Get ready to laugh as we dive into the most hilarious moments of breaking character during SNL's 50th Anniversary Special. From unexpected impressions to nostalgic performances, these are the times when the cast just couldn't keep it together!
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00:00There have been a lot of SNL related lists and rankings.
00:03Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at the most notable instances
00:08where someone broke during SNL's 50th anniversary special.
00:12We're gonna take you for some psychological tests now.
00:14Oh, we'll save you the trouble. Fail.
00:19Number 10.
00:20Martin Short gets deported. 50th monologue.
00:23Throughout its 50-year history, Steve Martin has hosted SNL a whopping 16 times.
00:29Actually, it might be 17 times now,
00:32since Martin did the monologue for the 50th anniversary special.
00:35Traditionally, the weakest part of the show.
00:39Yes, the monologue is like a rent-controlled tenant.
00:43It's not going anywhere, even though it stinks.
00:47And there's so many members of the SNL family here tonight.
00:50Does that mean he's officially tied Alex Baldwin for the all-time record?
00:54Baldwin, I should have corrected you about that a long time ago.
00:56In any case, Martin set a tone for this landmark episode,
01:02receiving help from John Mulaney and Martin Short,
01:04the latter of whom thought they were co-hosting.
01:07Never one to share the spotlight for long,
01:09Martin calls upon U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to haul his old buddy back to Canada.
01:15As Short starts to name names off-screen,
01:17Martin struggles to hide his growing smile before getting back to business.
01:21You know, Marty and I have been working together so long
01:29that we can actually finish each other's careers.
01:33It's just a small taste of a night filled with breaks.
01:36Number 9.
01:37Quinta Brunson's Question.
01:39Audience Q&A.
01:40Tina Fey and Amy Poehler take this opportunity to answer a few questions,
01:44opening the floor to an inquisitive, star-studded audience.
01:48Quinta Brunson, who hosted the show in 2023, was the first to be called upon.
01:53I am an SNL superfan. My question is kind of a deep cut.
01:58The Abbott Elementary creator has a bizarrely specific,
02:01long-winded question for former cast member Tim Meadows.
02:04Despite getting through most of the bit unfazed,
02:07Brunson noticeably cracks up a little as she begins to ask Meadows her question
02:10about a 1993 episode.
02:13In the March 18th 1993 Good Nights,
02:17Tim Meadows whispered something to musical guest Sade. What was he saying?
02:21It doesn't last long, but Brunson has to repeat a line before getting back on track.
02:26In case you were wondering, SNL didn't air a show on March 18th 1993,
02:31and Sade performed on November 21st 1992.
02:34Every SNL superfan knows that, Quinta.
02:37That's exactly what I thought. Thank you so much. Thank you.
02:40Number 8.
02:41Where will Colin Jost place?
02:43Bill Murray ranks his best Weekend Update anchors of all time.
02:46Returning to the news desk,
02:48Bill Murray provides his rank of the best Weekend Update hosts.
02:51We seem to recall a certain YouTube channel
02:54already doing the definitive top 10 on this subject,
02:57but there's always room for another.
02:59These are in no particular order, so I've listed them from worst to best.
03:04Although Murray excludes himself from the competition,
03:07he makes things awkward for current anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che.
03:11After putting Che in a league of his own,
03:13Murray trolls a giggling Jost by placing another Colin at number 10.
03:17He's one of the all-time greats, Mr. Colin...
03:24Quinta.
03:30Had you for a second. No, don't worry, don't worry.
03:32While Murray maintains his signature deadpan delivery throughout,
03:36Jost chuckles every time his predecessor teases him.
03:39Murray saves the best for last.
03:41No, not Colin Jost.
03:43His brother, Brian Doyle Murray, claims the top spot.
03:46And Scarlett Johansson's heart, which Jost takes in jest.
04:01Number 7.
04:02Sarah Sherman's impression.
04:03New York 50th musical.
04:05Remember how this city inspired you?
04:07Just because the art scene and the music scene are dead
04:10and the city is a bunch of TD Banks and Lepenko Tidians,
04:13you can't just give up.
04:15The anniversary special features what might be the most extravagant iteration
04:19of the Diner Lobster sketch, which is saying a lot.
04:22In this version, John Mulaney's hot dog vendor takes Pete Davidson and David Spade
04:26on a trip across New York's past five decades.
04:29Along the way, audience members like Kevin Costner and Jenna Ortega
04:32get caught in the middle, eventually surrendering to the laughter and insanity.
04:37But Giuliani killed the dream, I dreamed.
04:45Kristen, Kristen, what are you doing?
04:47We didn't stop Kristen.
04:49God, what are you doing?
04:51Although Costner and Ortega technically weren't performing in the sketch,
04:55Sarah Sherman was, playing former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
04:59It's not the most spot-on impression, which Mulaney sarcastically points out.
05:04Then after Michael Bloomberg took New York to new heights.
05:08In terms of how unaffordable it became.
05:11Great impression.
05:12As Mulaney walks on to the next political caricature,
05:15Sherman looks down with the biggest smile.
05:17Even her wig and makeup can't hide that infectious grin.
05:20Number six, Eddie Murphy as Tracy Morgan, Black Jeopardy.
05:25Kenan Thompson is back hosting Black Jeopardy as Darnell Hayes.
05:28This time, the contestants include Leslie Jones as a woman named Shanice,
05:32Tracy Morgan as a guy named Darius, and Eddie Murphy as Tracy Morgan.
05:38Now wait a minute, Tracy, don't you already have a lot of money?
05:40Well, you gotta have a lot of money if you're gonna live like I live.
05:43I eat four cheese lasagna.
05:48If I only got three cheeses, I ain't eating it.
05:51The real Morgan manages to keep it together, at first.
05:54Yet Murphy's impersonation inevitably gets to Jones, who has a history of breaking.
05:59As kids, you probably stayed up late on Saturday to watch.
06:04Tracy.
06:04What is Showtime at the Apollo?
06:07Featuring Sandman Sims.
06:09After Murray makes a crack about Steve Harvey,
06:12Jones loses it, practically collapsing over the desk with laughter.
06:15Rather than allow her room to breathe,
06:17Murphy doubles down on his impression, causing Jones to laugh even harder.
06:22Y'all ready for your next act? Let me hear you say yeah!
06:24This is not that! This is not that!
06:28Morgan also gives in to the hilarity,
06:30but nobody finds Murphy's impression funnier than Jones.
06:33Although Shanice hasn't seen SNL, we have a feeling she might like it.
06:38Number five.
06:39Still can't have children.
06:40Debbie Downer.
06:41Bar.
06:42SNL 50 was a night of celebration.
06:45Only one person could possibly spoil it, and unfortunately, she was tending bar.
06:50Heartache! SNL 50!
06:52Cheers!
06:54Have you seen the latest study on alcohol?
06:58Even one drink can significantly slash life expectancy.
07:06Ever since Debbie Downer made her debut over two decades ago,
07:09her sketches have gained a reputation for breaking the whole cast.
07:13Rachel Dratch didn't disappoint with her character's long-awaited return.
07:18Robert De Niro, of all people, is the first to show a chink in the armor,
07:21barely containing a smirk when Debbie lands on the topic of microplastics.
07:26Odds are they've already taken up residence in your testes.
07:37Dratch also can't help but grin as De Niro wraps his hands around her throat.
07:41Of course, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the most prominent break
07:45comes from Jimmy Fallon,
07:46who gets a case of the tee-hees when Debbie repeats a familiar line.
07:50It's official, I can't have children.
07:59But I told you that once, Jimmy.
08:02Yeah, did you? Yeah, I don't remember.
08:04Number 4.
08:05A touching tribute.
08:06Adam Sandler's song, 50 years.
08:08Speaking of cast members who aren't exactly known for keeping a straight face,
08:12Adam Sandler played a song that balanced humor, heart, and nostalgia.
08:17Everyone in this room has something else in common.
08:22None of us were allowed to use the little bathroom in Lorne's office.
08:27The bittersweet performance wasn't without a few breaks,
08:30but genuine moments like these just go to show how much SNL means to Sandler.
08:34He laughs at some of his own lyrics,
08:36stumbling over one joke about an anti-Semitic musician.
08:3950 years of finding out your favorite musician's anti-Semitic.
08:4550 years of asking an intern to pick up your laundry at 2.30 a.m.,
08:50not realizing that the intern was Martin Scorsese's kid.
08:55Sandler smiles again upon questioning who Lorne Michaels's successor will be.
09:00It's Speedy Rosenthal from the music department, by the way.
09:02For all the laughs, the song builds to an emotional finale,
09:06as Sandler pays tribute to the numerous stars who have kept SNL going for 50 years,
09:10getting visibly choked up remembering the late Chris Farley and Norm Macdonald.
09:15Live from New York, it's Saturday night.
09:1850 years of standing on home base,
09:21waving goodnight and goodbye.
09:2450 years of the best times of our lives.
09:42Who'd have guessed that the girl you wish you hadn't started a conversation with
09:45would have a baby with Drunk Uncle?
09:54Actually, that makes too much sense.
09:56Aside from becoming a drunk father, Bobby Moynihan's character hasn't changed much.
10:01For starters, his inebriated rambling still has a way of cracking up Colin Jost.
10:15From the moment Drunk Uncle rolls up to the weekend update desk,
10:18Jost is already laughing.
10:20Drunk Uncle doesn't just know how to push Colin's buttons,
10:23he knows how to rip them off his jacket too,
10:26sparking what might be Jost's biggest and most unexpected laugh of the night.
10:38For a second, it looks like Moynihan might break too,
10:40but it's merely Drunk Uncle wallowing in tears.
10:47If there's one recurring sketch guaranteed to break at least one cast member,
10:51it's Close Encounter.
10:53Ryan Gosling sadly isn't present,
10:55but Pedro Pascal is another easy target for Kate McKinnon's Miss Rafferty.
11:14Rumbling under hysterical pressure,
11:17Pascal does his best to look away from the camera as McKinnon goes for the groin.
11:21Woody Harrelson is a touch more restrained,
11:24although you can see him doing everything in his power not to bust a gut.
11:42The sketch is as unhinged as ever,
11:44but it's taken into overdrive with the arrival of Miss Rafferty's mom,
11:48played by Meryl Streep in her SNL debut.
11:52From this point on, all bets are off as Streep and McKinnon make for a chaotic duo.
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12:35We need more of this pairing!
12:37Number 1.
12:38Buddy the Elf – Scared Straight
12:40What could be funnier than Kenan Thompson and Eddie Murphy scaring a few troublemakers straight?
12:45How about if you throw Will Ferrell into the mix?
12:48As a duo, Thompson and Murphy came close to breaking, but otherwise kept their cool.
13:04Once Ferrell and his short shorts made it a trio,
13:07it was only a matter of time until the sketch went off the rails.
13:19Thompson covers his mouth while trying not to look directly at Ferrell.
13:23While Murphy stays in character for the most part,
13:25he finally cracks when Ferrell seemingly flubs a line about Buddy the Elf.
13:29Because in prison, you're not going to be named Elf.
13:33You're not going to be an elf named Buddy.
13:34You're not!
13:38Thompson breaks as well, but Murphy's character is a bit more serious.
13:41Elf! You're not going to be an elf named Buddy!
13:46You're not!
13:47Thompson breaks as well while Ferrell fights against his instincts to join in the laughter.
13:51By the end, there wasn't a straight face in the house.
13:55What was your favorite part of SNL 50? Let us know in the comments.
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