Mulaney entered the five-timers club on Saturday with help from some comedy icons.
Back in December, Paul Rudd was set to host Saturday Night Live for the fifth time. However, what was supposed to be his triumphant induction into the show's coveted five-timers club was somewhat spoiled by the COVID-19 surge in New York.
Now, just over two months later, John Mulaney returned to host the show for his fifth time, and got the traditional fanfare with special guests Steve Martin and Candice Bergen -- decked out in their traditional smoking jackets with a golden "5" logo emblazoned across them.
The sketch began with Rudd lamenting how he missed his own special.
"Well, not to be a total bitch but my five-timer show in December was going to be a lot better. That is, until the whole cast decided to call out sick," Rudd said, before welcoming Mulaney into to club. "Congrats, man! Tonight it's all about you. And me to a degree as well. You know, my party was canceled, due to laziness."
Then Tina Fey joined the show to celebrate the new member, alongside old-school SNL stalwart Elliot Gould.
However, as the sketch filled up with people, Martin and Bergen suggested that maybe, just maybe, there are too many people in the five-timers club, and that maybe it should just be celebrities -- instead of comedy writers, like Mulaney.
This was Conan O'Brien's que to storm in for his cameo, and defend Mulaney's place. After a shockingly long applause break for the beloved former talk-show host. O'Brien told the other celebs off for insinuating that Mulaney didn't deserve it because he was just a writer.
"You start here and you can do great things! I hosted my own TV show for decades," O'Brien declared.
"And what are you doing now?" Mulaney asked.
"I have a podcast," O'Brien replied sheepishly.
After getting his five-timers jacket -- off of Rudd's back -- O'Brien attempted to open the show with the "Live from New York" catch-phrase, only for everyone to explain that they'd already started the show earlier on. That, of course, didn't stop him from delivering the line anyway.
Check out the video below for more on how Rudd's episode was entirely retooled due to the COVID-19 surge.
Saturday Night Live airs live, coast-to-coast, at 11:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. PT on NBC.
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