The wildly successful 'SNL' alum made his hosting debut after almost 24 years.
Adam Sandler returned to Saturday Night Live to host the show for the first time since he left as a castmember in 1995, and in his first-ever monologue, he explained why he left the show in the first place.
"My wife and kids are here tonight, and I always tell them how SNL was the greatest time in my life. So they ask, 'If it was the greatest, why did you leave?'" Sandler said, during his monologue, before answering the question with a song.
"I was fired, I was fired, I never saw it coming," Sandler sang, in a tune that included Sandler's joke claim that he called producer Lorne Michaels, and never got a call back.
Sandler, along with Chris Farley and a slew of other big stars, were let go between seasons, and never got a chance to say farewell.
One of the other stars who was fired around the same time was Chris Rock, who joined Sandler on stage to add his verse to the song.
"I was fired, I was fired, I was fired by NBC, then I went on In Living Color, and three weeks later they took it off TV," Rock sang.
Next up, current cast member Pete Davidson took the stage and sang the first bars of a verse, belting, "I was fired, I was fired!"
When reminded by Sandler that he hadn't actually been fired, Davidson quipped, "I wasn't? How is that even possible?"
"I don't know, but be patient. It's coming soon," Sandler said with a laugh.
After Davidson walked off, the wildly successful alum wrapped up the tune, singing, "NBC said I was done, then I made over $4 billion at the box office, so I guess you could say I won."
Later in the episode, during "Weekend Update," Sandler gave the fans what they were hoping for by wonderfully reprising his iconic Opera Man character, which he used to musically satirize current events.
Sandler's now holds the SNL record for the longest gap between an actor appearing as a castmember and then returning to host, at 23 years, 11 months and 22 days.
Sandler just edged out former castmember Dan Aykroyd, who previously held the same record, by only seven days -- essentially he waited one additional episode to host.
For more fond Saturday Night Live memories, check out the video below to hear alums Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch and Ana Gasteyer reveal their favorite sketch from their time on the show.
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