Kristen Wiig Brought All Her Friends To Work In Stellar SNL Five-Timers Club Episode

There are two special & rare kinds of episodes that happen on NBC's Saturday Night Live. The first one of those is an SNL alum hosted episode, where a previous cast member is invited back to host the show after being a part of the cast. The other one is the famous five-timers episode, where a guest who's officially hosted five times gets the prestigious five timers jacket worn by a short list of household names & the biggest comedic talents.

Now when both of these things happen in the same episode, you know it's about to be a beyond truly special night. It goes without saying that this past weekend's host Kristen Wiig used this opportunity perfectly to assemble the best of the best SNL alums, previous five-timers, and some other famous folks for the ultimate five timer's induction. Joining her throughout this nostalgic & joy filled episode were Paul Rudd, Paula Pell, Martin Short, Matt Damon, Fred Armisen, Will Forte, Jon Hamm and the show's next host on April 13th, Ryan Gosling (all of whom happen to be great friends of hers, making this night mean so much more).

She pulled out all the stops to make this an unforgettable episode & quite possibly one of the best episodes so far for season 49 from bringing back old characters and crushing these new sketches with this exceptional cast.

Check out some of the best moments from Wiig's stellar five-timers episode below.

To celebrate her fifth time hosting Saturday Night Live, Wiig opened the show by taking some questions from some famous audience members including Paul Rudd, Paula Pell, Matt Damon and more. Not everyone that was sporting the famous jacket during the show's opening monologue truly earned their title. Looking at Jimmy Kimmel's arch nemesis Matt Damon, who needs to check his math on his previous hosting stints.

Another sweet highlight from this bit was seeing the show's creator & executive producer, Lorne Michaels, genuinely giggling with Martin Short when hanging in the big collective five-timers circle side stage as he's begging to host again (a rare thing to see).

The big surprise here was seeing next week's host, Ryan Gosling, making a surprise appearance (*cue Will Forte screaming "oh my God, is that Ryan Gosling??!"*).

There's a new verb many of us will have attached to us for a while thanks to Kristen Wiig & the writing team behind this sketch. Have you ever been Jumanjied?

In this zany sketch, a group of friends (Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, Chloe Fineman, Andrew Dismukes) meet their friend's (James Austin Johnson) new girlfriend (Kristen Wiig), who's evidently traumatized by the movie Jumanji. This circle of friends go back and forth across the table discussing the reality of the game & the movie Jumanji & what it actually means to be Jumanjied (is it sucked into the game or the game comes out?).

Kristen's performance here was out of the park with major props also going to Andrew Dismukes, who excellently holds together the concepts of the 1995 film & the 2017 film and quickly repeats the word Jumanji excessively without missing a single beat.

Just wait until the end and see what happens when this group opens the train-based board game Ticket To Ride (hint: there's smoke coming from the new game & a cameo from a familiar looking train conductor).

Physical comedy was on full display and at its finest between two of SNL's comedy queens Kristen Wiig & Heidi Gardner in this bonkers Secretaries sketch.

A lawyer (played perfectly by Mad Men star Jon Hamm) is working to take on a new client (Bowen Yang) at his law practice & seeks the help of his secretary. However, when one secretary isn't making the cut, why not hire a second one? Heidi Gardner plays the primary office secretary, Trudy, that's "only right half of the time," so the lawyer brings on her cousin Tootie (Wiig) to help pick up slack. And we quickly see that they're both wrong all the time.

From simply making a drink, to heating a sandwich, and somehow losing garments of clothing while falling through desks & walls make this sketch so classic & hilarious.

One of the familiar favorites Wiig brought back with her from her SNL tenure was her recurring Aunt Linda character, the cranky and all-mixed-up Weekend Update movie critic. The real SNL fans who watched Weekend Update back in the day with Amy Poehler & Seth Meyers know this character well, some might say it's a deep cut (a great character nonetheless).

Aunt Linda humorously opens this bit by mistakenly greeting Colin Jost for Meyers. With sass, she tells him "someone's gotten some work done," while jerking her thumb toward Jost amid a symphony of suggestive eyebrow wiggles.

In her latest return, Aunt Linda chats with Jost about her takes on the latest hit movies, including Barbie and Oppenheimer.

Another familiar favorite fans were excited to see was the recurring "Party" sketch from the late 2000s & early 2010s. What was supposed to be a calm & celebratory retirement party for Jerry (Kenan Thompson) went off the rails when speeches from a variety of personalities come to the stage to make an attempt at giving Jerry honor.

A few of the main characters from that sketch came to reprise their roles including Gayle (Kristen Wiig), her deeply strange oxygen-tank-wheeling character in pink, Fred Armisen's creepy curly-haired guy, and Will Forte's blonde-wigged weirdo with big hands.

It's best experienced to watch for yourself: some of the other characters that show up include the Gits & Shiggles improv comedy group (with Paul Rudd, Punkie Johnson & Chloe Fineman) & Hollywood actor Matt Damon (yes, that Matt Damon).

While Wiig didn't appear in this specific Weekend Update segment, we'd be crazy not to mention this perfectly timed Earthquake & Eclipse sketch given the recent events from Friday's Earthquake in the Northeast & the Eclipse happening across the country today. Who knows when the writing team & costume team started creating this bit, if it was nearly a day or less before the show, these writers & designers deserve a raise immediately.

Marcello Hernández is truly on his way to becoming a legend of Saturday Night Live & continues to cement himself as one of the show's best featured players working right now. He truly gave his all as the Earthquake and the WWE energy with this character made it work so well. His pacing & timing is bar none.

Kenan Thompson, the show's longest running cast member coming on nearly two decades, was just brilliant playing the Eclipse against the NY Earthquake. Thompson has such a signature way of delivering bold smack talk with the characters that require it including this one, making him so entertaining to watch.

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