In addition to hosting the First Coming of Yeezus, May 19’s Saturday Night Live was the season closer and the final episode to feature Bill Hader, and — what’s this? — maybe Fred Armisen. The Portlandia moonlighter hasn’t officially announced his departure (nor has the show), but he and Hader seemed to share a grand, star-studded send-off, with the former wrapping up the recent run of his Sex Pistols-inspired punk rocker Ian Rubbish and the latter reprising his beloved Stefon role.
Above, witness Rubbish and his Bizarros as they perform a new song about always looking on the bright side of life. Accompanied by Hader on bass, Jason Sudeikis (also rumored to be leaving) on drums, and Taran Killam on guitar, Armisen kicks things off before inviting a few friends up to lend a hand. The band eventually expands to include the Pistols’ Steve Jones, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis, Aimee Mann, Michael Penn, and, of course, Carrie Brownstein — late of Sleater-Kinney and Armisen’s Portlandia partner. More than being a touching sing-along, the performance at last answers the question of what to do, “When your cup of tea / Is filled with the sour milk, see.”
Below, Hader joins Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler for his usual “Weekend Update” report, but things go awry when Meyers responds to Stefon’s outlandish entertainment ideas with dissatisfaction. Stefon announces that he’s found someone who respects him, and that he plans to marry that man. Meyers gives chase and arrives at the chapel to reenact a famous moment from The Graduate (or if we’re being consistent, Wayne’s World 2), when we discover that the husband-to-be is none other than Anderson Cooper. From there, it’s all Alf and Urkel and human Smurfs and that thing where midgets wear traffic cones on their heads.
