SNL

Sarah Palin's bit on the SNL Anniversary show wasn’t great, but she KILLED IT outside the after-party by destroying a boneheaded heckler -- and we gotta admit ... it makes her a little hotter.

That and the revealing mini-dress she was wearing.

Even haters can't hate, hate, hate this video -- Paul McCartney channeling his inner 15-year-old girl and jamming with Taylor Swift on "Shake It Off."

The ultimate bridge between generations went down at the "SNL" 40th anniversary after-party Sunday night -- and Jimmy Fallon joined 'em on stage too.

Taylor returned the favor by rocking the Beatles', "Saw Her Standing There" -- and she played a pretty strong rhythm guitar, while Paul played bass. If only Fallon had some drumsticks.

Sarah Palin hilariously confronted hecklers after the "SNL" after-party early Monday AM, explaining to them that she's clearly won the war of words because they're on the wrong side of the velvet rope.

Sarah -- who braved the cold sans coat to show off her duds -- alternated between taking selfies and dishing out insults.

Some of her critics were pretty stupid ... using high school tactics like telling her she looked like crap. But Sarah had some pretty good comebacks.

It wasn't just a hilarious sketch ... Shaq tells TMZ Sports his famous "Big Bernard" sketch with Tracy Morgan is one of the top 5 sketches in "Saturday Night Live" history."

It's definitely one of the funniest moments in the history of the show ... Shaq played Tracy's son "Bernard during the 1998 sketch ... which featured a father trying to discipline his enormous 7-foot son.

But the question is ... where does it rank among the all time greats?

-- The Chippendales dance-off?
-- The "More Cowbell" sketch?
-- Stefon?
-- Wayne's World?
-- D**k in a Box?
-- Matt Foley?
-- James Brown in the hot tub?!?!

When Eddie Murphy returns to "SNL" for the first time in 30 years -- you can thank David Spade for making peace with him over the now legendary potshot that pissed off Eddie in the first place.

When our photog got David out in L.A. over the weekend ... he said he was looking forward to seeing Eddie at the upcoming 40th Anniversary Special -- and opened up about smoking the peace pipe with him.

If you don't recall ... Eddie has stayed away from "SNL," mainly because David cracked a joke comparing Eddie to a "falling star" back in the '90s.

Jimmy Fallon relived his famous send-off from "SNL" -- singing a "Grease" classic -- but this time he had a barroom full of hammered backup singers ... which just made it more awesome.

Fallon was at NYC's Marie's Crisis Cafe last weekend when most of the bar started singing "Summer Nights" ... with Jimmy leading the chorus. But check out the video -- it wasn't easy keeping the buzzed crowd on the beat ... or the right verse.

Jimmy still managed to bring down the house, just like in his final "SNL" in 2004 -- where we're guessing there was slightly less drinking than in the bar.

Snowmageddon has NYC in a state of emergency so Lorne Michaels isn't taking chances ... he said "no" to the snow and shelled out big bucks to put the "Saturday Night Live" staff up in swanky digs.

Some bridges and tunnels are closed until Wednesday and Tuesday is make-or-break ... it's the day they start writing the skits selected for this week's show. So Michaels and "SNL" offered to put the cast up at The New York Palace.

We're told around 15 cast and crew members signed up for the upscale digs close to 30 Rock, including Kenan Thompson, Colin Jost and a few writers.

Dr. Evil is scoffing at the Guardians of Peace for sheer laziness.

The "Austin Powers" super villain appeared on "Saturday Night Live" with some solid advice to the GOP ... "It's easy to kill a movie, just move it to January."

But the evil doc's real beef is purely domestic, and very political.

James Franco and Seth Rogen were caught spooning just like John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and thanks to the Sony Hackers, they're on TV ... at least that's what Seth said on "Saturday Night Live."

Franco was hosting last night ... and during his monologue, James' BFF/co-star from "The Interview" rushed on stage and dropped the news.

Wise move ... making a joke out of the various Sony leaks. The hackers promise there's more to come, so the joke is a good deflection.

Bill Cosby's preaching about black men not taking responsibility for their lives just got thrown back in his face, courtesy of "Saturday Night Live" star Michael Che.

The Weekend Update anchor took Cosby to task during Saturday's show, calling him out with, "Hey Bill Cosby, pull YOUR damn pants up!"

Stefon made his triumphant return to "Saturday Night Live" ... and he made a big announcement at the end of his sketch.

Bill Hader hosted the show last night for the first time since leaving SNL last year and his former costar Kristen Wiig made an appearance during the opening monologue and later in the show.

Stefon, of course, didn't disappoint ... with talk of Prozac Doobie Brothers, human defibrillators and former MTV star Dan Cortese.

The show also paid special tribute to recently deceased cast member Jan Hooks.

Jan Hooks, who worked alongside some of the biggest "Saturday Night Live" stars ... died Thursday ... TMZ has learned. She was 57.

We've learned she passed away this morning in New York City. Sources tell us Jan had been battling a serious illness.

Jan was part of the 'SNL' cast from 1986-91 ... the same time as Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey and Dennis Miller ... and was most famous for being half of the Sweeney Sisters ... and also for her impressions of Sinead O'Connor and Hillary Clinton.

She most recently played a part on "30 Rock."

Right after 'SNL', Jan joined the cast of "Designing Women." She also had a famous role in "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure."

Jan had dated fellow SNL star Kevin Nealon ... before they were both on the show. Nealon tells TMZ he and Jan had "amazing times as friends, then dating and then the incredible rush of being on SNL together."

He added, "I only wish she knew how well respected and admired she was. This is such a loss."

Jan was nominated for an Emmy in 1998 for a role on "3rd Rock from the Sun."

Sarah Silverman and "Saturday Night Live" channeled their inner Bass-o-Matic at the expense of Vitamix this weekend ... but the company famous for slicing and dicing took its whipping like a champ.

In the long history of blender humor, the new sketch was a distant second to Dan Akroyd's '76 classic -- but Vitamix was still thrilled Silverman and Vanessa Bayer endlessly chopped up the product's ridiculous $650 sticker price.

A Vitamix rep told us ... the company's honored to be among the long-list of brands that have been lampooned on "SNL," especially during the show's 40th anniversary season.

No such thing as bad publicity ... plus, it's a great excuse to bring back the Bass-o-Matic.

Chris Pratt brought "He-Man" to life last week on Saturday Night Live ... and now, the A-list actor tells us there really is one toy from his childhood he'd love to hang out with.

The "Guardians of the Galaxy" star was cruising through LAX when our photog asked which piece of plastic he'd like to "Toy Story" it up with .. and Pratt gives a pretty good answer.

He also rattles off one idea that's clearly a dangerous choice.

Can we say ... one of the coolest dudes in Hollywood.

Not everyone was laughing at Jay Pharoah's impersonation of Shannon Sharpe on "SNL" this weekend -- especially not the former NFL star ... who say's Jay's impersonation was "horrible."

Jay played Shannon during a skit for the show's cold open -- in which Shannon and Ray Lewis were discussing the issues with the NFL ... including the issue of domestic violence.

During the sketch, Jay portrayed Shannon as a bumbling, confused imbecile ... who couldn't take a stand on the NFL issues because of his own legal issues in the past.

For the record, Sharpe was accused of stalking and raping a woman back in 2010 -- but he was never arrested or charged with a crime ... and the accuser eventually dropped her case.

So, when asked how he felt about the "Saturday Night Live" sketch, it probably wasn't a shock when he wrote, "That was a horrible impression."

Sharpe also publicly agreed with a fan who said, "@JayPharoah did was NOT FUNNY HE IS NO @FrankCaliendo He made it seem like you were not educated the way he was talking."

"Saturday Night Live" is about to lose its most seasoned performer ... Kenan Thompson will be leaving the show after this season ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to SNL tell us ... Thompson -- the most tenured African-American cast member in the show's history -- planned to leave last season, but decided to stay after head honcho Lorne Michaels asked him to stay on ... citing the show's massive turnover this season.

We're told Kenan has no hard feelings and is leaving on great terms. Our sources say he's in talks for a new show and plans on moving to L.A. (with his wife and brand new baby) when the season ends.

We'll miss you, DeAndre Cole.

UPDATE: SNL says our story is "inaccurate as the season hasn't even started and cast decisions aren't made until the end of the season." But as we reported ... this is not an SNL decision -- it's Kenan's decision, and we know he's already made it.