Steve Martin Gets Roasted by John Mulaney and Has Martin Short Escorted Out by ICE in SNL 50th Monologue

The opening monologue also included a joke about the “two murderers” who have hosted over the course of the show’s 50 years

SNL50: The Anniversary Special kicked off with a familiar face: 16-time host and longtime friend of the show, Steve Martin.

Martin, who first appeared on SNL in 1976 during the show’s second season, began the show’s opening monologue by mentioning a number of the evening’s notable guests while joking about the show’s underappreciated writing staff.

The Father of the Bride star was then joined by standup comedian John Mulaney, who wrote on the show from 2008 to 2013. 

“I didn’t know you were even gonna be here!” Martin, 79, said to Mulaney as the audience welcomed him with cheers, prompting Mulaney to jab, “You would if you’d ever come to rehearsal.”

Mulaney, 42, then went on to “congratulate” the Only Murders in the Building actor on a slew of awards and nominations he did not actually receive, highlighting the fact that Martin went unrecognized at a number of award shows this year.

Mulaney then turned his focus to the celebrity-filled audience, joking that it was filled with “some of the most difficult people I have ever met in my entire life.”

“Over the course of 50 years, 894 people have hosted Saturday Night Live, and it amazes me that only two of them have committed murder,” he said, seemingly in reference to previous show hosts O.J. Simpson and Robert Blake. (Neither man was convicted of murder, though both were later found liable of the crimes they were accused of in subsequent civil suits.)

Mulaney went on to complain that celebrity guests typically show up with their own specific dynamic, throwing “everything off for cast and crew. But not you, Steve. Because you have no dynamic,” he added with a grin.

Mulaney then exited the stage, at which point Martin’s Only Murder in the Building costar Martin Short appeared.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the only Canadian who wasn’t in Schitt’s Creek, Martin Short,” Martin said as Short waved to the audience.

“No, but wait a second,” Short replied. “I thought we were hosting together.”

Martin pretended to consider this before asking Short if he had his passport on him, to which Short responded he didn’t.

“ICE! Get him!” Martin yelled, as current castmates Mikey Day and Devon Walker, dressed in ICE costumes, appeared and hauled Short off the stage.

Martin wrapped things up by joking that if viewers were not enjoying his monologue, they should look inward and consider how they themselves were to blame. “Ask yourselves: When did I abandon joy and what can I bring to the monologue as an audience member next time?”

“All right we’ve got a great show tonight!” Martin concluded, before listing all the famous faces viewers had seen thus far, including musical guests Sabrina Carpenter and Paul Simon, who led the show’s cold open moments earlier.

“It’s called front loading!” he added with his signature dry humor.

SNL50: The Anniversary Special airs Sunday, Feb. 16, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.