Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL Podcast

On this episode, Christian and Scot discuss the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary show that aired in February of 2025.

They say it couldn’t be done. (And maybe some say it shouldn’t be done.) But we got to the 50th season.

Season 50 debuted with high expectations, given the historic anniversary. While some hoped for each episode to be hosted by past cast members and filled with nostalgic callbacks, the reality was more conventional. Although it featured a star-studded anniversary special and brought back several past SNL icons—including Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Alec Baldwin, and David Spade—the season overall did not radically deviate from SNL’s recent trajectory.

Three new cast members joined—Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline—while Punkie Johnson, Chloe Troast, and Molly Kearney departed. Ashley Padilla, in particular, was praised for her impressive rookie performance and potential to take on a larger role if veterans like Chloe Fineman or Heidi Gardner leave.

A prominent feature of the season was its reliance on recycling. Sketch concepts, characters, and even formats were reused or reinterpreted. For example, a successful sketch from Season 49 featuring Nate Bargatze as George Washington was revived, albeit with diminished surprise. Similarly, a sketch mimicking the old Chris Farley–Mike Myers Japanese game show setup reappeared in new form, highlighting the season’s tendency to “resurface” material.

Political sketches were frequent, if uninspired. Dana Carvey reprised his Biden impression, Maya Rudolph played Kamala Harris, and James Austin Johnson returned as Donald Trump. Many of these sketches were described as “political cosplay”—faithful reenactments of real events with little added satire or perspective. This dynamic was most evident in cold opens that simply replayed political moments from the week with minimal comedic insight. One notable exception was a post-election cold open that subverted expectations by mocking SNL’s own history of over-earnestness after political losses.

The overuse of celebrity cameos sometimes came at the expense of the current cast. Christian and Scot observed that cast members like Sarah Sherman and Ego Nwodim were overshadowed. Bowen Yang was heavily featured early in the season, but both hosts argued that he lacks the range to carry that much weight, often playing variations of himself. Conversely, James Austin Johnson was underused outside of his Trump impression, despite being one of the show's most versatile performers.

One of the season’s breakout sketches, “Domingo,” which revolves around a chaotic wedding reception, became a viral hit—especially among millennial women. While the hosts didn’t find the sketch particularly strong, they acknowledged it struck a nerve with a specific demographic, showing how the show’s appeal can vary widely depending on cultural context.

Ultimately, Bertram and Schneider conclude that Season 50 of SNL didn’t reinvent the wheel but encapsulated the modern SNL experience—safe, familiar, and intermittently excellent. It wasn’t a triumphant landmark season, but it did enough to suggest the show remains relevant, if uneven, as it enters its second half-century.

After the prior handful of seasons that felt like a slog, Saturday Night Live came to life in Season 49 in ways we’d almost forgotten the show could manage.

Much of that spark came from what we half‑jokingly labeled the “return of the patriarchy.” For nearly a decade the women quite deservedly owned the spotlight, but this year the men finally pushed the…

Season 48 of Saturday Night Live represented a subtle but notable step forward for a show that had been mired in several years of creative stagnation. While far from a return to peak form, the season was generally considered a “standard deviation” — a slight improvement that, while still below average in historical terms, felt like a more “normal” SNL s…

Season 47 of Saturday Night Live was defined by overpopulation, inertia, and hints of a creative reset. While it wasn’t a creative renaissance, there were signs of potential - new cast members, fresh writers, and a few flashes of promise - amidst a bloated and often sluggish season.

This season came on the heels of a historically weak run marked by cast …

If you like your comedy sleepy, inconsistent, and oddly celebrity-packed, Season 46 of Saturday Night Live was ready to serve. But if you were hoping for a creative rebound after the shaky COVID lockdown season before it, well… sorry.

This was the first season back in Studio 8H after the “At Home” episodes that ended Season 45. And while you’d think the …

Season 45 of Saturday Night Live was one of the most unusual and pivotal in the show’s long history, defined by both the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic and lingering creative stagnation. In this episode, we each described the season with medically themed words—“viral” and “infected”—capturing its literal interruption by the coronavirus and the metaphorical symptoms of deeper artistic problems.

The pandemic played a defining role in this season, with production halting in March 2020. The final three episodes, known as the “SNL at Home” shows, were filmed remotely, with cast members recording sketches in their kitchens and bedrooms using whatever technology they had on hand. Though uneven, these episodes formed a kind of proto-TikTok aesthetic—short-form, DIY comedy that foreshadowed future trends in digital humor. Despite their limitations, the remote shows were endearing and occasionally clever, offering glimpses into cast members’ homes and personal lives. Opening credits were revamped accordingly, showcasing the performers in lockdown mode, which added a touch of humanity to the chaotic moment.

Season 45 began with a scandal before it even aired: comedian Shane Gillis was hired and then quickly fired after offensive podcast clips surfaced. His departure cast a shadow over what could have been a much-needed injection of edgy male energy into a cast lacking strong male leads. Gillis’ story, later revisited in his own words, remains one of the great “what-ifs” in SNL lore. Meanwhile, the season welcomed Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang to the cast, the latter becoming the show’s first Chinese-American cast member. Leslie Jones departed after several seasons.

A major highlight came mid-season with Eddie Murphy’s much-anticipated return to host for the first time since the 1980s. The episode leaned heavily on nostalgia, reviving Mr. Robinson, Gumby, Buckwheat, and Velvet Jones. Though not a groundbreaking night creatively, Murphy’s energy and charisma carried the episode, making it the clear standout of the season. Adam Driver also returned and solidified his reputation as a dependable host who throws himself into absurd material with gusto.

However, the rest of the season often faltered under the weight of formulaic writing and stale impressions. The political cold opens were frequently bloated, unimaginative, and crammed with cameos and impersonations with little satirical bite. Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of Donald Trump continued to degrade in quality, and sketches often focused more on quantity of impressions than on substance or commentary. Characters like Elizabeth Warren (played by Kate McKinnon) were used more for performative cheerleading than actual satire, contributing to a sense of detachment from meaningful political critique.

The show leaned heavily on a comedic duo dynamic between Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant, who appeared together in numerous sketches. While they had chemistry, their sketches were hit-or-miss, with Bryant receiving a significant uptick in screen time this season. Meanwhile, male cast members like Mikey Day and Alex Moffat were underused. Bennett and Mooney's brand of surrealist sketches wore thin, and Christian Schneider raised red flags about a growing collaboration between Beck Bennett and writer Andrew Dismukes, citing multiple sketches that felt lazy or derivative.

Season 45 marked the end of the road for veteran writer James Anderson, who had been with the show for 20 years. The writing staff was supplemented with new faces, including Dan Licata and Jasmine Pierce, but the overall tone of the show remained inconsistent and often uninspired.

Despite occasional bright spots—some quirky digital shorts, decent host performances, and nostalgic callbacks—the season was largely weighed down by political fatigue, repetitive sketches, and the existential shock of a global pandemic. As we concluded, SNL was not just infected by COVID—it was creatively ailing and in desperate need of a reboot.

Never has any television show wanted anything more than Saturday Night Live wanted to see President Donald Trump imprisoned over his alleged collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential election. In sketch after sketch this season, SNL writers pleaded with Special Investigator Robert Mueller to recommend criminal charges against Trump - and yet wh…

Among the many complaints you always hear about Saturday Night Live these days is that the show is saturated with celebrity cameos. The actual cast members don’t get their chance to shine because the show is overstuffed with big names showing up to play the week’s newsmakers.

Season 42 certainly had its share of stuntcasting, with Melissa McCarthy showin…

On this free episode, we talked with Entertainment Weekly writer Andy Hoglund about his recent Vulture article in which he interviewed 65 former Saturday Night Live cast members and writers in advance of the 50th Anniversary show. Hoglund also discusses how he got into SNL and tells some stories about he collected signatures for his SNL autograph book.

You can find Hoglund’s SNL episode recaps at Entertainment Weekly here. And follow him on X at @SNLinReview.

Here’s video of our chat!