Bowen Yang said goodbye to “SNL”this week, after nearly eight seasons on the show. For his final sketch, he played an airport employee working his final shift, and not-so-subtly gave a heartfelt goodbye in both dialogue and song.
To kick off the sketch, we meet Yang as a Delta Sky Club attendant, working a Christmas shift. He jokes about the odd things he’s seen in his job, before revealing it’s his final shift. As the sketch went on, the man received a call from his wife Rhonda, played by Ariana Grande, and regaled her with some of his favorite aspects of the job (in this case, very clearly about “SNL” itself).
Together, they launched into a performance of “Bells Will Be Ringing (Please Come Home for Christmas).” Eventually, Grande took the stage with Yang, where he told her he just wanted to go out on top.
“Everyone knows you’re a bottom, honey,” she retorted.
From there, Yang got emotional, singing through tears as musical guest Cher joined the bit, pretending to be Yang’s boss.
News of Yang’s departure came just the day before his final show, shocking many as it came mid-season. In a post to Instagram on Saturday morning, he thanked his colleagues, and looked back on the show fondly.
“I loved working at SNL, and most of all I loved the people,” he wrote. “I was there at a time when many things in the world started to seem futile, but working at 30 rock [sic] taught me the value in showing up anyway when people make it worthwhile.”
Yang is one of many cast members to leave this season, following departures for Heidi Gardner, who had been on the series for eight seasons as well as Ego Nwodim, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow and Season 50 newcomer Emil Wakim.
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