In honor of Barbara Walters' upcoming last week on "The View,""Weekend Update" played a few of Baba Wawas' greatest "Saturday Night Live" sketches of all time.

After the montage of past clips, Walters herself appeared at the news desk to tell co-anchor Cecily Strong that the show has "reduced" her to a “cartoon character with a ridiculous voice.”

She then told Strong, "I’m not like some fake anchor [like you]," to which the "SNL" star replied, "But you’re a co-host on 'The View.'"

Walters also gave Strong tips about being a respected journalist, including, "The real money is in making them cry."

SEE ALSO: Hillary Clinton And Michelle Obama Jab Each Other In Mother's Day Message On 'SNL'

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Andy Samberg returns to "Saturday Night Live" this weekend to host the show's season finale with musical guest, St.Vincent.

After Samberg won a Golden Globe this year for his role on new Fox show "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," tensions are sarcastically high between former co-stars as the comedian returns to his old stomping grounds.

This week's promos, featuring Samberg and Kenan Thompson, are filled with new egos, yoga breaks, and lots of bromance.

 The clip may even win...

SEE ALSO: Hillary Clinton And Michelle Obama Jab Each Other In Mother's Day Message On 'SNL'

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"Saturday Night Live" mocked the Jay Z and Solange fight video right off the bat during last night's cold open.

During an announcement that the family has moved on from the incident, the two were separated by a security guard ready to intervene at any moment.

Jay Z and Solange then said the tape was all a big misunderstanding, and that Solange was just trying to get a spider off of her brother-in-law.

Jay Z and Solange then outed The Standard Hotel employee who leaked their security video, showing surveillance video of him break dancing.

As soon as someone mentioned Beyoncé's name, Maya Rudolph appeared to play the Queen B. She then proceeded to make a statement entirely from her popular song lyrics.Watch the full, funny sketch below:

SEE ALSO: Beyoncé, Jay Z, Solange Issue First Statement After Elevator Fight

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Andy Samberg returned to "Saturday Night Live" to host this weekend's season finale.

The "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" star opened his monologue by saying, "I was a cast member here on 'SNL,' where I appeared in upwards of 100 digital shorts and six live sketches — so this is going to go great."

"One thing I was less known for," he admitted, "is doing impressions."

Samberg says that he was nowhere near SNL‘s Bill Hader, who mastered a whopping 24 impressions.

"So here to help me break the record is my good friend, Seth Meyers," announced Samberg, as Meyers joined him on-stage to time his 25 impressions. 

Samberg did brief impressions of famous and obscure celebrities and characters below:

Paul Giamatti, Jay Baruchel, young Travolta, Alan Arkin, Ryan Reynolds, Jim Carey, Alf, the dad from Alf, Roland Gift from Fine Young Cannibals, Beetlejuice, Keanu Reeves, Seth Meyers, Larry David, Zooey Deschanel, Seth Rogen, Teller from Penn and Teller, Randy 'Macho Man' Savage, the guy who does the "Entourage" theme song, Smoky the Bear, Pharrell, Liam Neeson, Osama bin Laden, Chris Mullen, Larry Bird, and Charles Barkley.

But suddenly, Bill Hader appeared on-stage to win back his record with impressions of Casey Kasem and Andy Samberg.

Watch all of the impressions below:

SEE ALSO: Maya Rudolph Returns To 'SNL' To Play Beyoncé In Jay Z And Solange Sketch

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Dozens of comediennes have graced the stage of Studio 8H over the last 39 years.

None are more beloved than Gilda Radner, an original cast member of "Saturday Night Live."

Today marks the 25th anniversary of her death. The Emmy Award-winning actress died of ovarian cancer on May 20, 1989.

Radner paved the way for a long line of venerable comediennes, including Molly Shannon, Julia Sweeney, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, and Sasheer Zamata.

And they all continued in the tradition of trailblazing.

1. When Lorne Michaels began putting the show together in 1975, Gilda Radner was his first hire.

The year before, the pint-sized, squawky-voiced Radner came to New York to do "The National Lampoon Radio Hour" and "The National Lampoon Show."

Michaels had seen some of her work with Toronto's "Second City" comedy troupe, and was hooked. "I felt there was a remarkable quality to her," Michaels said, "a goodness which came through whatever she was doing."

2. Radner's quirky characterizations won her an Emmy for outstanding performance as an actress in a variety series in 1978.

She created such characters as Roseanne Roseannadanna, the frizzy-haired, lisping broadcaster; Lisa Loopner, a nerdy teenager with "mosquito-size" breasts; and "Baba Wawa," a parody of Barbara Walters which made Radner the first person to lampoon a news anchor on TV.

3. Jane Curtin was the first female co-anchor on "Weekend Update."

Curtin's deadpan delivery made her the perfect foil for three different male co-anchors during her time at the desk.

Cerebral and restrained, she never backed down from a debate with conservative-playing Dan Aykroyd during their "Point/Counter-Point" segments. He regularly chastised her, "Jane, you ignorant slut!" 

There are plenty of tough tickets in New York City, from late night talk shows to Broadway spectaculars, and while the process of procuring tickets has eased up a bit over the years (hey, thanks, Internet), that doesn’t mean the hottest of hot tickets is still “easy” to come by.

If you happen to Google “Saturday Night Live tickets,” you’ll be met with an official NBC website that details exactly how to go about getting tickets— which really means, “how to go about not getting tickets at all.”

"Saturday Night Live"is such a desired entertainment commodity (and no, we can’t keep calling it a “hot ticket”) that people who want to attend the show need to jump through the kind of hoops that no other live show offers. No, really — you name another show where you request tickets but can’t even request a preferred date for those tickets. Not even an exact date, just one that might work for you. Nope. If you’re going for those "SNL"tickets, you have to email your requests in the month of August only (the "SNL"season doesn’t start until September) and basically just wait it out.

If you get picked for tickets (and only if you get picked), you’ll get a pair of tickets for a show, date and time as picked by "SNL."Don’t try to game the system by putting in multiple requests. Don’t expect to hear back if you don’t get picked. Want to try standby? Line up at 30 Rock on the morning of your preferred show — at 7 a.m. Even then, you might not get in.

But if you get in, it’s worth it. Man, is it worth it.

(Full disclosure: I attended "SNL"as the guest of an attendee who was invited to the show by "SNL," but I’ve certainly tried to email lottery process before and intend to again. Is this a brag? Maybe, but I hope it’s a forgivable one.)

"Saturday Night Live"does something that’s both pretty remarkable and absolutely necessary — the show puts on two shows each Saturday night that it’s in season. At 8 p.m., they run through a full dress rehearsal (cue flashbacks to high school theatre), a jam-packed two-hour show that’s purposely overstuffed with material, because audience reaction and overall feel will help dictate what gets cut from the final show. (Often, sketches cut from dress will pop up on "SNL's" website as “web exclusives.”) Dress includes everything, from the host’s monologue to the musical guest’s two performances to any cameos that pop up along the way, with all breaks measured to reflect how long actual commercial breaks will be.

It’s the only way to do it, but it’s also totally bonkers, mainly because any changes have to be made between 10 p.m., when dress ends, and 11:30 p.m., when the live show starts. And, as was the case with this past weekend’s Andy Samberg-hosted season finale, there were a lot of changes.

But we’ll get to that.

First of all, there are a lot of lines. There’s a line downstairs in the lobby, and then a line to go through metal detectors and then up elevators. There’s a line to check in again upstairs, and then another line to stand in to actually get into the studio. There’s also plenty of waiting and anticipation and being reminded again and again to not use your phones. If you use your phone, they’ll find you (and this is something I witnessed time and again, the security team is on point at "SNL").

Sometimes, you’ll be standing in a line and a cast member will walk by (Aidy Bryant and Brooks Wheelan both trotted past while we waited in what ended up being the final line), and that will remind you why there’s so much security and lines to begin with, because the people you have come to see can just walk by.

Once you get into the studio, it’s surprisingly large (Studio 8-H is reportedly 6,339 square feet, and there are about 250 seats both downstairs on temporary chairs and upstairs on seats culled from the old Yankee Stadium), especially since the live show only ever shows those first-floor attendees, somewhat awkwardly perched in front of the stage itself. It’s comfortable, but it’s also crammed to the rafters (literally) with set pieces, props, lighting rigs, cameras, cranes, cast, crew, and anything else one would need to launch a live show.

Although the show always has a live studio audience, the production itself does not pander to that audience, and there appears to be little regard to making sure the live audience can see each sketch with their own eyes. This is not a criticism — once you see the stuffed studio, there’s no question that the set design of each sketch is done with one thing in mind: that it can actually fit in the space allotted to it.

"SNL" does provide plenty of video screens for watching each and every sketch (and any pre-recorded materials, like Digital Shorts), so while the cast might be just below you, working on a sketch, you’ll still have to watch it on a TV screen.

It sort of doesn’t matter, because the energy of a live show, even one that’s still essentially a dress rehearsal, is infectious. It just feels different. There are no second takes. There are no do-overs. It’s all a one-shot. It’s easy to forget that this is not live television.

Watching the show in studio also reveals all kinds of weird and wonderful things. The frenzy that accompanies set switches is just that — a total frenzy — but the stage crew is aces, and even with such a time crunch, details matter. I watched four people make sure the background wall sconces of the show’s Jay Z and Solange sketch were straight and properly lit. Three people worked to make sure a rug you can’t even see in the sketch was straight.

Still, that sense of quick turnarounds is ever-present. Although this episode was kitted out with all kinds of celebrity cameos, including Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Paul Rudd, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, Seth Meyers, 2 Chainz, and Martin Short (who actually didn’t even show up at dress rehearsal, and whose presence I suspect was a true last minute surprise), my favorite star of the entire production was the producer whose entire job during the show appeared to entail making sure that Samberg was in the right place at the right time.

Even though you’ll never see it, the second Samberg completed any sketch or any intro (from his monologue to his musical guest introductions), his hand was grabbed by this "SNL"angel, who would then drag Samberg to the next place he needed to be, all at a breakneck speed. It was terrifying and kind of incredible.

The overstuffed nature of dress guarantees that a number of things shown to the audience don’t make it to the live show. If you watched "SNL"this weekend, you saw two Samberg-starring digital pieces — “Hugs” and “When Does the Bass Drop?” — but the dress audience also saw “Testicules” early on, now online as a web exclusive:

Elsewhere, the first guest segment of “Weekend Update,” one that starred Kenan Thompson as Magic Johnson, was cut. That one is online, too:

Other sketches were totally cut — maybe one day you will all get to see some version of “Italian Cheerleaders” — or radically changed. The “Legolas at Taco Bell” bit was much longer at dress, and included an entire gag about Samberg as Legolas mistaking other Taco Bell customers for Orcs, promptly shooting them in the process.

The loss of the Magic Johnson gag on “Weekend Update” meant that Kyle Mooney's Bruce Chandling spot went from playing against Colin Jost at dress to sounding off with Cecily Strong in the final show. “Camp Wicawabe,” which played late at dress, showed up early in the live show, perhaps to ensure that its littlest stars didn’t have to hang around for six hours on a crowded studio set.

Once dress rehearsal comes to an end — complete with the “good nights” and credits played over the monitors – it’s time for all of us to leave and for the "SNL" cast and crew to buckle down on shaping up the final show, which is happening in, yup, less than two hours.

SEE ALSO: 23 Times Women Made History On 'Saturday Night Live'

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“Saturday Night Live” will celebrate its 40th season this fall, capping the long-running show's midseason with a February special. But before the NBC sketch comedy power player makes it to the milestone, it must sweat through a summer of high turnover and higher speculation.

Glancing back at “SNL's” Season 39, did the show make the best of a bad situation or suffer a disastrous year? Based on the recent firings of first-year players, some industry insiders and viewers alike are saying it's the latter.

TheWrap decided to take a look at the highs and lows of the year, beginning with the most recent cast news. ”Saturday Night Live” declined TheWrap's request for participation in this story.

1. Low: Cast Bloodbath

Brooks Whelan was fired from “SNL” on Monday, following a lone season that saw him struggling for camera time. On Tuesday, Whelan's first-year colleagues Noel Wells and John Milhiser were also let go, while news of veteran Nasim Pedrad leaving the show for Fox comedy “Mulaney” become officially official.

Other freshmen players Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney seem likely to return, while the future of former writer and freshman cast member Mike O'Brien feels a little more gray. Those casting calls are expected by August, if not sooner.

Sasheer Zamata, who was added midseason following a media storm over a lack of black women in the cast, shined in her debut and is a no-brainer to come back. Colin Jost, who took over as head writer, and behind the “Weekend Update” desk following Seth Meyers’ exit, is also a shoe-in to stay.

Also read: Why ‘SNL’ May Never Be This White Again

Even with Zamata's successful rush-hiring and Jost quickly endearing himself to most fans, this week's turnover has led to some in the media tagging the 39th season of “SNL” a “disaster.” But is it really that bad, in retrospect? The meaningful turnover actually began years ago, and a confluence of many big talents leaving around the same time had Lorne Michaels and company scrambling for (talented) bodies.

Fred Armisen, Jason Sudeikis and Bill Hader departed at the end of Season 38. Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg left together a year earlier. No one can deny that those five were among the show's best talents and biggest draws — but it took a while for each to establish themselves on the show, which is the norm due to the competitive format and crazy schedule of “SNL.”

Despite the turmoil, head writer and “Update” anchor Meyers weathered the stormy season as his Jimmy Fallon “Late Night” succession loomed.

Meyers was with the show for 13 years, Armisen for 11, Sudeikis for 9, and Bill Hader for 8. Samberg had almost single-handedly revived taped segments for “SNL” and Wiig was a breakout star by the time she left for Hollywood films. Those losses alone would kill a less-established show.

Also, this certainly isn't the first time that a new cast member didn't see his or her one-year contract renewed. Just last year, Tim Robinson was one and done. Jenny Slate and Michaela Watkins had the same short-term stays in recent years. Rob Riggle and Jerry Minor had the same fate before that.

That said, three “one and dones” — with the possibility for more – in a single season is glaring. While “SNL” was forced to plug gaping holes on such short notice, its batting average has been considerably higher since the mid-1980's when Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Michael Hall, Joan Cusack, Randy Quaid, Terry Sweeney and Danitra Vance were in-and-out after one run.

Short stints were a little more common between the show's “not ready for primetime” humble beginning and the mid-'80s. By the late 1990s “SNL,” though, cast stability had become the norm.

2. Low: White is the new black
Zamata was brought on following bi-coastal auditions targeting African-American women, a glaring omission in the cast that played out in the press. Prior to her hiring, regular players Jay Pharoah and Kenan Thompson — both black men — offered differing opinions publicly about why their show was without a black female cast member.

Pharoah criticized the show for its lack of diversity, while Thompson suggested that at the time, the right woman of color had not yet made her presence felt in the competitive improv, sketch and stand-up comedy world. Zamata did exactly that, but not before the controversy consumed the media over the course of several weeks, becoming an obvious distraction to the show at best, and at its worst, a black eye for the program.

Prior to Zamata, “SNL” hadn't had an African-American woman in its cast since Maya Rudolph‘s exit as a full-timer in 2007.

3. Low: Not quite Season 38
According to Nielsen's Live + 7 metric, “SNL” averaged a 3.3 rating last season in the key 18-49 demographic. That number — while not bad at all for the time period — is down one-tenth of a point from Season 38's 3.4 rating. Accordingly, viewers dipped slightly as well year-to-year.

Going back a little further for context, the 2010-2011 season averaged a 3.4. The 2011-2012 season averaged a 3.3, showing slight fluctuations across the past four years in the advertisers’ coveted demo.

Conversely, total viewers have seen a steady decline over the past four seasons.

4. High: Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake bring sexy back
In December, host Jimmy Fallon and musical guest Justin Timberlake powered “Saturday Night Live” to its best household ratings since January 2012. In doing so, Fallon also scored an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, joining Louis C.K.'s “SNL” hosting performance in that category.

But it wasn't just the boys who received that nod from the Academy: Melissa McCarthy and Tina Fey also received nominations for their hosting stints.

5. Low: Charlize Theron falls flat

Charlize Theron hosted the show's penultimate episode on May 10, plugging “A Million Ways to Die in the West” and suffering the worst Nielsen numbers of the season. The episode, which included the Black Keys as musical guest, pulled just a 2.4 in L+7 ratings.

Second-to-worst on the sheet for the season was Seth Rogen‘s episode on April 12, which got a 2.7. Ed Sheeran was his musical guest.

6. High: The role formerly played by Kristen Wiig is now being played by Kate McKinnon
Kate McKinnon is the lone cast member currently nominated for a supporting Emmy — though the show pulled 14 overall — and with good reason. When “SNL” needed a star, McKinnon stepped it up the most, offering fan favorite impressions such as Ellen DeGeneres and Justin Bieber. McKinnon was such a stud that it seemed like she showed up in every memorable sketch of the season.

Also earning a nod from the TV Academy was pre-recorded music video “Home for the Holidays (Twin Bed),” by the ladies of “Saturday Night Live,” McKinnon among them. Fallon was involved in that one, too.

7. High and Low: That's “Cold”
In the midst of the diversity controversy, Kerry Washington was scheduled to host “SNL.” The show knew that it had to address its own racial issue, and they did so right up front in the cold opening, which airs live before the host's monologue.

Some people loved the self-deprecating sketch, where Kerry Washington – as the show's only woman-of-color option – played Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and nearly Beyonce in one live scene. Still others thought it was tone deaf and a bit of a middle finger to a serious issue. Zamata popped up soon thereafter, as did two African-American female writers. The controversy went away soon after.

8. Low: “I'm a Slave for You”
And then another controversy on the same topic arose. Another product of the show's search for a black woman is Leslie Jones, who along with LaKendra Tookes was hired as a writer from the auditions.

Shortly after coming aboard, Jones performed as herself on “Weekend Update,” as writers occasionally do — but the result brought more racially based criticism to the show. The comedian was ribbing Lupita Nyong'o being named People magazine's most beautiful person, saying she herself would've been the most sought after woman during the slave days.

“See, I'm single right now, but back in the slave days, I would have never been single!” Jones exclaimed. “I'm six feet tall and I'm strong, Colin. Strong! I mean, look at me, I'm a mandingo … I'm just saying that back in the slave days, my love life would have been way better. Massah would have hooked me up with the best brotha on the plantation … I would be the No. 1 slave draft pick!”

Many weren't laughing, including Ebony's editor-in-chief.

9. High: Skit fit for a Queen (Bey)
Do not say anything bad about Beyonce, and do not say anything bad about “SNL” skit “The Beygency.”

In the digital clip, host Andrew Garfield was forced to go on the run — a la “24” and Jack Bauer — from mysterious forces after he had the nerve to tell his friends that the pop diva “is so good — but I'm not a huge fan of that one ‘Drunk in Love’ song, though.” When Garfield was chased down by the murky “Beygency,” his identity was erased.

Some called it the best sketch in the show's history. It was not that, but it was good.

SEE ALSO: 15 Phrases Coined By 'Seinfeld’ That We Use All The Time Today

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In a bold but somewhat shocking move, Saturday Night Live writer Michael Che has landed a spot at the Weekend Update table for Season 40. He’s replacing Cecily Strong in the process, and will co-anchor the skit along with Colin Jost when NBC's late night sketch comedy series hits the schedule later this month. Today’s news marks another shakeup for Weekend Update, which has changed formatting a few times since Seth Meyers left the show last year. 

THR got the scoop, noting that Che isn’t a total unknown to the cast and crew of Saturday Night Live. He’s a comedian who joined SNL after acting as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He wrote a few sketches in 2014, but with his correspondent background, he was probably itching to get back in front of the camera. He wouldn’t be the first SNL writer to make the transition to the Weekend Update table. In recent years, Seth Meyers was the head writer on SNL when he took over as the Weekend Update co-anchor. Che will hopefully have no trouble transitioning, as well. 

The news is great for Che, but probably a huge bummer for Cecily Strong, who I actually thought has had pretty great delivery while delivering the Weekend Update news. She had practice working with Meyers before he officially left the show at the start of the season. After Meyers left, Jost joined the segment as a co-anchor. I honestly think she’s a bit more memorable than Jost, but obviously the powers that be over at NBC feel differently. Maybe all the weird faces she likes to make were not going over all that well. 

On the bright side, Strong will be staying on SNL as a player, which is better news than some of last year’s cast have gotten over the last several months. Brooks Whelan was fired in July. Shortly after, John Milhiser and Noel Wells were also let go. The other big cast shake-up is Nasim Pedrad, who officially quit the series to join the Fox comedy Mulaney. 

It’s the nature of SNL to be high pressure and subject to change, but even a brief stint doing something important on the show can change a player’s life forever. Here's to hoping the new lineup will continue to improve SNL as we move into Season 40. NBC’s Saturday Night Live will hit the schedule on Saturday, September 27 at 11:35 p.m. ET. 

SEE ALSO: 23 Times Women Made History On 'Saturday Night Live'

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"Saturday Night Live" is entering its 40th season this year, but the cast is just getting younger.

The NBC show's official Twitter announced today that 20-year-old comedian Pete Davidson will be joining the show as a featured player.

Davidson, who is currently based in Brooklyn, started doing stand up when he was just 16-years-old and will be the first SNL cast member to be born in the 1990s.

After being discovered by Nick Cannon, he had roles on “Wild ‘N Out” and MTV's “Guy Code,” guest starred on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine," and performed stand-up on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in April.

“I just dropped out of college,” Davidson joked on Kimmel. “That’s my big move this year.”

Instead, Davidson's big move will be becoming one of the youngest SNL cast-members ever. "Anthony Michael Hall was 17 and Robert Downey, Jr. was 20 when they joined the show for a single season in 1985,"The Wrap reports. "Eddie Murphy was 19 when he began his four season run in 1980."

After SNL fired three cast members last season, Davidson is currently the only new featured player to be added to the roster.

The new season premieres Sept. 27 on NBC with host Chris Pratt.

Watch Davidson's recent comedy set on Kimmel:

SEE ALSO: 'Saturday Night Live' Just Booted One Of Its Weekend Update Anchors

MORE: Comedian James Corden Named Craig Ferguson's 'Late Late Show' Succesor

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Chris Pratt opened the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live” by exclaiming that he was so excited to be hosting the show.

"I've always felt such a connection to this show, a lot of that is because when I dropped out of college and moved to Hawaii, I literally lived in a van down by the river," he explained, referencing the famous Chris Farley sketch.

Pratt went on to comment of his recent weight loss, saying, "This summer I was in a little movie called 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' for which I lost 60 pounds. I found this great way to get in shape — it's called the 'Hey fatass, get into shape so you can be in my movie' diet. It actually works really well."

Pratt then picked up a guitar and started singing a song about himself, the weightloss (and gain), and his wife, actress Anna Faris.

"Home's where the heart is and mine's right there," he sang, "It belongs to the hottie in the audience right there. Her name is Anna Faris, she's hosted twice, we had sex... and a baby popped out."

Watch Pratt's full, funny opening monologue and song below:

SEE ALSO: The Incredible Story Of How Chris Pratt Got His Big Break While Living In A Scooby Doo Van In Maui

MORE: Here's How Chris Pratt Got Ripped For Marvel's 'Guardians Of The Galaxy'

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We know Bill Hader as one of the funniest and most successful cast members in the history of Saturday Night Live. Once upon a time, however, he was just the new guy on the long-running sketch comedy show.

No one including Bill Hader was quite sure whether or not he’d even make it on the show, except apparently, Dan Aykroyd who predicted the young comedian’s entire future. 

The weird prophecy happened after just the third episode Bill Hader was on all the way back in 2005. Apparently noticing his potential, Dan Aykroyd, who was in town and watched the show, took the cast member aside and proceeded to map out how his entire career on Saturday Night Live would go. 

Here’s how Hader told it to FastCoCreate… 

“(Aykroyd) said, ‘Here's what's going to happen: your first couple years, you're going to be on unsteady ground, you're going to think you're gonna be fired at any moment, and the audience will not know you. It’s your job to get the audience to know you and like you. Then the audience will know you, you'll go out to your mark and get a little applause break because they know you, then you can start doing weird things and they'll go with you. You'll do that for a couple years and get to a place where you're just clocking in. You'll get to a place where you come in, do your impression, do your character, play a game show host, do whatever's needed of you, do it really well--you're a pro at it--and then you clock out and go home.’ He said, ‘Once you know you're just clocking in, though, it's time to leave.’ And that's exactly how it went.”

For those of you who don’t follow Saturday Night Live that closely, that is Bill Hader’s career trajectory exactly. He spent his first few years kicking his tires, playing in the background and desperately trying to make his mark. As other people left and he got more comfortable, the writers started looking to him for more. Eventually, he became a star on the show and started giving the world weirdo characters like Stefon. Pretty soon, he was in damn near every sketch each week, playing things like game show hosts, before he finally decided to bail. 

Because of the incredible fame fellow early cast members like Bill Murray, John Belushi and Chevy Chase received, Dan Aykroyd is often overlooked, at least when it comes to conversations about the all-time greats.

That’s a shame too because in many ways he was actually more valuable. Unlike the other three, he was just as brilliant in supporting roles as he was in carrying individual sketches. If a writer needed him to play a straight man whose sole job was to make everyone else look good, he would do that. If the sketch was designed around him, he could do that too. He was selfless in that way, and the entire history of the show doesn’t boast many people like that. It’s not surprising he could peg Hader, however, since, along with Phil Hartman, they’re probably the three best ever at the balancing act. 

SEE ALSO: Chris Pratt Opens SNL Season Premiere With A Funny Song About Himself

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After "Guardians of the Galaxy"killed it at the box office this summer, "Saturday Night Live" used host Chris Pratt to mock the success of Marvel films, joking that they do well no matter what the storyline.

In a parody movie trailer, "SNL" notes how Marvel "can’t fail" and teases a few ridiculous new films, both real and fake.

"Next summer, we're releasing 'Ant-Man,' about a guy who talks to ants! What? Yeah!"

"We don't even need comic books anymore, we made a superhero by pointing at a bunch of different random words in the dictionary."

"You're going to fall in love with Marvel's 'Creatures of the Cosmos' — a pastry chef, a Harlem Globe Trotter, an alien real estate sign spinner, a dude dressed as Grimace, and an office chair."

"And check out this bold move — we took the first four people we found on a city bus and made a movie with them! We dare you not to see... Marvel's 'Bus People.'"

"Get ready for the spin-off, Marvel's 'Pam.' Pam doesn't matter, she will make $3 billion dollars...

"And so will Marvel's 'Fancy Ghosts.'"

"And 'Some Fancy Shopping Carts.'"

"And 'Pam 2: Winter Pam.'"

"And Marvel's 'Star Wars.'"

Watch the full, funny movie trailer below:

SEE ALSO: Chris Pratt Opens SNL Season Premiere With A Funny Song About Himself

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"Saturday Night Live" host Sarah Silverman impersonated her late, good friend Joan Rivers in a sketch about the comedian roasting other celebrities in heaven.

Steve Jobs, Richard Pryor, Lucille Ball, Freddy Mercury, and Benjamin Franklin were her main targets.

Eartha Kitt introduced Rivers: "We've just received word that one of the greats has joined us here on the celestial stage. Ladies and gentleman of heaven, please welcome Miss Joan Rivers!"

"Thank you, thank you! Me? In heaven? I can't believe it" Rivers began. "I guess I should be here I'm practically a virgin. The last time someone was inside me it was Melissa!"

"My old friend Richard Pryor is here," Joan continued. "Richard, you could never keep it in your pants. I don't want to say Richard fooled around, but the longest relationship he ever had was with multiple sclerosis."

"So many incredible people here tonight, even Steve Jobs!"

"Steve, I hope you're forced to buy a newer, better casket every six months so you can see how we feel! Am I right?"

"Oh please, look, so many beautiful people here tonight. Ava Gardner, you look so young! Who did you sleep with to get here? Oh right, everyone."

"I'm killing with Ben Franklin. Hey Ben, where did you get that outfit? Forever1721? Something tells me that those bifocals aren't the only things bi about you."

"Speaking of bi, I see you Freddy Mercury! When Freddy died, people were surprised he was gay. Are you kidding me?! You're so gay even your teeth aren't straight!" (Freddy Mercury was played by "SNL" musical guest, Maroon 5's Adam Levine.)

"Lucille Ball, you're a comedy legend. That scene in the candy factory, wasn't Lucy hilarious eating the chocolates? You stuck more chocolates down your throat than the Kardashians!"

"Listen people, comedy is to make people laugh and deal with things. So open the gates and let me in here and let's start this show!" Watch the full sketch below:

Comedy Central did a roast of Joan Rivers in 2009. Everyone from Don Rickles and Tom Arnold to Kathy Griffin and Gilbert Gottfried showed up to roast the comedy vet.

Rivers said after the show: “With the roast, what I was worried about is what I was gonna say back to them. So I worked very hard. And I won. For every comedian, if you’re not insecure you’re not funny. If you’re happy, you’re not funny."

SEE ALSO: SNL Mocks Marvel's Success With Ridiculous Movie Ideas

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The Groundlings comedy troupe allege that "Saturday Night Live" stole one of their sketches.

In this weekend's SNL episode, host Sarah Silverman, along with cast members Cecily Strong and Sasheer Zamata, perform “Proud Mary” on a riverboat casino while telling the audience about their life up until this point.

The sketch has been removed from NBC and Hulu's websites, but you can watch it here. Here's a GIF to give you an idea:

After the sketch aired, people started to notice the similarities. Kimberly Condict, who originated the role in the Groundlings sketch, tweeted:

#snl just totally jacked our steez!! #flattered? pic.twitter.com/IKT9YOzNlI

— Kimberly Condict (@KimberlyCondict) October 5, 2014

Her friends and fans were quick to back her up:

I mean come on. @KimberlyCondict and @vanessaragland killin it original style. pic.twitter.com/ZpKdNZEujO

— Lee Newton (@leenewtonsays) October 5, 2014

Just watched an SNL sketch that was DIRECTLY ripped off from The Groundlings Sunday company stage... The good news, my friends were funnier.

— Lee Newton (@leenewtonsays) October 5, 2014

@vanessaragland@kimberlycondict I'm sorry SNL stole your sketch! That sucks!

— Wendi McLendon-Covey (@wendimclendonco) October 6, 2014

Ian Gary, a teacher at the Groundlings in Los Angeles, posted to his Facebook page:

 ...over the years I have seen MANY, MANY sketches flat out stolen from my friends by Saturday Night Live. Nearly verbatim. Word for word… And everyone in our community goes “Oh man. That sucks.” and nobody says anything because I guess SNL is still some dream for some people or they don't want to get involved, or a million other reasonable things that stop people from standing up for each other when things are blatantly wrong.

Well, enough of that. This is f----- up.

L.A.-based writer and director John Irwin posted to his Facebook page:

Ah! No way! For several weeks at the Groundlings, Vanessa Bruiser Ragland and Kimberly Condict performed the heck out of their brilliant and hillarious sketch featuring a Tina Turner tribute band singing "Rollin'" at a casino with their musings during the music pauses about the establishment's food, the bad hands life dealt them, and a past gig on a Nebraska river boat-- the sketch ends with the MC piping in.

Last night on SNL, a Tina Turner tribute band sang "Rollin'" with their musings in the music pauses about the establishment's food, the Nebraska river boat they're currently on and the bad hands life dealt them -- the sketch ends with the MC piping in. 

I'd say imitation is the best form of flattery but I mean, come on! If you're going to rip something off, at least do it right! The SNL version was WAYYYY less funny and the writing and performances were poor at best. Just sayin… nobody does it like my girl and kimbo. They killed it.

Watch the Groundlings version of the original sketch below:

"Saturday Night Live" has not officially responded to the controversy, but "an individual close to the show"told The Wrap any similarities were "mere coincidence" and claim SNL writers were unfamiliar with The Groundlings sketch in question.

“It's a common idea since Tina Turner is such an iconic figure,” the source said. “The similarities represent parallel thinking in the comedy world.”

But the Tina Turner sketch wasn't the only one in question on the most recent SNL episode.

As A.V. Club noticed: "The idea of Secret Service head Julia Pierson testifying while President Obama is being chased in the background would be a funnier 'Weekend Update' joke… if sister publication The Onion hadn’t made it on Wednesday!"

The joke below:

The Onion's previous article:

SEE ALSO: Sarah Silverman Roasts Steve Jobs And Other Dead Celebs While Playing Joan Rivers On SNL

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Recent alum Bill Hader is returning to host "Saturday Night Live" this weekend.

Ahead of his homecoming, the comedian-turned-movie actor appeared on "Conan" to promote his new film "The Skeleton Twins," co-starring fellow SNL alum, Kristen Wiig.

While on the show, Hader showed off his spot-on impressions of his former SNL co-stars.

Of Kristen Wiig, he says, she "is always cold.  And she's always like, 'Are you going to that thing? You gonna go to that thing?''"

"Jason Sudeikis is always chewing gum," says Hader. "He's like, 'Hey buddy, how ya doing? He sent me a very sweet text after he saw 'Skeleton Twins.' So sweet, a long text about how much he loved the movie. But I could not read it without thinking about him chewing gum. Like, 'Ya did good, buddy. Great performance. Olivia and I loved it.'"

Hader says Fred Armisen talks with his hands and talks about Portland all the time.

"Oh I love Portland, I fly over there, I have my apartment, I have my records, I go across the street and have my coffee, fly back."

Hader wasn't even safe from himself. He did an impression of Armisen doing an impression of him.

"I'm always getting into some hugely popular band, I'm like, 'Yeah, I just started getting really into Bruce Springsteen." 

After Conan marveled at Hader's ability to do voices and impressions, Hader said that it originates from his family. "My mom, dad, grandparents, we all do voices. They're at home watching this right now, going, "Theeeere's Billy! He's on Conan!"

Watch Hader's interview with Conan below and hear his full, funny impressions below:

SEE ALSO: Kristen Wiig And Bill Hader's Awkward Interview With Local News Anchor Who Didn't See Their Movie

MORE: How Dan Aykroyd Predicted Bill Hader's Entire SNL Career After 3 Episodes

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With so many cast changes and the departures of many comedic geniuses, "Saturday Night Live" hasn’t been faring too well lately with fewer and fewer people tuning in to watch the show. On Saturday, Oct. 11, Bill Hader hosted "SNL "and saw ratings drop significantly with a 3.8 rating in metered-market households, according to "Deadline." Yikes!

Despite Hader usually being a comedy favorite, and being an "SNL" veteran having worked with the show from 2005-2013 when he finally left, people just weren’t biting this time. Additionally, and even worse, Hader’s episode only brought in a 1.8 rating in adults 18-49 in the Local People Meters. Sarah Silverman and Maroon 5 hosted last week’s "SNL" show and received a 3.9 and a 1.9, bringing Hader’s show to a major low. This is a pretty sad and inaccurate reflection of the actor who has worked on "Drunk History,""Bob’s Burgers," and "Funny or Die Presents," but it’s clearly revealing that something has to be fixed.

Although there’s no doubt that the loss of so many of its major members like Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, and Seth Meyers, has played a huge part in its downfall, it seems that the team might have to come up with some fresh material if they want to stay afloat. Perhaps a little more diversity? More women? All I know is that without a major change in the near future, "SNL" might have a big problem on their hands.

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Everyone is getting on the spoofing bandwagon when it comes to the Lincoln Matthew McConaughey ads. Conan O'Brien did one. "South Park" did one. Ellen DeGeneres did it. And now "Saturday Night Live" has jumped in, with this past weekend's host, Jim Carrey, mocking McConaughey's trippy stream-of-consciousness narrations of his wanderings in a Lincoln MKC SUV.

Ford has to be delighted that a somewhat risky advertising strategy for Lincoln — tossing McConaughey the keys and letting him mumble and meander — has paid off with a viral hit at the highest level.

Ford is spending billions to bring Lincoln back from near-death, not so much to revive it as a luxury brand in the U.S., but to have something to put up against Buick in China, a market that Ford is now trying to compete in more aggressively after watching General Motors and Volkswagen to establish strong presences there.

The "SNL" spoof was the least successful of the recent bunch — such is the challenge of being the latecomer to the spoofing game, trying to extract a last few laffs from something other comics have already milked. A mashup with an Allstate ad spoof featuring Kenan Thompson had Carrey actually hitting the cast-member — a jump-the-shark moment for the Lincoln spoof-fest.

("Show the car" is a fundamental in auto advertising, while hitting someone with a car is a no-no when poking fun at a carmaker, not to mention being the comedic equivalent of slipping on a banana peel. As for Allstate...well, running down pedestrians isn't exactly a something that the insurance industry supports.)

Given that McConaughey has a multi-year deal with Ford, it will probably be difficult to pick up any additional free exposure for the current campaign. Comedy has the shortest attention span in the entertainment universe. The carmaker now has a free hand to decide whether to continue with the approach, bringing up the prospect of overexposing McConaughey's moody monologues. 

But the ultimate test will be whether this all translates into sales. Lincoln has some nice cars, but compared with the luxury and near-luxury competition, its products aren't as compelling. That could change over the next few years, as Ford rolls out re-engineered Lincolns in several segments. But for the moment, the buzz is mainly around the brand — a positive development that could fool Ford into thinking that Lincoln is doing better than it is. But for now, the fun continues.

Watch the entire "SNL" video below.

SEE ALSO: This Is The SUV Matthew McConaughey Is Driving In Those Trippy Ads

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Lorne Michaels is the Emmy-winning creator of NBC's "Saturday Night Live," making him television royalty. He's got an intense personality that often comes across as off-putting or intimidating, but he regularly secures huge deals for his closest friends.

Jimmy Fallon became one of those friends at the start of his career, and it was that relationship that eventually got Fallon the coveted host's seat of "The Tonight Show," elevating Fallon to the top of the industry.

Fallon explains in Men's Journal how SNL producer Marci Klein, who found Fallon to be very charming, helped him overcome his fear and connect with Michaels, who had long been one of his idols:

Marci gave me a bit of advice: "After every show, go over to Lorne and you thank him for the show." And I did. I thanked him every single show. And by the third show, he probably got tired of me coming up. He was like, "Sit down, come have a drink."

After a few seasons, Fallon would be immediately taken to Michaels' table following a show to go over the cast's performance with him. "There's some kind of very strong connection. I can't really describe it beyond that. But it just has always been there," Michaels says.

It's a perfect example that with enough confidence and grace, even a new employee can lay the foundation for a valuable relationship with the head of their company.

You can learn more about the keys to Fallon's success in the November issue of Men's Journal.

SEE ALSO: How Jimmy Fallon Made It To 'The Tonight Show' Through Exceptional Networking

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The 88-second trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has amassed more than 44 million YouTube views since its release on November 28th.

"Saturday Night Live" mocked the trailer by imagining what the original characters — Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo — will look like in 2015's new installment.

Princess Leia, originally played by actress Carrie Fisher, is now wearing reading glasses.

Harrison Ford's Han Solo character is now hard-of-hearing and mildly confused.

Chewbacca is forced to wear a surgery cone.

And Luke Skywalker, who was played by Mark Hamill, now has a lightsaber walker and a thyroid problem.

The new "Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens," directed by J.J. Abrams, opens on December 18, 2015. 

Watch the full "SNL" trailer below:

SEE ALSO: Seth Rogen Crashes James Franco's 'SNL' Monologue To Address Sony Hack

AND: George Lucas Told Mark Hamill About 'Star Wars: Episode VII' In The 1980s

MORE: Here's An Explanation For Everything You See In The New 'Star Wars' Trailer

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James Franco hosted "Saturday Night Live" this weekend and opened the show by addressing last week's massiveSonyhacks.

"Something pretty crazy happened this week. I have this movie called 'The Interview' coming out at Sony and this week Sony Studios got all their computers hacked. This is true. These hackers have leaked real personal information about everybody that works at Sony. Social security numbers, emails, and I know eventually they're going to start leaking out stuff about me. So before you hear it from someone else, I thought it would be better if you hear it from me."

Franco joked: "Soon you'll know that my email is CuterThanDaveFranco@AOL.com. My password is LittleJamesyCutiePie — and this is all just a real violation of my personal life."

Then Seth Rogen joined Franco on stage, to warn his "Interview" co-star: "It's much, much worse than we thought it would be. You're not going to believe this but an hour ago they released some of our private photos from our phones."

"Like the one I took of you in your dressing room?" asked Franco.

Rogen jokingly replied, "Yes, but they also leaked this one of me teaching you how to read."

The two also joked that the hackers released photos of them pretending to be John and Yoko.

Earlier this week, leaked Sony documents revealed Rogen was paid $8.4 million and Franco $6.5 million for their roles in "The Interview," a Sony movie about two journalists who land an interview with the North Korean leader and are then recruited by the CIA to take part in a plot to poison him. North Korea reacted furiously in June when Sony announced its plans for the film, denouncing it as the work of "gangster moviemakers."

Franco closed the monologue by adding: "Oh and also, all the girls who got any Instagram messages from me last year, the hackers did it! It was the hackers!"

In April, Franco was busted for trying to pickup a teenage fan on Instagram.

Watch Franco's full SNL monologue here: 

SEE ALSO: Sony Hackers Reveal How Much Seth Rogen And James Franco Were Paid For 'The Interview'

MORE: LEAKED: Hacked Sony Docs Reveal Top 17 Executives' Multimillion-Dollar Salaries

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