Nearly a year after a vehicle crash left him with a critical brain injury, Tracy Morgan returned to host Saturday Night Live to cheers and a reunion with his 30 Rock cast members.
“I'm back and better than ever,” the former SNL cast member proclaimed during his monologue, which featured appearances from 30 Rock co-stars Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Jane Krakowski and Jack McBrayer, who pretended to be part of a scene from a 2012 episode of the award-winning show, CNN Money reports.
In the sketch, as they commiserated over Morgan’s accident, he burst into the room, proclaiming that he was “back and better than ever.”
In her role as Liz Lemon, Fey said, “I just want to say one last thing, Tracy, from the heart, and this part is no joke: We’re so happy that you’re OK, and we’re happier that you’re ready to make people laugh again.”
Morgan, 46, suffered broken ribs, a broken nose and a broken leg in June 2014 when a Wal-Mart truck rear-ended a limo bus in which he and colleagues were riding after a comedy performance. He also received a brain injury that left him comatose for several days. Two other passengers were injured, and a third, James McNair, died.
Morgan began the monologue by slurring his words but then announced that he was joking.
“People were wondering, ‘Can he speak? Does he have 100 percent mental capacity?’ But the truth is. I never did,” Morgan joked. “I might actually be a few points higher now.”
Morgan also reprised his popular SNL role, Brian Fellow from Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet, CNN reports. Comedian Larry David made a surprise appearance in the opening, playing Bernie Sanders in a sketch that mocked the first Democratic presidential debate of the 2016 election campaign.
Read more at CNN Money.