What a night.
After an hour-long red carpet and weeks of preparation and hyping up (and all, it turned out, for good reason), the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live was celebrated with a gala of a show, a three-and-a-half-hour spectacle that featured cast members old and new, sketches beloved and in their infancy, cameos expected and completely off the wall.
Related: Every Musician Who’s Hosted SNL, Ranked
SNL has always been a musical show, from the musical guests to musician hosts and sketches involving music. #SNL40, naturally, was no different.
Here were our favorite moments of the evening, plus some honorable mentions.
-OK, as Rachel Dratch as Debbie Downer so aptly pointed out, musical numbers starting off an episode of SNL can definitely leave one wanting a lot more; generally speaking, they’re not great. But give a pass to Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, who kicked off #SNL40 with a song, set partially to the “Lazy Sunday” digital short that practically kickstarted YouTube, that was replete with catchphrases from 40 years of classic SNL sketches. Want one long, giant trip down comedy memory lane? You’re gonna want to check it out.