Emma Stone reunited with La La Land co-star Ryan Gosling to help him launch the new season of Saturday Night Live.
Ryan hosted the season premiere, repeatedly coming close to losing it with laughter especially when cast member Kate McKinnon manhandled his bottom in one skit.
He was joined by JAY-Z as the special musical guest on a night that also saw Alec Baldwin coming back with his special impersonation of Donald Trump.
Back together: Emma Stone reunited with La La Land co-star Ryan Gosling to help him launch the new season of Saturday Night Live
But it was the surprise appearance of Emma, rekindling their famous pairing from musical blockbuster La La Land, that sparked many of the loudest screams of the night.
Ryan, in a burgundy suit and a patterned sweater, had started his opening monologue by saying how thrilled he was to be launching the season with his second time as host, then quipping: ‘I haven’t felt this excited since I saved jazz.’
He then continued joking about how his performance in the big screen musical had saved the musical genre, saying: ‘I mean me, Ryan Gosling, a white kid from Canada, I guess I can try and save jazz, and so I did.’
He even joked that it was the main talking point when he first met Harrison Ford on the set of Bladerunner 2049 — the new movie he was supposed to be promoting — joking: ‘He walks right up to me and he looks me straight in the eye and he said, “Ryan, what the heck is jazz?”’
Piano man: Ryan, in a burgundy suit and a patterned sweater, had started his opening monologue by saying how thrilled he was to be launching the season with his second time as host, then quipping: ‘I haven’t felt this excited since I saved jazz.’
How’s he doing it? Ryan then got behind a piano, pretending to play — with the music still going even as he used both hands to light a cigarette.
Ryan then got behind a piano, pretending to play — with the music still going even as he used both hands to light a cigarette.
He then almost failed to control his laughter for the first time of the night as he talked about how jazz was born in New Orleans and pronouncing it ‘Nerlins,’ saying it then spread to ‘Chicagee’ and ‘NYC City.’
‘Let me tell you, jazz was the thing. Jazz was where it was at,’ he said, adding with a smile: ‘And then it almost died and I saved it.’
Giggles: He failed to control his laughter, and it wouldn’t be the only time in the show
Nope: Ryan was first joined onstage by Kenan Thompson who called him ‘a bad ambassador for jazz’ and insisted: ‘You didn’t save jazz — it was sarcasm, it was a joke.’
As for his new movie, he quipped: ‘The budget for Bladerunner was insane. It was something like nine billion — almost as many notes as there are in jazz. I’m so glad I saved jazz.’
Ryan was first joined onstage by Kenan Thompson who called him ‘a bad ambassador for jazz’ and insisted: ‘You didn’t save jazz — it was sarcasm, it was a joke.’
Once he left, Ryan then told off the band for jumping into a funky jazz tune, telling them:
Interrupted: It was then that Emma walked out to excited screams from the audience, with her sternly telling her co-star: ‘Hey hey Ryan — stop.’
Team effort: you didn’t save jazz,’ Emma told him as he looked downcast, before adding: ‘We saved jazz!’
‘If you play jazz that loud then people can’t hear me talking about jazz, and that’s what we are all here for, aren’t we.’
It was then that Emma walked out to excited screams from the audience, with her sternly telling her co-star: ‘Hey hey Ryan — stop.’
‘Emma, didn’t you hear — I just jazzed really good with the guys,’ Ryan told her proudly.
Second time: His first skit of the night was also a repeat from his first time as host, with him once again joining Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong as people claiming to have met aliens, even wearing the same clothes but with them supposedly coming back for a second visit
Heavenly: Ryan and Cecily again said seeing the aliens was a God-like experience, with Ryan — who seemed most excited about the ‘bitchin’’ hat he got from the Department of Defense — saying: ‘The aliens touched you foreheads and saw my whole life.’
‘You jazzed fine,’ she told him, before seemingly set to burst his bubble.
‘Ryan, you didn’t save jazz. How many times have we talked about this?’
‘Because you didn’t save jazz,’ Emma told him as he looked downcast, before adding: ‘We saved jazz!’
‘Isn’t that right NYC City?’ she asked, blowing out smoke from her cigarette.
Graphic description: Kate had a whole different experience, insisting: ‘I wasn’t so much lifted by light as I was caught in a net — the little b*stards set a snare for me.’
It was then that she got Ryan to stand so she could demonstrate how the aliens had manhandled her buttocks
His first skit of the night was also a repeat from his first time as host, with him once again joining Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong as people claiming to have met aliens, even wearing the same clothes but with them supposedly coming back for a second visit.
Ryan and Cecily told NSA agents that the experience was almost heavenly — while Kate had a whole different experience, insisting: ‘I wasn’t so much lifted by light as I was caught in a net — the little b*stards set a snare for me.’
Saying she was ‘hauled onboard with my bush and my tush hanging out’ after her pants were ripped off, she quipped: ‘I was hit with the realization — first time I’ve been on a second date since 2009.’
Punch it! Gosling was shaking with laughter with his back to the cameras as Kate repeatedly grabbed and prodded his behind
Cracking up: She even stuck her face right in there
Ryan and Cecily again said seeing the aliens was a God-like experience, with Ryan — who seemed most excited about the ‘bitchin’’ hat he got from the Department of Defense — saying: ‘The aliens touched you foreheads and saw my whole life.’
‘These guys are tripping out at Burning Man, meanwhile I’m stranded at the Fyre Festival,’ Kate’s character said, saying: ‘I hadn’t been onboard more than two minutes and the little grays start tapping on my knockers. Keep in mind I haven’t got on any pants so my taco and my choco are out.’
Describing the alien’s demeanor as like ‘shoppers storming a Walmart on Black Friday,’ she smirked: ‘If they’re coming back for seconds that means dinner’s a hit, right?
Hold it together: He again struggled to control his laughter as he pretended to play a fugitive in love with a chicken in an old film noir movie titled Henrietta and the Fugitive
Lols: He had already laughed and missed the cue for his line when the chicken, played by Aidy Bryant, struggled to get a gun out from his waistband because of her costume
In bits: But he was even more uncontrollable when he took responsibility with the cops after she shot dead a character played by Kenan, saying he ‘did it for someone I love’ and cracking up as he whispered lovingly to the chicken: I’m sorry.’
It was then that she got Ryan to stand so she could demonstrate how the aliens had manhandled her buttocks, with the actor shaking with laughter with his back to the cameras as Kate repeatedly grabbed and prodded his behind — and even stuck her face right in it.
He again struggled to control his laughter as he pretended to play a fugitive in love with a chicken in an old film noir movie titled Henrietta and the Fugitive.
He had already laughed and missed the cue for his line when the chicken, played by Aidy Bryant, struggled to get a gun out from his waistband because of her costume.
The end: The skit ended with her waiting for him outside prison as he left 20 years later
Laughing: Ryan was once again cracking up as he had to kiss her
But he was even more uncontrollable when he took responsibility with the cops after she shot dead a character played by Kenan, saying he ‘did it for someone I love’ and cracking up as he whispered lovingly to the chicken: I’m sorry.’
The skit ended with her waiting for him outside prison as he left 20 years later, with Ryan once again cracking up as he had to kiss her — and as her scarf around her head fell off during their performance.
Another hilarious skit saw Ryan and various cast members in a jeans advert, initially seeming to be a run-of-the-mill ad saying their jeans suited their style.
Woke: Another hilarious skit saw Ryan and various cast members in a jeans advert, initially seeming to be a run-of-the-mill ad saying their jeans suited their style
Fashion: Instead, they insisted they were all woke — introducing a huge baggy pair of ‘Levi’s Wokes’ that were ‘sizeless, style-neutral, gender non-comforming denim for a generation that defies labels.’
For everyone: They then showed off how the jeans had a zip right around the front and back of the jean so as not to dictate how the wearer goes to the bathroom, with them also bragging they were American made ‘by white kids.’
Instead, they insisted they were all woke — introducing a huge baggy pair of ‘Levi’s Wokes’ that were ‘sizeless, style-neutral, gender non-comforming denim for a generation that defies labels.’
‘It’s a handful of colors, none of which are dominant,’ new cast member Heidi Gardner said, with Mikey Day adding: ‘Just like our country.’
They then showed off how the jeans had a zip right around the front and back of the jean so as not to dictate how the wearer goes to the bathroom, with them also bragging they were American made ‘by white kids.’
Fliplets: Ryan also played the wild brother in a new HGTV show called The Fliplets — introducing himself saying: ‘When our parents divorced, I was the only one who went to live with our dad.’
Rough one: He wore a hoodie and cut-off denim jacket to his brothers smarter attire, and while the talked upbeat TV chat he said: ‘I don’t think they ever really grieved the death of our family. So rather than face the demons they have, they go city-to-city trying to build a home they never had.’
Ryan also played the wild brother in a new HGTV show called The Fliplets — introducing himself saying: ‘When our parents divorced, I was the only one who went to live with our dad.’
He wore a hoodie and cut-off denim jacket to his brothers smarter attire, and while the talked upbeat TV chat he said: ‘I don’t think they ever really grieved the death of our family. So rather than face the demons they have, they go city-to-city trying to build a home they never had.’
He then horrified his brothers as he admitted he felt ‘dreadful excitement’ when he was 12 and ‘watched a man get hit by a bus,’ saying to camera: ‘I watched him like it was all a little show that God was putting on just for me. That was the moment that the darkness began to shine.’
Disturbed: He then horrified his brothers as he admitted he felt ‘dreadful excitement’ when he was 12 and ‘watched a man get hit by a bus’
Edited: The skit ended with a voiceover pretending to say: ‘The Fliplets — this was the usable footage.’
The skit ended with a voiceover pretending to say: ‘The Fliplets — this was the usable footage.’
Another skit saw Ryan flipping out when he and his fiancee, played by Cecily, thought they were in their ‘favorite’ fancy Italian restaurant — but it ended up being a fake restaurant merely to use in an advert because their pasta meal was actually by Pizza Hut.
Ryan repeatedly threatened violence, angrily insisting: ‘I ought to beat you to death!’
Duped: Another skit saw Ryan flipping out when he and his fiancee, played by Cecily, thought they were in their ‘favorite’ fancy Italian restaurant — but it ended up being a fake restaurant merely to use in an advert because their pasta meal was actually by Pizza Hut
Vicious: Ryan repeatedly threatened violence, angrily insisting: ‘I ought to beat you to death!’
It ended up instead being an ad for Domino’s pizza, with the tagline: ‘At least we’re not liars.’
Another skit saw Ryan turning to a psychiatrist because he was tormented … by the movie Avatar using the font Papyrus for its title.
He was shown getting over-dramatic in anger, and even staking out the graphic designer, complaining that the same font was used ‘in hookah bars, Shakira merch, off-brand teas.’
Douches: Ryan also made an appearance during the Weekend Update section, pretending to be an annoying preppy guy with dating advice — but admitting in quick asides that ‘I have a shameful schvantz’ and ‘mine’s legit horrible’ as he pointed at his groin
Admission: ‘I’m terrible at sex,’ he finally admitted
He crashed his car as he stared at the designer, played by Kyle Mooney, through a window — with Kyle smirking menacingly as he closed the curtains while Ryan’s character screamed: ‘I know what you did!’
Ryan was once again giggling during the final skit as he had a bad ponytail while playing ‘rock’n’roll flute’ in a bar band performing before everyone watch a football game on TV, with Kenan singing ‘I wonder who is going to Kaepernick a knee’ in their topical song.
As the band played, attention instead turns to a sex scandal Ryan’s character is supposedly involved with — potentially getting a young married woman pregnant — and everyone assuming the husband broke into the house he shares with singer Kenan.
Why? Another skit saw Ryan turning to a psychiatrist because he was tormented … by the movie Avatar using the font Papyrus for its title
Not again: Ryan was once again giggling during the final skit as he had a bad ponytail while playing ‘rock’n’roll flute’ in a bar band
Hold it together! As the band played, attention instead turns to a sex scandal Ryan’s character is supposedly involved with — potentially getting a young married woman pregnant
Instead, Leslie Jones appeared — and ripped up Kenan’s beloved pair of ‘good jeans’ in the bar.
Ryan also made an appearance during the Weekend Update section, pretending to be an annoying preppy guy with dating advice — but admitting in quick asides that ‘I have a shameful schvantz’ and ‘mine’s legit horrible’ as he pointed at his groin.
‘I’m terrible at sex,’ he finally admitted.
JAY-Z, meanwhile, was joined by Damian Marley, the youngest son of reggae legend Bob Marley, for his first song of the night, the upbeat Bam.
Duet: JAY-Z, meanwhile, was joined by Damian Marley, the youngest son of reggae legend Bob Marley, for his first song of the night, the upbeat Bam
Sorry: He later came out in a white t-shirt to take the mike alone onstage in front of three spotlights for an emotional performance of album title track 4:44, widely assumed to be an apology to wife Beyonce ‘because I fall short of what I say I’m all about.’
Moving: ‘And if my children knew, I don’t even know what I would do,’ he sang, saying ‘I would probably die with all the shame’ and asking: ‘What good is a ménage à trois when you have a soulmate?’
The pair performed in front of camouflaged walls and with someone waving a Jamaican flag, with JAY-Z in a baseball cap and sports jersey and with Damian’s dreadlocks almost down to his feet.
He later came out in a white t-shirt to take the mike alone onstage in front of three spotlights for an emotional performance of album title track 4:44, widely assumed to be an apology to wife Beyonce ‘because I fall short of what I say I’m all about.’
‘And if my children knew, I don’t even know what I would do,’ he sang, saying ‘I would probably die with all the shame’ and asking: ‘What good is a ménage à trois when you have a soulmate?’
‘My heart breaks for the day I had to explain my mistakes,’ he sang, looking down to the ground as the song ended, walking off solemnly as the lights were cut, appearing later and getting a hug and handshake from host Ryan during the final goodbyes.
Fin: The rapper reappeared at the end to get a hug and handshake from host Ryan during the final goodbyes
At home on Saturday night: One fan tuning in was Justin Bieber
In love: The singer fawned over Gosling via Instagram story