SNL celebrates its 40th season with celeb-studded show

Steve Martin hosts the three-and-a-half-hour gala show that celebrates 40 years of the hit US comedy sketch show.

Mike Myers as Wayne, left, and Dana Carvey as Garth during the Wayne's World skit for Saturday Night Live's 40th season celebrations. Theo Wargo / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

The American TV comedy institution Saturday Night Live celebrated its 40th season on Sunday with a three-and-a-half-hour gala of stars, laughs and memories.

It was broadcast live from New York's Studio 8H at NBC, which has been SNL's home since it debuted in October 1975. The black-tie event was so jammed with SNL alumni and other celebs – about 80 names were listed in the opening credits – that there was an hour-long red-carpet event before the show even began.

When it did, it kicked off with a medley of catchphrases, music and characters performed by Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake. SNL is traditionally presented by a guest star each week, but who was the rightful guest host for this special occasion? Steve Martin stepped up first, but was joined one by one by stars including Peyton Manning, Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crystal, Melissa McCarthy, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon, all of whom disputed Martin's ­selection.

Among the night's many tributes, Jack Nicholson noted that "when SNL started, the last helicopter had just flown out of Vietnam, Watergate was still fresh in everyone's minds and New York was broke."

Robert De Niro marvelled: “Forty years. That’s like back when TV was still watched on TV.”

Jerry Seinfeld said: "There are so many things about Saturday Night Live that people don't know. For instance, I just found out that one of the original cast members in 1975 was Brian Williams," a reference to the NBC news anchor who was recently suspended for falsely claiming that his helicopter was hit by enemy fire while he was reporting from Iraq during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But the show wasn't all live. The first clip featured the late John Belushi and Michael O'Donoghue in the ­language-lesson sketch that opened the first SNL episode.

A remarkable montage of audition tapes from prospective SNL cast members was shown, including failed attempts by Jim Carrey and Stephen ­Colbert.

Another highlights reel traced the show’s legacy of political humour, including Will Ferrell as the 2000 presidential candidate George W Bush, summing up the best argument for his election as “Strategery”.

On a more serious note, there was also an in memoriam segment for cast and crew members no longer with us.

The live entertainment included an encore of a classic commercial parody: Super Bass-o-Matic, with Dan Aykroyd and Laraine Newman repeating their performances from 1976.

All-star soap-spoof The Californians was revived, featuring Taylor Swift, Bradley Cooper and Betty White, while Dana Carvey and Mike Myers brought Wayne's World back.

And a super anchor team was assembled for Weekend Update: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Jane Curtin.

The musical guests were Kanye West, Miley Cyrus, McCartney and Simon.

All in all, it was a near-perfect retrospective of one of TV’s comedy pioneers.