John Mulaney took the “Saturday Night Live” 50th anniversary special on a five-decade journey through the ups and downs of the show’s New York City home base. Starting with the 1975 birth of the series, Mulaney’s star-studded medley began with convincing former cast members Pete Davidson and David Spade that the grimy 1970s was still a glorious time to live in New York.
From there, it was a decade-by-decade look at the city, with Adam Driver dressed as a hot dog, Kate McKinnon showing up as a disgraced former mayor Rudy Giuliani and Scarlett Johansson dressed as Audrey from “Little Shop of Horrors,” joking about real-life husband Colin Jost. Also, Nathan Lane sang an ode to cocaine to the tune of “The Lion King’s” “Hakuna Matata” — a song he sang for the film as Timon.
Other guest spots included one-time “SNL” musical directors Paul Schaffer and G.E. Smith, while former cast members Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte sang from the stands, along with Kristen Wiig dressed as a green M&M — with audience members Jenna Ortega and Kevin Costner sandwiched in the middle.
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As post 9/11 Giuliani, McKinnon sang of “throwing away my shot” to the tune of “Hamilton’s” “My Shot,” with Lin-Manuel Miranda in full Hamilton costume. Johansson and Paul Rudd sang “Suddenly eBikes” to the tune “Suddenly Seymour” from “Little Shop of Horrors,” while Kenan Thompson and Maya Rudolph sang “One Day More” along with Nick Jonas and Taran Killam dressed as Pizza Rat.
The sketch began with Mulaney in 1975, advising Davidson and Spade: “You’re moving to New York now? It’s 1975 New York is dying. It’s a bankrupt hell hole.” Spade is ready to go, but Davison wants to stay. “We’re poets and dreamers, and New York is where we belong. So one hot dog with heroin, please!”
Mulaney then asks Hot Dog (played by Adam Driver) and Heroin (Maya Rudolph) to describe what New York is all about. They sing to the tune of “Fame”: “Shame! You’re gonna get shot in a taxi! You’re gonna get stabbed on the train!”
From there, Mulaney takes the duo to 1980s New York. “We’re at a power lunch on Wall Street. Is New York fine now, they ask. “If you’re white, yes! It’s all thanks to the boom on the stock market and a new diet that’s been sweeping the city.” That’s when Lane exclaims, to the tune of “Hakuna Matata,” “Cocaine and some vodka, what a wonderful phase. Cocaine and some vodka. It’s how the Mets win their games!”
“I bet Disney’s gonna be psyched!” Mulaney says about the reworked lyrics.
By the 1990s, New York has become more expensive. “As we enter the ’90s, Times Square will be transformed from pimps and pornographers into something even filthier: cartoon mascots,” Mulaney notes. “But the old guard will not go quietly.”
Singing a version of “Look Down” from “Le Miz,” Sudeikis and Forte sang dressed as mascots, and then Kristen Wiig showed up as the green M&M — described by Mulaney as “the one who will unite them, the one character in Times Square who’s family friendly, but also a prostitute, the green M&M.” She then sang a version of “I Dreamed a Dream,” also from “Les Miz.”
Then came McKinnon as Giuliani. “Giuliani, here in post 9/11 New York, the city has rallied like never before,” Mulaney said. “Rudy, you’re America’s mayor. You’re beloved all across the country, this is your Big Shot. What are you going to do with it?”
Said McKinnon as Giuliani, to the tune of “My Shot” from “Hamilton”: “I am throwing away my shot. I am throwing away my shot. I’m just like my city, I’m drunk, corrupt and crazy, and I am throwing away my shot!”
From there, it was Michael Bloomberg to Bill de Blasio to Eric Adams, who “brought swagger back to New York.”
“Somehow New York today feels like it’s back in the ’70s, back on Skid Row,” Mulaney said.
Enter Johansson as a bruised Audrey from “Little Shop.” “Oh, my God, who hit you? Colin?” Mulaney asked.
“No, not this time. You see there’s a new menace on the streets of our city,” she said, before singing “Suddenly eBikes.”
At that point, Davidson is not impressed. “I mean, then why even live in New York anymore? It’s too loud, it’s too dangerous. They give rats free birth control, but not human women. I mean, if this is what New York is, I’m out.”
Said Mulaney: “Pete, please, before you turn your back on New York, remember what this city gave you.”
Davidson: “Herpes?”
“This city didn’t give you that,” Mulaney responded. “I meant, remember how this city inspired you just because the art scene and the music scene are dead and the city is a bunch of TD Banks and Le Pain Quotidiens. You can’t just give up. I’m just asking you, nay, all of us here, to still believe in the power of New York and to give the city we love… One Day More.”
From there, the entire sketch cast came together to sing their version of “One Day More” from “Les Miz.”