On January 18, this coming Saturday, Saturday Night Live will resume after its winter hiatus, looking forward to its 50th-anniversary special in February. As the season began, Lorne Michaels indicated that the show intended to mark this milestone by inviting alumni for guest spots, and so far, this has primarily manifested as Dana Carvey portraying Joe Biden, a few digital skits, and the Five-Timers’ Club cold open for the Martin Short episode. While we’re content with these appearances, we feel that more should be done to truly honor its rich history. To evoke the spirit of the early days, SNL could aim to feel a bit more nostalgic. Since I can’t legally ask everyone to use illicit substances, my alternative idea involves the male cast members sporting mustaches.
Initially, let’s delve into some historical beard lore from Saturday Night Live (SNL): Despite Michaels being clean-shaven when he joined SNL in 1975, many cast members from the initial group sported facial hair throughout their tenure on the show. This was following Nixon’s resignation and America’s withdrawal from Vietnam, yet it was common for men to preserve some beard symbol, a reminder of their past counter-cultural beliefs. Notably, John Belushi often appeared with a thick stubble. The head writer, Michael O’Donoghue, who shared the screen with Belushi in SNL’s first cold open, sported a full beard. In the second season, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Garrett Morris all had mustaches, with Morris eventually growing a full beard. Aykroyd shaved his mustache by the third season, but one of the most enduring images of SNL’s early years is Aykroyd portraying mustache-less President Jimmy Carter, showcasing his own light-brown mustache prominently. Before leaving SNL in 1980, another bearded cast member was added: Don Novello, forever associated with the dark-black caterpillar gracing the faces of him and Father Guido Sarducci. Following Michaels’ departure, Eddie Murphy regularly donned a mustache, even when impersonating celebrities who didn’t have them, such as Desmond Tutu (in “White Like Me,” he affixed a whiter mustache over his own).
https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=-68iTvhWNB0
In 1985, when Michael returned to Saturday Night Live (SNL), America was immersed in the Reagan era and conservative values were prevalent both politically and culturally, leading to a rise in clean-shavenness. Michael’s return to SNL was not for revolutionizing television but rather to revitalize it after cast changes and the looming threat of cancellation. Much like George Steinbrenner and his Yankees, maintaining a culture of clean-shaven faces was closely associated with discipline and order. When Chris Rock joined the cast in 1990 and requested to keep his mustache, Michael supposedly responded, “In comedy, we put on beards.” Since then, facial hair among SNL cast members has been quite rare. Tracy Morgan, Jerry Minor, Finesse Mitchell, and Jay Pharoah are exceptions, but they typically shaved for impersonations; Kyle Mooney occasionally sported stubble in pre-recorded sketches, but he was usually clean-shaven during live segments. By 2012, when Pharoah took over as Barack Obama, it would have been seen as unprofessional or amateurish for him to have facial hair compared to, say, Jordan Peele, who by then was portraying the president on Key & Peele.
In 2025, when I watched the second season of SNL, it was evident that Aykroyd, Murray, and Morris appeared as ordinary New Yorkers who happened to take a break from their city lives to appear on live TV each week. It was raw and thrilling, in contrast to much of SNL over the past decade, especially the cold opens, which seemed more like a group of individuals completing homework – something that felt serious and necessary for the nation’s wellbeing. The characters’ facial hair also played a significant role; without Nate Bargatze’s real and anachronistic beard in “Washington’s Dream” sketch, it might not have been as absurd.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=JYqfVE-fykk
In this moment of nostalgia and contemplation, gentlemen, consider sprouting some facial hair. Nothing seems more reminiscent of the ’70s than minimizing the female characters’ dialogue, obviously. Leading the way, Kenan Thompson, let a mustache take shape. Star Bowen Yang, give a mustache a try. Marcello Hernández, perhaps it’s time for Domingo to sport a mustache next time around? James Austin Johnson, Andrew Dismukes, Mikey Day, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, and Emil Wakim: You know the drill! Let’s bring in the Please Don’t Destroy boys if they can grow facial hair. As an aside: Timothée Chalamet, I strongly advise against shaving before hosting next week!
Lorne, I understand that you might be skeptical with the idea, perhaps thinking “Yeah… no.“. However, let’s find some common ground: how about one single drawing featuring James Austin Johnson portraying Trump with a mustache? This could be a fresh spin on our show’s portrayal of Trump this season. Isn’t it more innovative to keep the same impression but add a mustache? It could even be a 70’s-style mustache. Perhaps as a Valentine’s Day gift for me, it might look something like this:
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2025-01-15 19:53