Not live from New York.
The “Saturday Night Live” 50th anniversary special reunited dozens of the show’s former stars including Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Molly Shannon, Jason Sudeikis, Kate McKinnon, Maya Rudolph, Eddie Murphy, Pete Davidson, John Mulaney, Kristen Wiig, Seth Meyers, and more.
But it didn’t go unnoticed that many other “SNL” alums were absent from the live special at Studio 8H.
Bill Hader, who was on the show for eight seasons, was nowhere to be found on “SNL50: The Anniversary Special.”
According to Puck News, Hader reportedly responded to his invitation with “a polite decline.”
The “Barry” star previously said that he had “anxiety” when he was a cast member on the sketch comedy series.
“When I was on ‘SNL,’ I was a bit of a basket case,” he told Variety in 2019. “It could not have been easy on my wife at the time. I was so consumed with work and anxiety.”
Hader also confirmed that he had panic attacks on and off stage. “Sometimes I felt like people thought, ‘Oh, he’s just wanting attention or something.’ It was like, ‘No, man, I’m legit. I’m freaking out right now,’” he shared.
Original cast member Dan Aykroyd was also not featured in the special. He appeared on “SNL” from 1975 to 1979, and was recently portrayed by Dylan O’Brien in “Saturday Night,” the film about the premiere of “SNL.”
Aykroyd posted about the anniversary special on X two days before it took place.
“Cracking a Head with pride at having been a co-founder of SNL along with everyone we were together with in those four years, five decades ago. This telecast is as historical as the next moon landing. Comedy stars of our age all gathered under the aegis of America’s greatest living impresario, my boss Lorne Michaels. People it’s friggin’ Holy!!” he wrote.
The comedian was in the “SNL” 40-year anniversary special in 2015. He performed his Bass-O-Matic sketch from Season 1.
Aykroyd spoke about the current state of “SNL” to USA Today last year. He said he thinks the show “remains unafraid to take on politicians and risqué subjects” and still has “good writing and good casting.”
Colin Quinn, who hosted “Weekend Update” from 1998 until 2000, also missed the anniversary special.
Dana Carvey wasn’t in the special either, despite making recent appearances on “SNL” to portray Joe Biden. He was a cast member from 1986 to 1993.
Other notable alums who didn’t appear in the special include Joan Cuscak, Robert Downey Jr., Mary Gross and Chris Redd.
In addition to former and current cast members, “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” also featured appearances by celebs like Steve Martin, Scarlett Johansson, Miles Teller, Alec Baldwin, Dave Chappelle, Miley Cyrus, Adam Driver, Tom Hanks, Woody Harrelson, Paul McCartney, Sabrina Carpenter and Pedro Pascal.
