SNL 40

For as much hype as SNL garnered in returning so many past alum for its 40th anniversary special, Eddie Murphy’s long-awaited return seemed curiously brief. Norm MacDonald since explained that the revered comedian had declined to portray Bill Cosby in the all-star Celebrity Jeopardy sketch, and now Murphy himself explains the decision.

The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon might be prone to brief spats of name-dropping – hey, the guy knows a lot of people! – but on last night’s show, it was at least somewhat appropriate. Still recovering from Sunday night’s SNL 40 super special, Fallon was eager to share his recollections of the evening with his studio audience (and also Questlove, who was actually there, but who charitably recounted the whole evening with the giddy Fallon). There were a lot of people there!

Welcome back to another installment of the Monday Morning Critic. In this space each week, I’ll be looking at the week that was in addition to the week ahead in television. The format will shift each week, as the world of TV will dictate the form and content of each piece. In this week’s installment: my all-time cast of SNL.

The SNL 40th Anniversary Special had a LOT going on. It was over three hours of comedy and music and stars and tributes all packed into one night. With so much going on, if you missed something, we can't say we blame you. We've covered the big items, like Celebrity Jeopardy, Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, the new Digital Short, Wayne's World and the huge monologue, but we're here to celebrate some of the smaller moments.

Schwing! With the SNL 40th Anniversary Special bringing back all their heavy hitters, you had to know that Wayne and Garth were going to come back for one more Wayne's World. We had to wait until the end of the special, but it was worth it to see their “SNL Top 10” that broke the fourth wall and was actually sweet.

What would a SNL 40th Anniversary Special be without Celebrity Jeopardy, one of the most popular recurring sketches of the modern SNL era. Alex Trebek was back and he brought with him some of his most frustrating contestants including Sir Sean Connery, Justin Bieber, Tony Bennett, Matthew McConaughey, Christoph Waltz, and, of course, Turd Ferguson.