Saturday Night Live is calling itself out.
The iconic sketch comedy show took a moment to recognize some of its past problematic moments during SNL50: The Anniversary Special on Sunday, Feb. 16. Tom Hanks, who has hosted SNL 10 times, took the stage to introduce the segment, teasing it as a memorial tribute.
“As we celebrate the achievements of the past 50 years, we must also take a moment to honor those who we’ve lost, countless members of the SNL family, taken from us too soon,” he began. “I’m speaking, of course, about SNL characters and sketches that have aged horribly. But even though these characters, accents and, let’s just call them ethnic wigs, were unquestionably in poor taste, you all laughed at them.”
“So if anyone should be canceled, shouldn’t it be you, the audience?” he continued. “Something to think about. Anyway, we now present to you this in memoriam.”
First up were scenes of “ethnic stereotypes,” like Rob Schneider’s “Mexican Stereotype” in 1993 and the 1991 “Il Cantore Restaurant” sketch where Dana Carvey plays an Italian restaurant host who is obsessed with a customer played by Kirstie Alley. In one part, Carvey licks Allen’s face, and “sexual harassment” flashed on the screen. Soon after, it read “ethnic stereotypes and sexual harassment.”
Next up was “underage sexual harassment,” in which Lindsay Lohan’s 2004 “Harry Potter: Hermione Growth Spurt” skit played. In it, the men seem only to be able to look at her chest as she talks.
Simply deemed “woah” was a clip of Adrien Brody doing a Jamaican impression while dressed in a tank top and dreadlocks.
It was followed by a scene captioned “yikes,” where Mike Myers is in a bathtub with a young Macaulay Culkin when he says: “Don’t look at my bum, I don’t look at your bum!”
Lucy Liu’s hosting gig in 2000 was up next, titled, “didn’t air as long ago as you’d think.” In it, she introduces her mother’s family recipe for “cocker spaniel” as she presents a dog for dinner.
This led right into “animal cruelty,” where Will Ferrell is giving his pet a pep talk about having to eat dog food. “I know it’s not your first choice, but keep in mind, you’re a f—ing dog,” he whispers.
Some “body shaming” was shown, such as Chris Farley and Patrick Swayze’s Chippendales sketch, then “slut shaming,” with the famous clip of Dan Aykroyd calling Jane Curtin an “ignorant slut” during a “Weekend Update” segment in 1979.
The next category was “gay panic,” which included a “Maybe this is ok? Not sure…” clip of Chris Kattan’s “Gay Hitler.”
There were also examples of “ableism,” “sexism” and “couple of problems here” with the skit of Fred Armisen as Governor David Paterson, Bill Hader as Stefon and Bobby Moynihan as Snooki.
Some “child molestation” scenes were shown, with Adam Sandler’s “Canteen Boy” making the cut, along with “questionable makeup” that was all blurred out.
After showing some of their “problematic guests,” like O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake and Diddy, it wrapped with “racial slurs,” featuring the 1975 “Word Association” sketch with Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor, in which Chase calls Pryor a slur.
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SNL50: The Anniversary Special aired Sunday, Feb. 16, on NBC and Peacock.
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