Departing ‘SNL’ cast members offer giddy goodbyes in season finale

The season finale of “SNL,” hosted by five-timer Ben Affleck, was a star-studded event commemorating the end of an era for several veteran cast members.

Guest stars included Jennifer Garner, a.k.a Mrs. Ben Affleck, who showed up during the monologue to gently edit Affleck’s Oscar speech, in which he stated that marriage is work (and some took to mean that being married to Garner in particular was difficult.)

Bill Hader’s oddball character Stefon rode off into the sunset in an appropriately silly, nonsensical manner. After fleeing the Weekend Update desk proclaiming he was going to get married, Seth Meyers (who had been joined for the segment by Amy Poehler for a “Really!?!” segment on the IRS scandal), took off after him to interrupt the ceremony “The Graduate”-style, shocking the many weirdos in attendance, like Alf and human Smurfs. After stealing Stefon away from his intended (played by Anderson Cooper), the two run back to the studio together.

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This was the last episode for Hader (while Meyers, in case you missed it, will be filling Jimmy Fallon’s late-night shoes) and as they grinned and hugged, the silliness of the bit and the giddiness of the night was infectious.

This goodbye happened to be bookended nicely by an earlier commercial for a new form of Xanax to combat the feelings of inadequacy that accompany beautiful gay weddings, where, for instance, the guests perform choreographed dances to Beyoncé songs that haven’t been released yet.

There were also several musical highlights of the night, including Kanye West debuting two new songs, “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves,” which was powerful fare, but lighten up, ‘Ye! You’re going to be a daddy soon and it’s the season finale of “SNL.” It’s OK to have a little fun.

Musical goodbyes are not uncommon on “SNL” and so Fred Armisen chose to celebrate his apparent departure as Ian Rubbish, the Margaret-Thatcher-loving punk musician. Joined onstage by Jason Sudeikis (who is also likely departing the show) and other cast members, he played a sweet song called “I’ve Had a Lovely Night”, also accompanied by musical friends such as his “Portlandia” costar Carrie Brownstein, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis, the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones, as well as Aimee Mann and Michael Penn.

There will be some big gaps next season without many of the old faces around, but one of the best parts of this current season was watching newer cast members like Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong flourish, so as always, “SNL” will continue to refresh and rejuvenate.

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