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An extremely historic event in the lives of baby boomers took place last weekend.

I refer, of course, to the "Saturday Night Live" 25th anniversary show, which, in spite of going a half-hour over its budgeted time, was a real kick -- not to mention a real shocker.

I mean, I was stunned to realize that I've been watching this show for 25 years. More than half my life (WAY more than half, thank you).

I remember Chevy Chase's one season. I saw Steve Martin perform "King Tut" for the first time, and I saw the Blues Brothers in their first-ever public performance. I remember why the Land Shark was so funny, and I laughed my head off at the hilarious "I Love Lucy" takeoff in the show that Desi Arnaz (Desi Arnaz!) hosted.

I remember watching the show when there were Muppets on it, for God's sake. How pathetic is that?

But I digress.

I thought Sunday's anniversary show was great, and apparently I'm not alone: According to Nielsen, more than 22 million people watched it, and already I've had two co-workers beg me to let them borrow my tape. (Yes, of course I taped it. I've already said I'm pathetic. Leave me alone.)

I remember watching (and enjoying) the 15th anniversary show 10 years ago, and it was good, too, but this year it seemed more nostalgic. Maybe that's what 10 years can do for you, or maybe it's just that unexpected (and expected) deaths of cast members puts a different spin on things.

One of the most emotional moments Sunday night was when Jon Lovitz, flanked by most of his co-cast members (Dana Carvey didn't show up as expected), introduced a tribute to the late Phil Hartman. I wasn't sure he was going to get through it; he was genuinely choked up, and so, I expect, were millions of once-cynical, sarcastic baby boomers seated in living rooms around the country. (We all got a little farklempt.)

David Spade, introducing a tribute to Chris Farley, was dignified and funny, but even he seemed kind of emotional at the end. The expected tributes to John Belushi and Gilda Radner were introduced rather more fondly; it has, after all, been a lot more years since they died, and they've ascended to deservedly mythic status. (I sort of felt sorry for Danitra Vance; she wasn't on the show long enough for anyone to remember her, much less for anyone to put together a tribute to her.)

It wasn't a perfect show. There were segments that went on a little too long (OK, Adam Sandler, we know you make $20 million a movie; get over yourself), and some that made me wonder why they were selected (the Alec Baldwin bit with the two laid-back public radio hosts was amusing, but it seemed like an odd inclusion).

It also appears that Chevy Chase is a little too impressed with himself for a man whose career plummeted a few years after he left the show (and any man whose talk show lasted about three minutes shouldn't be giving Norm MacDonald a hard time).

I was floored to see Paul Simon looking like a little old bald man. I adore Paul Simon. He is, in my eyes, the King of Music. But he's OLD. And BALD. When did that happen? (I felt a little better when they showed no less than four clips of him singing: solo, with Art Garfunkel, with George Harrison and with Ladysmith Black Mambazo.)

I thought Laraine Newman looked fabulous, and I was pleased to see Garrett Morris looking so well after his run-in with armed robbers a few years ago.

I was also happy to see clips of Martin Short doing Ed Grimley, Adam Sandler as Opera Man (though I might have picked a different clip), and Spade's "Hollywood Minute." And what anniversary show would have been complete without "The Ambiguously Gay Duo," and the Chippendale's sketch with Farley and Patrick Swayze? Not to mention Massive Headwound Harry, Toonces and MacDonald's dead-on impressions of Bob Dole and David Letterman ("Hey, you got any gum?").

And I was thrilled beyond belief to see G.E. Smith back where he belonged: leading the SNL band. I've been extremely annoyed with whoever it was who dumped him a couple of seasons ago. I mean, this guy was once married to Gilda Radner! And he played with Daryl Hall and John Oates! He dressed up like a woman in the "Jingle Bell Rock" video! Give him his job back!

On the other hand, I would have liked to have seen the Fops (does anyone besides me remember them?), the Brady Bunch vs. the Partridge Family bit, Cajun Man and the Lunch Lady number. And it would have been great to see the aforementioned "I Love Lucy" sketch from eons ago.

But I can't very well second-guess Lorne Michaels. It must have been a major undertaking to boil down 25 years into what was supposed to have been two-and-a-half hours. I'm glad that job wasn't assigned to me (if it had been, you would have seen the Ana Gasteyer-Garth Brooks duet from a couple of seasons ago, and Sandler's "Red Hooded Sweatshirt" song, Paul Simon dressed up like a turkey and singing "Still Crazy After All These Years," and Jesse Jackson's reading of "Green Eggs and Ham").

I know that "Saturday Night Live" has fallen in and out of favor with viewers, but after the numbers that this show attracted on Sunday, I'm starting to believe that people just don't think it's cool to say they like SNL, so they stick their noses in the air and say something along the lines of, "Oh, I used to watch it back when it was GOOD."

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this: Guess what? It's still good. And not only that: Like it or not, it's made a lasting mark on society.

Just stop and think about how many catch phrases that originated on SNL and have become part of the lexicon: "Well, isn't that special?" "Yeah, that's the ticket." "I hate when that happens." "Buh-bye."

Think of the SNL performers who have gone on to successful movie careers (and try not to think of such cinematic disasters as "Stuart Saves His Family" and "The Coneheads").

Think of how stunned you were when Gilda Radner and Phil Hartman died. Think of how you felt when John Belushi and Chris Farley took their fatal overdoses (not as unexpected, but still very sad).

It was a great anniversary special, and it's been a good 25 years. Hey, Eddie: Too bad you missed it.

More:

• You can watch clips, read performer bios and get a full dose of "Saturday Night Live" at a special 25th anniversary Web site.

• Past Tubin' columns