The Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary special has a lineup that would make any comedy fan salivate: Bill Murray, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, Tina Fey, Zach Galifianakis, Bill Hader, and many, many more. Even Eddie Murphy is breaking his decades-long embargo to return to the show that made him a star. But there has been one name missing from the list. One golden-voiced dynamo, a comedic talent who can make grown men weep with laughter just by opening her mouth. Someone whose very existence feels like a grand cosmic joke. Thankfully, that person has realized that we need to once more laugh at the very sight of her: People reports that Sarah Palin will be appearing on SNL 40.
Lorne Michaels, the wise white-haired garden gnome of SNL, apparently reached out to the ex-governor and Vice Presidential candidate to let her know that America could not do without gazing upon her bespectacled visage, or amusing itself at her expense. Perhaps she remembered fondly her 2008 appearance on the show, when she duly committed to the hilarious bit of thinking she was in on the joke. Or perhaps she remembers launching her own online channel last year, which even at the time felt like the comically inevitable outcome of her transition to walking punchline, a role she hopefully realizes she was born to play. Either way, Palin plans to return, ready to make America laugh—but this time, it’ll be because she’s a joke, not because she’s a joke, as her train of thought no doubt goes.
The SNL 40 special airs February 15 at 8 p.m. ET.