The 50-year-old comedy sketch show lauded for underdog humor has a history of conservatism and a soft spot for powerful people – just ask former host Donald Trump

In case you happen to have missed the giant Post-it notes bearing cast member names hanging from buildings around New York City, or the fawning retropectives that have hit the internet in the past couple of weeks, the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, America’s most beloved sketch comedy TV show, is upon us; with a star-studded anniversary special scheduled for this Sunday.

The press thus far has mostly consisted of breathless praise. SNL, gushed New York magazine, “feels unbound by time, as if it had always existed and always will”. The New Yorker said it had “reinvented television”. “For the 50 years it has been on the air, ‘SNL’ has changed how we talk,” the New York Times chimed in.