. In less than a minute, each delivered some big laughs.