SNL tonight is their 50th anniversary and showing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paul Simon is a legendary musician.

No. He did not deserve to open the show. When you think most legendary musicians of the last 50 years nobody thinks of Paul Simon. :roll: He wouldn't be in the top 50 musicians of the last 50 years.

DP. When I think of legendary musicians specifically associated with SNL in the 70s, Paul Simon is the first to come to mind. What is with this weird Paul Simon hate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm assuming Paul Simon is a best friend of Lorne Michaels in real life? Because he is hardly some legendary super relevant singer.

Yes, they have been close friends for decades. So what?

I knew it. 99% of the viewers last night could not name one of his songs.

Huh? I’m guessing most viewers were Boomers or GenX. If they can’t name a Paul Simon song (or a Simon and Garfunkel song), they live under a rock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paul Simon is a legendary musician.

No. He did not deserve to open the show. When you think most legendary musicians of the last 50 years nobody thinks of Paul Simon. :roll: He wouldn't be in the top 50 musicians of the last 50 years.

DP. When I think of legendary musicians specifically associated with SNL in the 70s, Paul Simon is the first to come to mind. What is with this weird Paul Simon hate?

An old fart who is best friends with the producer. Literally nobody tuned in to see Paul Simon. He certainly did not warrant opening the show with that boring song. It set the tone the entire 3.5 hours would be a let down. Which it was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paul Simon is a legendary musician.

No. He did not deserve to open the show. When you think most legendary musicians of the last 50 years nobody thinks of Paul Simon. :roll: He wouldn't be in the top 50 musicians of the last 50 years.

DP. When I think of legendary musicians specifically associated with SNL in the 70s, Paul Simon is the first to come to mind. What is with this weird Paul Simon hate?

+1 The Sound of Silence? Mrs. Robinson? Come on. The man won 16 Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paul Simon is a legendary musician.

No. He did not deserve to open the show. When you think most legendary musicians of the last 50 years nobody thinks of Paul Simon. :roll: He wouldn't be in the top 50 musicians of the last 50 years.

DP. When I think of legendary musicians specifically associated with SNL in the 70s, Paul Simon is the first to come to mind. What is with this weird Paul Simon hate?

+1 The Sound of Silence? Mrs. Robinson? Come on. The man won 16 Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.

+2. And more importantly, he was the second-ever SNL host, and has continued to appear on the show in each decade since.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Paul Simon is a legendary musician.[/quote]

No. He did not deserve to open the show. When you think most legendary musicians of the last 50 years nobody thinks of Paul Simon. :roll: He wouldn't be in the top 50 musicians of the last 50 years.[/quote]

DP. When I think of legendary musicians specifically associated with SNL in the 70s, Paul Simon is the first to come to mind. What is with this weird Paul Simon hate?[/quote]

An old fart who is best friends with the producer. Literally nobody tuned in to see Paul Simon. He certainly did not warrant opening the show with that boring song. It set the tone the entire 3.5 hours would be a let down. Which it was.[/quote]

Sabrina Carpenter was the weird part of the opening. Paul Simon is exactly who I thought might open the show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm assuming Paul Simon is a best friend of Lorne Michaels in real life? Because he is hardly some legendary super relevant singer.

Yes, they have been close friends for decades. So what?

I knew it. 99% of the viewers last night could not name one of his songs.

Huh? I’m guessing most viewers were Boomers or GenX. If they can’t name a Paul Simon song (or a Simon and Garfunkel song), they live under a rock.

Paul Simon kind of transcends the generations. Last night we were watching and DH told our 13-year-old that’s the singer of “at the zoo” and she lit up. We used to sing her and play her that song all the time when she was little.

Paul Simon was also the musical guest on the second episode so definitely relevant.

[Anonymous]

The first episode aired October 11, 1975. Why did they have this celebration 8 months early?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paul Simon is a legendary musician.

No. He did not deserve to open the show. When you think most legendary musicians of the last 50 years nobody thinks of Paul Simon. :roll: He wouldn't be in the top 50 musicians of the last 50 years.

DP. When I think of legendary musicians specifically associated with SNL in the 70s, Paul Simon is the first to come to mind. What is with this weird Paul Simon hate?

+1 The Sound of Silence? Mrs. Robinson? Come on. The man won 16 Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.

+2. And more importantly, he was the second-ever SNL host, and has continued to appear on the show in each decade since.

This. If George Carlin (who hosted the first ever episode) were still alive, it's likely he would have opened the show instead.

The whole point of that bit with him and Sabrina Carpenter was to emphasize how long the show has been on the air and how it spans generations. Here is Paul Simon, who hosted the second episode ever, and here is Sabrina Carpenter, one of the youngest recent musical guests (she is 24 or 25 years old). Then they sing a classic Paul Simon song together that also evokes some of Carpenter's folkier tendencies and that goes well with her voice, and that has some significance for a reunion. They sang "Homeward Bound" to welcome all of SNL's many alums back "home" while standing on "home base" which is what they call that little stage in the middle of the theater.

To be honest I also didn't love it, and I love Paul Simon. I just found it a little schlocky and would have preferred a funnier bit. I much preferred Steve Martin's monologue and his little bit with John Mulaney. I struggle with watching older performers do their classic hits -- it highlights how old they are and how unlike their younger selves they are and it makes me sad. Though I will say that Paul McCartney looked and sounded super spry on the show last night -- good for him!

But if you were watching the show and didn't understand why Simon was up there, then this show was not for you. It was a very nostalgic show, and they made it primarily for the people in the room. I liked watching it as a form of voyeurism but understood it wasn't really for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The first episode aired October 11, 1975. Why did they have this celebration 8 months early?

It's their 50th season. They scheduled it around the network schedule, major events (the election, the Super Bowl, the Oscars), holidays, the schedules of some of the key people involved (former cast members like Fey, Rock, Pohler, Martin, Wiig, etc. who have a lot of projects going), etc. Likely this date was a bit of compromise between NBC, the cast, returning stars, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It felt like a bunch of Hollywood people just giving themselves a pat on the back. The audience full of stars waiting for the after party felt super cringe. And the skits weren’t funny except for Kate McKinnon and Jon Hamm. It didn’t feel like a tribute, more like a bunch of stars putting on a show for themselves. So, typical Hollywood.

+1. The skits were so half-assed and just relied on celebs and laugh tracks. Lorne needs to hang it up. The guy is ancient and out of touch.

I love Meryl Streep but thought she and Woody ruined the alien encounter skit.

Really? I thought Meryl killed it. She and Kate McKinnon are amazing. It’s hard to believe that Meryl has never been on the show.

[Anonymous]

I loved Eddie Murphy as Tracy Morgan. If you watched 30 Rock, you would totally get it. Also liked the alien abduction.

I didn’t care for most of the other skits and found their selections of skits to resurrect and celebrities to use to be quite haphazard. I never like Debbie Downer or that stupid Kristin Wiig with the small hands thing and the NYC homage was meh. I would have much preferred them redoing some classic skits or some kind of game show with, say, Ed Grimley, Wayne and a Conehead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where were Dana Carvey and Mike Myers? Would have loved a Waynes World reunion.

Myers was there as Linda Richman in the Bronx Beat sketch. I didn't see Carvey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where were Dana Carvey and Mike Myers? Would have loved a Waynes World reunion.

Myers was there as Linda Richman in the Bronx Beat sketch. I didn't see Carvey.

AHHH yes! Oof totally forgot.

[Anonymous]

Why wasn't Dan Aykroyd there?