Studio 8H was abuzz with the return of Kate McKinnon. The former Saturday Night Live cast member, who bid farewell to the show in 2022 after 10 years, returned on Saturday night as host. “I used to work here,” she told the audience, “and now I’m back at my ‘old job.’”
Though it was far from McKinnon’s first time appearing on stage during the opening monologue, being the person to deliver it was an admittedly bizarre experience. “I don’t really like to talk in my own voice,” she explained. “That’s kind of why I got into this racket in the first place… Basically, I’ve never been myself in a monologue before. I usually play the role of Freak Next to Hot Person.” She then shared some old photos of her time on the show standing alongside the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, and Jim Parsons. Fortunately, she got an assist from a few former colleagues who have been in her place.
Stating that she was contractually obligated to sing a song because it was SNL’s Christmas episode, McKinnon began performing her own rendition of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” Then she shared that the best thing about being back in the SNL studio was running into old friends—and was then joined by fellow comedic legends Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph.
When a visibly thrilled McKinnon asked what they were doing there, Wiig admitted they were “just walking by.” When McKinnon explained that she was in the middle of the monologue, Rudolph replied: “Well honey, who isn’t?”
“You know, I looked myself up on Wikipedia the other day, as I do everyday,” Wiig shared, “and it said I was in over 38,000 sketches here.” While McKinnon suggested that Wikipedia might not be “the most reliable” source of true information, Wiig and Rudolph both strongly disagreed. That difference of opinion didn’t stop them from joining together to finish out the song. (They later joined McKinnon for another ABBA-esque musical sketch.)
