Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon did what they do best to kick off Saturday Night Lives 40th Anniversary special on NBC: sing and dance. The pair introduced the night with a rousing run down of some of the sketch shows greatest hits, their simple monologue patter transforminginto The Chronic-what?!-cles of SNL, a History of Rap-style verse comprisingcatchphrases from Schwing! to Schweddy balls.
The bit, however, was urgently interrupted by Rachel Dratchs Debbie Downer, who offered a friendly reminder that episodes that start with a musical number often go south quickly. Still the show must go on: To the tune of Soul Man, Fallon and Timberlake busted out their best Blues Brothers impressions, then shook off an early snap of exhaustion with a prescription shot of cowbell that garnered a libidinous armpit sniff from everyones favorite superstar, Mary Katherine Gallagher, played by Molly Shannon.
Fallon and Timberlake ended the opener witha spiritedtop-hatted, canes-winging conclusion. Its time for comedy, its time to celebrate, all the nights we stayed up late, its been 40 years! the duo harmonized, closing out the big number with, what else: Live from New York, its Saturday night!
As Fallon and Timberlake also teased, Saturday Night Lives 40th Anniversary special will boast a metric ton of special guests, including Kanye West, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Paul Simon, Tom Hanks, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Jerry Seinfeld, Amy Poehler and Eddie Murphy, who will return to the showfor the first timesince 1984.