Saturday Night Live celebrated 40 years of unforgettable laughs with some of the most famous comedians of the past half-century on NBC on Feb. 15. BYU-Hawaii students reminisced on their favorite skits and look forward to more in the future. The 40th anniversary aired as a three and a half hour special, featuring the most popular skits with comedians like Will Ferrell, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, and Jimmy Fallon. There were special musical performances by Paul McCartney, Miley Cyrus and Paul Simon. Justin Timberlake and other past hosts, such as Chris Rock, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, and Steve Martin, joined in on skits featuring famous actors Bradley Cooper and Betty White, pop star Taylor Swift and athlete Peyton Manning at the notorious 30 Rockefeller Center’s hallowed Studio 8H. Cameron Abaroa, a senior arts major from Arizona, shared he has two favorite SNL skits: Anne Hathaway as Mary Poppins and Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. Abaroa quoted his favorite line from Hathaway: “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is a disease of the liver that is extremely painful. I have the disease. It is not as fun as it is to say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”Victoria Mason, a sophomore bio-medical major from Utah, said every time she thinks of SNL, she thinks of Adam Sandler and Chris Farley’s “Lunch Lady Finds Love” skit. “Talk about flashback to the late ‘90s. My older cousins would sing this song. They loved Adam Sandler’s skits. So once I was old enough, I watched his stuff. They were hilarious and I think of this song when I buy cafeteria food,” said Mason.Brigham Madsen, a junior business management major from California, said, “SNL and cowbell are synonyms to me. ‘I’ve got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell.’ Will Ferrell was hilarious banging the cowbell with his belly dance.” Alex Leek, a sophomore in social work from Indiana, said, “I like the Chris Farley one when he is the motivational speaker that ‘lives in a bus down by the river.’ Kills me every time when he yells that and then breaks the coffee table!”Another student, Sterling Hansen, a junior English major from California, also likes Chris Farley’s motivational speaker skit. Hansen said his other all time favorite is Will Ferrell’s Spartan cheerleading skit, “It goes ‘Who’s that Spartan in my teepee? It’s me! It’s me!’ Or ‘Taco, burrito, what’s coming out of your speedo.’ Chris Farley and Will Ferrell are the best things that ever happened to SNL.”Janelle Prince, a sophomore in social work from Utah, said she enjoys the SNL weekend update with Seth Meyers and Bill Hader as Stefon. “Stefon is such a crack up. He comes up with really weird names for clubs, and whenever he covers his mouth, you know he is hiding a laugh. But he looks creepy and it’s so funny.”
Writer: Jessica Tautfest
