How ‘SNL50’ Is Bringing the Nostalgia With Specials, Merch & Exclusive Events

SNL’s 50th anniversary is a golden opportunity to go deep on sketch comedy nostalgia. 

NBCUniversal is blasting content commemorating “Saturday Night Live’s” epic run, the media is profiling the key players and brands are infusing ads with “SNL” flavor. 

Here’s an overview of the 50th anniversary hype:

• A four-part docuseries, “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night” on Peacock. A three-hour primetime program, “SNL50: The Anniversary Special,” is coming to NBC on Feb. 16. 

• A documentary celebrating decades of musical performances on the show: “Ladies & Gentleman ... 50 Years of SNL Music.” 

• A lineup of 50th anniversary sponsors including Allstate, L’Oreal Groupe and T-Mobile that entails “curated custom content and experiences.” 

• A free immersive experience, “Live from New York,” running this weekend in Rockefeller Center.

• A swirl of media coverage, including a bonanza of profiles, lists and other reflections from GQ. Early in the 50th season, a New York Magazine video went viral as cast members past and present shared how they spent their first paychecks. The New York Times celebrated the notable times actors broke character in sketches. David Spade’s and Dana Carvey’s two-year-old podcast, “Fly on the Wall,” regularly delves into juicy behind-the-scenes tales from multiple generations of cast members. 

• A collection of retro merchandise from jackets to T-shirts to mugs. 

All this reminds me of two “SNL” artifacts that fed my fandom: the book “Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years” by Michael Cader and “Saturday Night Live -- The Best of Commercial Parodies” DVD. Good times. Long live “Live from New York!”

More nostalgia

🏈Nostalgia-tinged ads are as common as buffalo chicken dip on Super Bowl Sundays. This year that continues. Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal are Harry and Sally again in a spot for Helmann’s. Budwieser’s iconic Clydesdales return with the focus this time on the youngest member of the fleet. Bosch has an actor portraying the late wrestler Randy Savage joining Antonio Banderas in its ad. Doritos is bringing back a contest for fan-made ads that first launched in 2007. The Kansas Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will play Feb. 9 in a very un-nostalgic match-up -- they last played in the big game in 2023. 

🎤 “Kidz Bop 50” is out now. And if that didn’t make you feel old, The New York Times points out that the franchise is “almost old enough to no longer be eligible for its parents’ health insurance.” Started in 2001, “Kidz Bop” popularized hit songs -- sanitized when needed -- sung by youngsters and led to dozens of versions landing on Billboard’s Top 10 album chart. The Times feature revisits the history, standout performers and most comical lyrical revisions. See if you can guess what reworked 2009 tune produced this gem: “Out in the club, and I’m eating that grub.”

🚫 A follow-up on previous coverage of the Air Jordan 1’s 40th anniversary -- Nike is leaning heavily into a piece of AJ1 lore: the NBA’s banning of the shoe because a colorway clashed with the uniform code. (The true store is much more nuanced and actually involved the Nike Air Ship, the shoe Jordan wore early in his rookie year -- here’s a deep dive from Sneaker Freaker.) Nike gave citations to employees who showed up to HQ in Jordans, plus blacked out images of the sneakers on its website. Nike also put black boxes on the sneakers of the Jordan statue at Chicago’s United Center. 

Cool Creator

8-bit Zombie is a purveyor of “rad junk,” selling shirts, stickers and pins saluting beloved ’80s properties. 8-bit’s designs pay tribute to Saturday morning cartoons, Alf and Gremlins while bolstering the brand with an array of relics shared on Instagram. Old ads, trading card wrappers and videos games pop with color, scratching your nostalgia itch. (You might also get nostalgic for the days when photos dominated Instagram 😔)

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