‘Saturday Night Live’: Bill Hader Skips Monologue for ‘Californians’ Sketch

Bill Hader finally returned to Studio 8H to host Saturday Night Live for the first time since 2014, and only the second time since he left the show. His monologue was filled with the kind of humor fans have come to expect from the comic actor.

He started the monologue by wishing everyone a happy St. Patrick’s Day. In his monologue, Hader joked about how different it is to be a host. He learned a lot about how SNL works after leaving. He also learned that he can skip the long monologue.

So, he just went right into a new Californians sketch as Devin! Fred Armisen popped in to play Stuart again. It looked like the two stars haven’t lost a beat. They also revealed that Rose (Vanessa Bayer) has been deported. Unfortunately, Kristen Wiig did not appear. However, Pete Davidson showed up as Rose and Devin’s long-lost son. He surprised everyone by wondering where their accents came from.

During the cold open, Hader appeared as Anthony Scaracmucci, the former White House Communications Director. Armisen played Fire and Fury author Michael Wolff, and John Goodman played fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Hader is not just stopping by to say hello to his old show as he is there to promote his new project, HBO’s Barry. In the series, Hader stars as a hitman who gets the acting bug when his new hit takes him to Los Angeles. He created the show with Alec Berg, a Seinfeld and Silicon Valley veteran. It is much darker than anything else he has ever done.

“A lot of people have been like, ‘So, yeah, this show is really dark,’” Hader told The New York Times. “They’re like, ‘Huh. What happened to you, man?’ Oh come on, it’s not that dark. Other than people getting killed, come on.”

When asked what the best part of going back to SNL is, Hader told the Times that he loved seeing everybody again.

“But the down side of it is, as a cast member, you know how much of the show is on the host’s shoulders. You’re in a meeting, like, ‘I don’t think you should do this with me,’” Hader said. “When I was there, guys like Tom Hanks would come in and be like, ‘Where do you want me?’ That’s a good lesson. Preplanning too much stuff never works. What’s exciting — and terrifying — is no matter what you do, it’s going to be what it’s going to be.”

The 39-year-old Hader joined SNL in 2008 and created a full roster of great sketches, including his unforgettable Weekend Update character Stefon. You can check out his best sketches here.

Photo credit: NBC