Last nights SNL 40 celebration was as great as expected, and maybe even better. In three and a half hours they paid tribute to stars that made show famous, as well as the crew, Lorne Michaels and all the legendary sketches and segments that have become apart of pop culture history. Two of the shows most well known sketches, Celebrity Jeopardy and The Californians, also made star studded returns. Celebrity Jeopardy was out first with Will Ferrell looking exactly the same as he did almost 20 years as Alex Trebek. Old faithful’s Sean Connery (Darrell Hammond), Tony Bennett (Alec Baldwin) and Burt Reynolds (Norm Macdonald) mixed it up with Justin Bieber (Kate McKinnon), Matthew McConaughey (Jim Carrey) and Christoph Waltz (Taran Killam). The best part of any Celebrity Jeopardy sketch involved the interaction between Trebek and Connery, and Will Ferrell and Darrell Hammond just have a comedic chemistry that will never die (they were equally as awesome as Al Gore and George Bush). Norm MacDonald’s Burt Reynolds impression is always top notch, and his asinine Andre the Giant anecdotes were consistently hysterical. Alec Baldwin did a spot on out of loop semi racist Tony Bennett, and Kate McKinnon’s Bieber continues to be my new favorite impression. Also, Sean Connery turning simple expressions into dirty terms will NEVER get old.

The Californians was equally as funny, minus the Taylor Swift appearance. What kind of accent was that exactly? I understand she’s not an actor but if you have ALL THE GREATEST FEMALE SKETCH COMEDIANS EVER in one room and you choose to put T-Swift in a sketch she better deliver. She did not, but with awesome cameos from Bradley Cooper, Kerry Washington and Betty White, the skit was still a highlight of the show. Also, how about that sweet embrace from Betty and Bradley? They’re the real America’s Sweethearts.

– Ryan