Last night, during NBC’s celebration of Saturday Night Live‘s 40th anniversary, viewers were treated to three hours of familiar faces and sketches — both live sketches and montages of classic ones. And just like every other episode of SNL, the new sketches were hit or miss. But there were still plenty of gems found in the mix. From the successful return of fan favorite “Celebrity Jeopardy” to a wonderfully long segment featuring Maya Rudolph’s perfect Beyoncé impression, here are five SNL 40 sketches everyone will be talking about.
Jim Carrey reprises his Matthew McConaughey impression for “Celebrity Jeopardy”
Leading up to the event, there was a lot of speculation about which classic sketches would be revisited. Smart fans placed money on the Will Ferrell hit “Celebrity Jeopardy.” We got Norm McDonald as Burt Reynolds, Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery (confusing “Who Reads” as “Whore Ads”), Kate McKinnon as Justin Bieber, and more. The highlight was Jim Carrey’s McConaughey impression, which even featured a True Detective-esque voice-over. The sketch also gave us a quick Bill Cosby dig.
Melissa McCarthy crashes “Weekend Update”
During SNL 40‘s Weekend Update segment (hosted by Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Jane Curtin), special guests included Emma Stone (as Roseanne Rosannadanna) and Edward Norton (who absolutely killed with his Stefon impression). Melissa McCarthy ended the sketch with her best Matt Foley impression, channeling Chris Farley as she crashed through the Weekend Update desk. [Video via Vanity Fair]
Kerry Washington and Taylor Swift become “Californians”
While “Californians” is a controversial sketch, in that some people adore it and others think it’s incredibly obnoxious (especially to those outside of California, I’d imagine), I think it’s fair to say that everyone enjoyed Kerry Washington’s cameo. Taylor Swift also, adorably, gave it her all, even if her accent left much to be desired. But the big kicker came at the end, with Bradley Cooper and Betty White making out.
Maya Rudolph as Beyoncé
Queen Maya Rudolph stole the show with her spot-on Beyoncé impression, crooning out versions of Beyoncé‘s hits in front of a wind machine in a segment about SNL‘s musical sketches.
Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler premiere a new digital short
After a montage of memorable digital shorts, SNL 40 premiered a new pre-taped video from similarly named duo Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler. The digital short, “That’s When You Break,” centered on various Saturday Night Live cast members “breaking” (as in, breaking character and laughing) during sketches — with a special emphasis on the infamous breaking duo of Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz. [Video via THR]