SNL

Tom Hanks had us a bit worried that SNL would forgo its Wednesday promos for a look back at the Inferno star’s eight previous hostings, but the man always delivers. See for yourself, as Hanks and Leslie Jones enjoy a round of mimosas, before being chased off of NBC’s roof.

It’s been six years since Julia Louis-Dreyfus hosted SNL, but with her hilariously irreverent HBO series Veep entering its fifth season, it’s about time for the former cast member / Seinfeld star to make her return. After poking fun at her forgettable SNL tenure in the monologue, it’s unfortunate to see Louis-Dreyfus given so many forgettable characters in sketches that are mostly vanilla and that feel written for a target demographic made up entirely of suburban women with Activia dependencies. That said, the usual wacky antics of the last 15 minutes combined with the undeniable greatness of Louis-Dreyfus and the occasional moment of hilarity save this episode, taking it from a four up to a solid six.

SNL took a little break through the second half of February (thankfully, the GOP race has largely filled in for itself), but will return for its March 2016 debut with Hail, Caesar! star Jonah Hill, and musical guest Future. Go on, enjoy Jonah getting his shoes shined, then. What can you do, not watch?

Maybe you didn’t realize how much you missed Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush impression on SNL until the actor popped in for a surprise appearance during the cold open, delivering a State of the Union address on our current crop of GOP presidential hopefuls — which is essentially just Ferrell’s Dubbya roasting his fellow Republicans in an attempt to make an unprecedented bid for a third term as POTUS.

After taking a bit of a break from acting to make his directorial debut (and to have what I presume is a very adorable baby with Eva Mendes), Ryan Gosling is back. In addition to starring in upcoming films from Adam McKay and Shane Black, the actor is cementing his return with his SNL debut. Gosling can't keep a straight face through most of the episode, which delivers some really weird and delightful sketches with few disappointments. Read on for our ranking of this week's SNL sketches from best to worst.

Amy Schumer has had an incredible couple of years with her hit series Inside Amy Schumer, her collaboration with Judd Apatow for Trainwreck, and her upcoming HBO comedy special. When you’re this beloved, there’s one place you need to be: on the SNL stage. Schumer makes her SNL hosting debut tonight and absolutely kills it, delivering a complete 180 from whatever happened with last week's relentlessly humorless season premiere (can we just pretend this was the season premiere? OK). There’s so much to love in this consistently funny episode, where even the weakest sketch of the night is still quite delightful. Read on for this week’s sketches, ranked from best to worst.

Alex Trebek is a cultural institution, a beacon of knowledge and grace under pressure. Everyone loves him. Which is why it’s always amusing to watch the unflappable host of Jeopardy say silly words and phrases in that reliable deadpan of his. A recent episode of the immortal game show saw him forced to say the name “Turd Ferguson,” which should amuse anyone with a passing knowledge of modern comedy.

The summer of 2015 has afforded far too many absurd and newsworthy sagas for SNL to sit out, and Season 41 is already exploding off the bench. Not only will Miley Cyrus host the October premiere, but SNL will follow up with Amy Schumer, and a momentous return for alumni Tracy Morgan.

Most of the time, the SNL opening monologue is a formality and a tradition, a road bump on the way to the actual good parts of an episode. It feels like something the guest host does because he has to, not because anyone on the writing staff actually had a good idea. And that’s why last night’s monologue was such a joyous surprise: it was not only the best monologue of the season, but the best sketch of the whole night.

In the midst of an otherwise dull (and occasionally painful) red carpet special that aired before the SNL 40th anniversary show, special guest Jim Carrey livened things up by by making Matt Lauer really uncomfortable. His comedic weapon of choice? The recently suspended/disgraced NBC newsman Brian Williams.