Saturday Night Live celebrated 40 years on TV with a special that included just about everyone who ever appeared on the show. INSIDE EDITION has the scoop.
It was a three-and-a-half-hour trip down memory lane as Saturday Night Live celebrated 40 years of making America laugh.
Steve Martin said in the opening monologue, “Tonight is like an enormous high school reunion. A high school that is almost all white!”
On the red carpet Sunday night at Rockefeller Center SNL’s former stars like Chris Rock and Adam Sandler cut their comedic teeth on the show. Even Sarah Palin, who is a frequent target of the show's political humor, was there.
Palin told INSIDE EDITION, “I grew up watching SNL kind of sneaking into the TV room to watch it, you know, because it was a bit risqué, obviously at the time."
The reunion show revived some of SNL's most beloved characters and sketches. Celebrity Jeopardy was revived with Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek and Alec Baldwin as Tony Bennett. Jim Carey impersonated Matthew McConaughey and brought down the house spoofing the actor.
Even the real Alex Trebek was in the audience to watch the parody.
Some SNL favorites like Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase may have packed on the pounds, but they haven't lost their comedic timing.
Melissa McCarthy reprised Chris Farley’s motivational speaker on “Weekend Update,” and Emma Stone channeled Gilda Radner playing Roseanne Roseannadanna.
Among the show-stopping moments was Bradley Cooper's long lingering lip-lock with 93-year-old Betty White! It lasted 11 seconds.
There was also the return of by Eddie Murphy, who shot to superstardom on the show but hasn’t been back in 32 years. But despite a big build-up, he was a little low-key.
He said, "This show is such a big part of my life and my career and I am just happy to be back here."
There was drama behind-the-scenes because former cast member Victoria Jackson says she was kept in an overflow room away from other cast members. She says it was because she is a conservative.
She told INSIDE EDITION's Steven Fabian, "Basically, all I am standing for is The Bible and the Constitution, I guess that is not popular anymore or cool."
She says she sneaked into the audience and watched the last hour of the show.
The big finale paid tribute to creator Lorne Michaels for 40 years of laughter and memories.
Watch SNL Stars Talk About How The Show Changed Their Lives
