The excitement for tonight’s SNL 40th anniversary special is growing, and many of the players in tonight’s festivities have been sharing their thoughts and memories on social media leading up to the big event.
It’s hard to deny the importance of this anniversary and of the show as a whole. People lob complaints and call for it’s demise on a weekly basis, but those calls have been happening for years. Yet there are few shows in television history that have allowed a certain brand of comedy to exist on the air the way SNL does. It’s a cultural force rivaled only by the likes of The Simpsons in terms of its impact. The show has earned this status, primarily due to the people who populate the halls of Studio 8H.
It’s the type of people that Adam McKay talks about in a Rolling Stone essay. People who are young, raw, and passionate about what they’re doing.
Those are the kinds of people who populate these photos, which cover the past and present of a show as divisive as the first day it aired (a point plenty of folks agree with after watching the first episode last night). So enjoy this brief look back, and make sure to laugh later tonight:
Ana and Marty.
(I call him Marty now.)#SNL40 pic.twitter.com/f3QFXgutVd— Rachel Dratch (@TheRealDratch) February 15, 2015
.@shoemakermike here's a good one of Forte's most important character ever. pic.twitter.com/2dGdl3qEgU
— Alex Baze (@bazecraze) February 13, 2015
Just some of that cutting-edge political satire we do. #snl40 pic.twitter.com/ChxlH4QnzF
— Alex Baze (@bazecraze) February 15, 2015
https://twitter.com/jormataccone/status/566486321779048448
This is the group of people who watched my 2005 audition. @shoemakermike @higbones Lorne, Erin, Ayala.. Not sure.. pic.twitter.com/x03xSn4VfV
— Mike O'Brien (@MikeOBrienXOXO) February 13, 2015
And here's me right after auditioning in '05. Photo cred: Lorne Michaels pic.twitter.com/8w5DrNgXYt
— Mike O'Brien (@MikeOBrienXOXO) February 13, 2015
“@shoemakermike: Tina's engagement party. #mySNLdays http://t.co/zlTI4qX6pR” Good lord, Shoe. Was I into motocross or the Osmonds? #SNL40
— Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon) February 13, 2015
https://instagram.com/p/zILPi8JLNY/
Producer Mike Shoemaker tweeted a treasure trove of classic pics that spanned his tenure from 1986 to 2008:
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566288450475667457
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566288654356594688
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566288865099386880
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566289479124922368
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566289856658427904
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566290077894991874
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566290546281312256
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566290876960628736
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566291595222597633
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566292467331645440
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566293290241507329
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566293741183696896
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566294984689602560
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566298796590903298
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566297412751609857
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566297570134482945
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566297715165122560
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566298084842283009
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566298217227096064
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566296318826782720
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566296623710740480
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566300254346440705
https://twitter.com/shoemakermike/status/566302281591959553
