LOS ANGELES: The recent episode of the sketch comedy show 'SNL50' was the one for pondering and being self-critical. In the episode, Hollywood royalty Tom Hanks deadpanned the opening of what seemed to be an in memoriam segment.
However, instead of tributes to past cast members, it revisited certain sections and acts from the show that didn’t age well and wouldn’t play well today, reports 'Variety'.
“As we celebrate the achievements of the past 50 years, we must also take a moment to honor those who we’ve lost", Tom Hanks said. “Countless members of the ‘SNL’ family taken from us too soon. I’m talking 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? Something to think about. Anyway, we now present to you this in memoriam".
As per 'Variety', the segment was split until numerous subsections for the clips.
It included ethnic stereotypes, sexual harassment, underage sexual harassment, 'Woah' (Adrien Brody‘s notorious fake dreadlocks), 'Yikes' (Mike Myers in a tub with Macaulay Culkin), 'Didn’t air as long ago as you think', animal cruelty (Will Ferrell shaming a dog in a classic commercial parody), body shaming (Chris Farley and Patrick Swayze’s classic Chippendales sketch), slut shaming (the iconic "Jane, you ignorant slut!" line), Gay panic, 'Maybe this is OK? Not sure', ableism, sexism, child molestation, a montage of questionable makeup
Problematic guests (including O. J. Simpson, Robert Blake, R. Kelly and Diddy) and racial slurs
The three-hour plus 'SNL50' was filled with scores of celebrities, classic sketches and musical performances.