SNL

Every week, SNL ends up having to cut a sketch or two for time — these segments are released online as “digital exclusives.” Sometimes, those segments are better than anything else that aired, like this short that was cut from the Season 40 finale, featuring Louis C.K. and Kyle Mooney’s pitiful fictional comedian Bruce Chandling.

Last night’s generally unremarkable episode of SNL peaked early when it took advantage of its proximity to Mother’s Day to do something kind of remarkable. As part of her opening monologue, guest host Reese Witherspoon declared that the show was going to mark the occasion by bringing each cast member out with his or her mother...and then forcing them to apologize for their childhood transgressions.

SNL is always so good at creating eerily realistic fake advertisements for products that will never, ever exist unless humanity truly goes insane, and the show’s Depend Legends sketch is no exception. There is no way anyone is every going to want to own adult diapers that have images of famous figures from history and popular culture printed on them, but this ad makes that reality feel a little too real.

In the cutthroat world of HBO’s Game of Thrones, life is hard and even the most innocent people find themselves victimized by the powers that be. So of course SNL would make the comparison between living in Westeros and living on the means streets of Los Angeles. Yes, it’s time to visit the eighth kingdom of this wildly popular fantasy series: South Centros.

Vanessa Bayer’s Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy has been a regular character on SNL’s Weekend Update for quite some time now, so it was about time for us meet the family of everyone’s favorite awkward, overly prepared Jewish kid. Coinciding with the end of Passover, the show brought the great Billy Crystal onto the show as Jacob’s equally awkward father.

Between Maleficent and Cinderella, Disney has found a new way to print money by remaking their animated classics into live action films. And according to SNL, the upcoming Beauty and the Beast won’t be next. First, we’re getting the action-packed, Fast and Furious-inspired remake of Bambi that you never knew you wanted.

The gallant extravagance of NBC’s 40th anniversary SNL special left us less-than-enthused for 50 Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson to return us to normal this Saturday, but our first March host will verily bring the thunder. Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth will take the SNL stage as our March 7 host, but what musical accompaniment mayeth the Asgardian Avenger summon?

SNL episodes are hard, often frenzied work, so you can imagine the sort of time and dedication and stress that went into the SNL 40 show, which featured new and former cast members along with several guest stars. One of the highlights of the three and a half hour event was the return of “Celebrity Jeopardy!” with Norm MacDonald, Will Ferrell and Darrell Hammond reprising their iconic sketch roles alongside fellow SNL stars, including Kenan Thompson doing a hilarious (and timely) Bill Cosby impression. But according to MacDonald, Thompson wasn’t originally supposed to be in the sketch: Eddie Murphy was.

A few key members of the SNL cast and crew must love “The Californians” because the much-derided sketch was brought back to life for the show’s star-studded 40th anniversary special. For those of us who have always enjoyed this bizarre sketch (and there are about three of us), it’s a welcome return and we will greedily drink up the angry tears of everyone else.

In between all of the tributes and montages and musical performances, the SNL 40th Anniversary Special actually found time for some original content. Right after a montage celebrating the short films that have been featured on the show over the years, Zach Galifianakis took to the stage to introduce a new digital short from Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler. Unlike most of Samberg’s original shorts, which usually traded in genial silliness, this one looked inward and examined a subject that everyone who has ever been on the show should be familiar with: breaking character.