Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL Podcast

The promising SNL UK Season One ran just eight episodes, roughly analogous to a U.S. writers’ strike-shortened SNL season, and each episode clocked in at around 58 minutes — about one sketch shorter than its American counterpart. The format is unmistakably SNL : cold opens, a guest host, a musical act, Weekend Update, and commercial parodies. The differences, however, are notable. SNL UK allows pr...

The defining image of Saturday Night Live Season 51 is James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump, standing at yet another press conference podium. Johnson played Trump in roughly 14 of the season’s 20 episodes, almost always anchoring the cold open in the same format. The frustration isn’t with the impression itself — Johnson’s Trump remains sharp, and the wig was even subtly updated to reflect a more...

On this episode, Christian and Scot discuss the debut of SNL UK - how is it similar to SNL and how is it different? Who were the standout performers on the show? Is it built to last? Get full access to Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL at www.wasntthatspecial.com/subscribe

We know, picking the greatest Saturday Night Live sketches of all time is generally a fool’s errand. After watching nearly 10,000 sketches over the span of 50 years, how can you narrow the list to just 20? Well, we tried. We each picked our 20 favorite live-action sketches (pre-tapes and commercials excluded) in show history. Listen to our rationale in this week’s podcast - otherwise, our complete...

Season 51 of Saturday Night Live is upon us, so in this episode, Christian and Scot discuss all the cast changes made over the summer and what they thought of the season debut, hosted by Bad Bunny. Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Wasn't That Special: 50...

You’ve heard us discuss the best cast members in Saturday Night Live history. You’ve read our list of the best seasons. But what are the best single episodes in show history? (And what are a few of the worst?) All will be revealed in this episode. Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subsc...

Presumably you have popped your champagne and donned your finest tuxedo or evening gown and you’re ready to listen to us count down the best 25 SNL cast members of all time. (And while you’re at it, you can catch up on our rankings of the next 50 cast members here and cast members 76-128 here .) Without any further ado, here are the best SNL cast members of all-time, ranked (With Christian’s ranki...

Welcome to the second installment of our Saturday Night Live cast member countdown. This time, we tackle the next 50 cast members on our list, from number 75 down to 26. Not only does this one have some rankings that will shock casual SNL viewers (and Tina Fey and Adam Sandler fans especially), it also features some sharp disagreements between your hosts, with some cast members being ranked almost...

Of all the reasons to start a podcast, spite seems to be near the top of the list. For too many years, we have seen ridiculous “best of” lists ranking Saturday Night Live cast members, seasons, and sketches that were clearly written by people who had only watched a small fraction of the show. Norm MacDonald the seventh-worst cast member of all time? Jenny Slate ahead of Bobby Moynihan? Beth Cahill...

We hope you are wearing oven mitts when holding your phone as you listen to this episode, because we dish up our hot takes covering the first 50 years of Saturday Night Live. How would we improve the show? What cast members are overrated? Who were our SNL crushes? Find out in this listener-requested episode! Get full access to Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL at www.wasntthatspecial.com/subscr...

On this episode, Christian and Scot discuss the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary show that aired in February of 2025. Get full access to Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL at www.wasntthatspecial.com/subscribe

They say it couldn’t be done. (And maybe some say it shouldn’t be done.) But we got to the 50th season. Season 50 debuted with high expectations, given the historic anniversary. While some hoped for each episode to be hosted by past cast members and filled with nostalgic callbacks, the reality was more conventional. Although it featured a star-studded anniversary special and brought back several p...

After the prior handful of seasons that felt like a slog, Saturday Night Live came to life in Season 49 in ways we’d almost forgotten the show could manage. Much of that spark came from what we half‑jokingly labeled the “return of the patriarchy.” For nearly a decade the women quite deservedly owned the spotlight, but this year the men finally pushed the… Get full access to Wasn't That Special: 50...

Season 48 of Saturday Night Live represented a subtle but notable step forward for a show that had been mired in several years of creative stagnation. While far from a return to peak form, the season was generally considered a “standard deviation” — a slight improvement that, while still below average in historical terms, felt like a more “normal” SNL s… Get full access to Wasn't That Special: 50...

Season 47 of Saturday Night Live was defined by overpopulation, inertia, and hints of a creative reset. While it wasn’t a creative renaissance, there were signs of potential - new cast members, fresh writers, and a few flashes of promise - amidst a bloated and often sluggish season. This season came on the heels of a historically weak run marked by cast … Get full access to Wasn't That Special: 50...

If you like your comedy sleepy, inconsistent, and oddly celebrity-packed, Season 46 of Saturday Night Live was ready to serve. But if you were hoping for a creative rebound after the shaky COVID lockdown season before it, well… sorry. This was the first season back in Studio 8H after the “At Home” episodes that ended Season 45. And while you’d think the … Get full access to Wasn't That Special: 50...

Season 45 of Saturday Night Liv e was one of the most unusual and pivotal in the show’s long history, defined by both the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic and lingering creative stagnation. In this episode, we each described the season with medically themed words—“viral” and “infected”—capturing its literal interruption by the coronavirus and the metaphorical symptoms of deeper artistic problem...

Never has any television show wanted anything more than Saturday Night Live wanted to see President Donald Trump imprisoned over his alleged collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential election. In sketch after sketch this season, SNL writers pleaded with Special Investigator Robert Mueller to recommend criminal charges against Trump - and yet wh… Get full access to Wasn't That Special: 50...

Among the many complaints you always hear about Saturday Night Live these days is that the show is saturated with celebrity cameos. The actual cast members don’t get their chance to shine because the show is overstuffed with big names showing up to play the week’s newsmakers. Season 42 certainly had its share of stuntcasting, with Melissa McCarthy showin… Get full access to Wasn't That Special: 50...

On this free episode, we talked with Entertainment Weekly writer Andy Hoglund about his recent Vulture article in which he interviewed 65 former Saturday Night Live cast members and writers in advance of the 50th Anniversary show. Hoglund also discusses how he got into SNL and tells some stories about he collected signatures for his SNL autograph book. You can find Hoglund’s SNL episode recaps at...

We have said it in prior seasons - sometimes, huge political and cultural shifts push Saturday Night Live to rise to the occasion. It happened with the Monica Lewinsky scandal in the late 1990s. It happened when Sarah Palin joined the Republican presidential ticket in 2008. And it happened again in 2016, as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton battled it out… Get full access to Wasn't That Special: 50...

On Monday night, Wasn’t That Special co-host Scot Bertram joined WTMJ Radio host Sandy Maxx to recap the big SNL 50th Anniversary Special on NBC. Did it live up to expectations? What moments stood out? Who was missing? You can find the appearance on the WTMJ page here or listen above. Christian and Scot shared some thoughts in the chat the night of the broadcast on NBC and also plan a full review...

On Friday night, Wasn’t That Special co-host Scot Bertram joined WTMJ Radio host Sandy Maxx to preview the big SNL 50th Anniversary Special on NBC. Who might attend, what might happen, and what’s the special sauce the powers Lorne Michaels’ success? You can find the appearance on the WTMJ page here or listen right here. Get full access to Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL at www.wasntthatspecia...

Since its inception, Saturday Night Live has been political. But rarely has the show delved into politics more deeply than in Season 41, when President Barack Obama had one foot out of the door, Hillary Clinton was taking a presumptive victory lap, and a group of Republicans was battling to see who would challenge Clinton in 2016. Clinton herself would s… Get full access to Wasn't That Special: 50...

In this free episode, we run through the SNL 40th Anniversary Special that aired in February 2015, and list our five favorite sketches between seasons 26 and 40. (We did the same thing when SNL ran anniversary specials after seasons 15 and 25 .) Enjoy this free trip through fifteen years of SNL and please join us as a subscriber! Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL is a reader-supported publicati...