It’s never fun to say goodbye to any Saturday Night Live players, let alone the show’s main stars, like Kate McKinnon. Even now, a few years after her Studio 8H exit, fans like me still reminisce about watching her rise to comedy royalty. So, it’s always nice to hear people like McKinnon reflect on any part of their tenure. The funnywoman recalled her sweet experience on her final show, even though they didn’t go with her sketch.
Being added to the list of SNL alumni giants to appear on Good Hang with Amy Poehler, it’s unsurprising that some 30 Rock shoptalk arose. And if you know any of Kate McKinnon’s best sketches, off the top of your head, it’s likely her as abductee, Colleen Rafferty in “Close Encounter.” The iconic recurring set up happened three times, including the Barbie actor’s farewell episode. Here’s a brief reminder of Colleen Rafferty in all of her abduction glory:
Poehler reminded listeners about the cold open where we saw McKinnon’s last appearance as Rafferty. In all of its humorous, outlandish, and goofy glory, we see her return to an alien spaceship, and the comedy vet deemed it as beautiful. The abductee impersonator agreed, by saying:
I thought it was really beautiful too.
In the latter half of SNL archives, “Close Encounters,” is indisputably top tier material. From it being one of McKinnon's favorite sketches from the start to Ryan Gosling continuously losing it during the skit, it’s proved time and again just what a contender it proves to be. And regardless of the timetable–check out her goodbye:
As McKinnon continued to unveil the lead up to her last hurrah on the historic stage, she revealed who wrote it and another idea in mind to say goodbye to the masses. But after some realizations of her highly physical comedy concept, she thought the return to Rafferty was more fitting, saying:
It was not my pitch. That was Streeter [Seidell] and Mikey Day, um, came up with that. My pitch was that I did this character Sheila Sovage. Yes. Uh the barfly. Um, and my pitch was that I would tongue every single person in the cast um, in a line and you know, I thought ultimately that the alien thing was a little more meaningful and had a better tone. So, we went with that. Um, so everyone narrowly missed uh, sucking my face.
That certainly would’ve been a surprise ending for everyone but seems like the finished product was the right choice. Don’t get me wrong, if Kate McKinnon puts her comedy stamp of approval on anything, I’d likely give it a chance.
Even through the silliness and candid retelling, the Ghostbusters star finished with how much it all meant to her. As she said:
But that was very emotional because uh it was every[thing] I mean…everything to me and those people are everything to me.
Even after finding success post-SNL, including on the 2025 movie schedule, Kate McKinnon clearly relishes her days on the NBC offices and set, which is no surprise. From her first season to the last, she delivered continuously–even if it wasn’t her pitch.
If you’re ready to jump back into the McKinnon years of the historic late night comedy you can stream them with a Peacock subscription.
