Again in February, Saturday Night time Reside creator Lorne Michaels pulled out all of the stops to welcome again 50 years’ price of comedians to Studio 8H for the milestone anniversary celebration of among the best sketch comedy reveals of all time. In reality, there have been so many previous and current stars available that it was virtually simpler to select those that have been absent. Dan Aykroyd falls into that class, and now the OG solid member has spoken out about why.
As somebody who’s been quoting The Blues Brothers since I used to be means too younger to have seen the film, I positively seen that Dan Aykroyd wasn’t at SNL50: The Anniversary Particular. On the time, a rep for the actor cited “prior commitments” as the rationale Aykroyd missed the supersized reside particular (obtainable to stream with a Peacock subscription), however when he spoke to EW at Comedian-Con 2025, he gave a special motive, saying:
I needed to be at house and I needed to observe the present starting to finish.
Dan Aykroyd’s absence was particularly notable as a result of he was the one surviving member of the unique 1975 solid — dubbed the “Not Prepared for Prime Time” gamers — to not seem within the particular. Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Jane Curtin and Chevy Chase have been all concerned in a roundabout way.
The Ghostbusters star, nevertheless, stated he most well-liked to benefit from the present relatively than work it. He continued:
I knew if I used to be there, I might be in a dressing room, I’d be working. I needed to see it reside. I’m a fan of the present at the moment, and I watch it on a regular basis. I like these new gamers; I feel they’re simply nice. I simply needed to see and reside nostalgically with my household in my own residence, consuming my very own popcorn.
I suppose we are able to’t blame this “wild and loopy man” from desirous to get pleasure from SNL50: The Anniversary Particular and, presumably, the superb SNL50 Homecoming Live performance at house together with his household.
Whereas Dan Aykroyd says he’s a fan of the present at the moment and even known as the 2024 movie Saturday Night time “a stand-alone masterpiece” for its dramatized retelling of the hours main as much as SNL’s first broadcast, there’s undoubtedly some heavy reminiscences related to the sketch present.
Invoice Murray brazenly wept when clips of Gilda Radner and John Belushi — Dan Aykroyd’s fellow Blues Brother — have been proven. Given how a lot of “an important human being” Belushi was, in line with Aykroyd, I can solely think about the reminiscences that will have resurfaced of Belushi and different former co-stars who’ve handed if Aykroyd had returned to Rockefeller Heart’s Studio 8H that night time.
Whatever the motive, his absence was a bit disappointing for followers, given the simple affect the star of Coneheads (one other film based mostly on SNL characters) had on the longstanding comedy present.
Saturday Night time Reside’s lore is filled with tales that embrace Dan Aykroyd, together with the time he fell 50 ft by way of a skylight whereas chasing Gilda Radner throughout a roof, the origins of his notorious “Jane, you ignorant slut” quote on Weekend Replace and the epic prank he and John Belushi pulled on the founding father of Rolling Stone journal.
These should suffice, as a result of relatively than make new reminiscences at SNL50, Aykroyd selected to spend that night time simply being a fan.