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 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.
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.
