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Ryan Phillippe is hosting the next episode of Saturday Night Live. But if you need a pick-me-up sooner, don't miss NBC's special Saturday Night Live in the 2000s: Time and Again (Thursday, 9 p.m. ET). The retrospective will feature "best of" moments, documentary-style commentary with cast and guests, and "worst" moments, as well. Might we be lucky enough to relive Ashlee Simpson's 2004 lip-synching disaster? Talk about comedy!
With a decade's worth of sketches to choose from, the editors may be hard-pressed to shoehorn the most entertaining clips into two hours. Here are brilliant segments that deserve inclusion:
Andy Samberg's hilarious digital shorts -- Lazy Sunday with Chris Parnell and D**k in a Box with Justin Timberlake take the cake!-- brought SNL into the 21st century, adding youth cred (super-important when your demo is humans who are still awake at midnight) to the 35-year-old comedy series.
Anything with Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, who proved that comedy duos aren't just a guy thing. Whether exchanging passive-aggressive barbs as Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, or riffing off one another behind the Weekend Update desk, the pair could be every bit as funny as SNL icons Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.
Talk-show spoofs can hit or miss, but Tracy Morgan rarely missed with Brian Fellows Safari Planet ("That's crazy!") and Maya Rudolph's inspired Oprah Winfrey send-ups were priceless. And in The View parodies, Kenan Thompson's cranky Whoopi Goldberg was almost too close to real.
As for the best recurring characters, Poehler was a riot as the irrepressible Kaitlin ("Rick! Rick! Rick! Rick!") -- especially in the episode when Becky (guest host Lindsay Lohan) slept over. And frankly, all Kristin Wiig's crazy characters are scene-stealers: talkative Target lady, naughty schoolgirl Gilly, compulsive liar Penelope, jaded film critic Aunt Linda... That's some must-see comedy, indeed!
Plus: Happy Homecoming! Tina Fey Hosts 'SNL'!
Which SNL moment has been your favorite in recent memory? Chime in below!
