Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Recap

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Live from New York it's the biggest Saturday Night ever on a Sunday. SNL celebrated its 40th year on the air by bringing back a litany of former hosts, musical performers, and cast members.

Alec Baldwin, Sarah Silverman, John Goodman, Louis C.K., Edward Norton, Bradley Cooper, Paul McCartney, Justin Timberlake, and Miley Cyrus (deep breathe). Jimmy Fallon, Amy Poehler, Kevin Nealon, Billy Crystal, Will Ferrell, Colin Quinn, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, and Kristen Wiig.

That's only a few of the stars that stopped by for the reunion.

Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake were the first to appear on the special. The duo's opening reminisced on the skits of the past. Eventually both of them broke out into song quoting from some of the most famous skits of all time.

Rachel Dratch quickly put the mood in reverse with her famous Debbie Downer character. Next it was Molly Shannon that came out as her beloved character Mary Katherine Gallagher.

Jimmy and Justin finished off the opening with the famous line that has been uttered for 40 years now and thus kicking off the night of unequaled star power.

(Jimmy and Justin Open the 40th Anniversary Show Below)

Steve Martin was the one chosen give the traditional monologue. Steve wanted everyone to know that it was comedians that are the best hosts.

Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Melissa McCarthy, Chris Rock, Peyton Manning, Miley Cyrus, Billy Crystal, Paul McCartney, and Paul Simon followed and made their cases as to how they were the best host categorically speaking.

As expected with that amount of star power nobody stood above the other.

Next it was Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek in probably his most well known skit from his SNL days. Alec Baldwin played as Tony Bennet, Kate McKinnon as Justin Bieber, and of course the staple of the skit Sean Connery. Norm McDonald stopped by as well and portrayed Burt Reynolds.

Christoph Waltz (Taren Killiam) and then Mathew McConaughey (Jim Carrey) hopped in as well. The skit as per usual ended with with Connery crushing Trebek's mother.

(SNL 40th Jeopardy Sketch Below)

The Californians was the next skit to come on. It featured the heavy accent humor of former cast members Kristen Wiig, Fred Arminsen, and Bill Hader.

Other stars to help the mock soap opera along was Taylor Swift, Bradley Cooper, Kerry Washington, and Betty White.

Turns out it was Swift that was behind her grandmothers disappearance. Eventually though the punch line ended up being Cooper and White making out.

(The Californians Sketch Below)

Weekend Update could be a show alone by itself. Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, and Jane Curtin all took their old post sitting at the desk. Stephan made an appearance with a twin look a like played by Edward Norton.

Melissa McCarthy then stepped up to try and fill the impressively big shoes of motivational speaker Matt Foley but ended up just crushing the famous desk. A Political sketch montage followed in the wake of this horrible disaster.

None other than the man himself Jack Nicholson stopped by to introduce it.

(Political Sketches Over 40 Years on SNL Below)

Then it was time for a musical extravaganza that will probably never be matched. It was a comedy number for the ages. It started with Martin Short and Maya Rudolph.

Adam Sandler came on as the opera man. Dana Carvey preformed Chopping Broccoli which could have been a number one hit during his hey day.

But it was truly Bill Murray the legend that stole the show singing a tribute of the movie Jaws.

(Marty and Beyonce musical sketch below)

As for actual musical performances there were fantastic ones from Miley Cyrus, Paul Simon, Kanye West, Sia, and Paul McCartney. I would have to say that Cyrus did the best job and that probably strange to hear considering her antics recently and the legends she was up against.

But there was another song that also caught in my head. Following a tribute to all the pre-recorded sketches Sandler and Samberg debuted a new digital short of their own entitled 'That's When You Break.'

(Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg-'That's When You Break' Music Video Below)

The sports world took over and Peyton Manning and Derek Jeter introduced a montage of 40 years of sports themed sketches.

Peyton put it perfectly,"You know you must have accomplished something when you are asked to come on SNL and totally humiliate yourself." It was truly impressive to see all of the stars form sports that have came on the show.

Charles Barkley, Shaq, The Rock, Lebron James, Joe Montana, and of course the greatest Michael Jordan all graced us with their "comedic prowess."

(The Montage of Sports Sketches over 40 SNL Years)

Jerry Seinfeld then began taking questions from the crazy audience that just happened to be filled with stars.

Tim Meadows, Bob Odenkirk, James Franco, Larry David, Dakota Johnson, Ellen Cleghorne, Sarah Palin, and John Goodman all began throwing questions at him.

(SNL Q&A Featuring Seinfeld Below)

Fittingly the last original fresh skit of the night came from none other than Wayne's World. The famous Aurora cable access show has two movies of course and are the most successful SNL characters have ever done outside New York.

Kayne West was at the center of attention and the two friendly Canadians made sure he stayed in his seat. But they also had very nice sentimental notions about both Lorne Michaels and the crew.

(40th Anniversary Wayne's World Sketch Below)

Sunday Night was about bringing everyone back to celebrate and to maybe realize how many true stars have gotten their starts on Saturday Night Live. While also at the same time paying tribute to the city that has held all of this talent in her graces. New York City is probably the only place in the world that could breed the star power year after year that it clearly has.

The skits and musical acts kept coming and coming and there was no stopping the amount of laughter.

But it was more than that it was a special evening because this may never happen again or at least for another 10 years.

(SNL Auditions Over the 40 Years)

SNL also decided to launch a revolutionary App on their revolutionary night. The new App allows users to watch every skit and every musical performance in the shows history.

Hard to believe that a show could last as long as SNL has but with the talent on display tonight it isn't all that hard to see why.