For the first time ever, “Live from New York, it’s ‘Saturday Night’!” made me tear up a little.
Proudly shouted by former cast members Maya Rudolph and Dana Carvey, the famous phrase kicked off the 50th season of a New York icon.
Can you believe “Saturday Night Live” is 50 years old?
However you may feel about the show, Lorne Michaels’ sketch series, which has been broadcasting from Studio 8H at 30 Rock in Midtown since 1975, has undeniably shaped American comedy as we know it.
It has birthed countless stars and wrung out a million laughs.
We all grew up with it, we all can quote it, we all have fiery opinions about it. The NBC show is part of the fabric of American life.
Embracing his inner Canadian, Michaels went surprisingly low-key for the start of Season 50, which was hosted by the fabulous Jean Smart from “Hacks.” Country singer Jelly Roll was the musical guest.
The show’s enigmatic creator previously said, sans much detail, that there will eventually be a Radio City Music Hall celebration to honor “Saturday Night Live”’s first half century.
Still, it was a big and brilliant move to bring back “SNL” legend Carvey as a doddering President Joe Biden. I squealed when he took the stage.
After so many lame attempts to capture the essence of the cuckoo prez — Jason Sudeikis, Woody Harrelson, Jim Carrey, Mikey Day — the excellent Carvey finally batted it out of the park.
“A lot of people forget I’m president,” he said next to Rudolph’s Kamala Harris. “Including me!”
Every unhinged comment, intonation, gesture and glance was totally hilarious.
He confusedly wandered offstage, creepily sniffed Kamala’s hair and inexplicably whispered “The. Rich. Don’t. Pay. Their. Fair. Share.”
Rudolph’s dismissive Kamala said, “Thank you, Joe Biden, for putting your country first, and for handing over the reins.”
Shouted back Carvey’s Biden: “I didn’t want to!”
Too true.
You’ll recall that Carvey, besides being the Church Lady, Garth from “Wayne’s World,” John McLaughlin and countless other roles, was responsible for one of “SNL”’s best-ever political performances — George H.W. Bush.
He gets it. Carvey just played the part, without agenda or judgment. And he killed.
I sincerely hope we see much, much more of his fantastic Biden this season.
Also, I’ll hand it to James Austin Johnson: His Donald Trump impression is very good. But, the premiere jokes about 45 were typical and indistinguishable from anybody else’s.
Rudolph’s Harris pulled her punches again. The bit is still too much about silly dancing and quirky voices rather than who the presidential candidate actually is. Right now, she’s cute, not funny.
“Weekend Update” had no choice but to take on Mayor Eric Adams’ unprecedented indictment over charges that he was bribed by the government of Turkey.
“I’ve spent every single day with the working people of this city,” said Devon Walker as Hizzoner.
“The dancers, the bottle girls, Fat Joe. And they all say the same thing: ‘Thank you for bringing swagger back to the city! What was once a swag-less dump is now a swag-tropolis… with significantly more crime than before.’”
But, “Update” co-anchor Michael Che pushed, “You did favors for the Turkish government in exchange for expensive trips.”
Shot back Walker’s Adams: “So you want your mayor in coach, huh?”
