"Saturday Night Live's" comedic legacy, along with some of its most controversial sketches, was the center of attention during "SNL50: The Anniversary Special."

Appearing on stage was Tom Hanks, a veteran of the show and a member of the Five-Timers Club — an intro for a segment that became a painfully honest reflection on the show's problematic comedic past.

Adam Sandler paid tribute to castmates past in a moving musical number, "50 Years," that opened the anniversary special. But when Hanks came out to present the "In Memoriam" segment, fans were taken aback to find out that it didn't involve a tribute to cast members who had passed but instead to sketches that had aged poorly.

Hanks added, "Even though these characters, accents and ... let's just call them 'ethnic' wigs were unquestionably in poor taste, you all laughed at them," Hanks began. "So, if anyone should be cancelled, shouldn't it be you, the audience? Something to think about!"

The four-minute clip traversed decades of "SNL" history, featuring everything from the original cast of 1975 to more recent sketches. The series dove deep into the show's controversial past, including topics such as "Ethnic Stereotypes," "Body Shaming," and "Underage Sexual Harassment."

SNL Roasts Its Own Skits

Many resurfaced notorious sketches, such as Dan Aykroyd's "Jane, you ignorant s**t!" all the way from Weekend Update, Chris Farley's iconic Chippendales audition with Patrick Swayze, to Darrell Hammond's alcoholic version of Sean Connery on "Celebrity Jeopardy."

Another notable mention in the montage was Sean "Diddy" Combs, whose appearance on the show is especially bizarre in the wake of current legal issues. The 2010 episode featured clips of Diddy appearing in a skit with Robert De Niro, in which he joked, "Don't judge a book by it's cover. My man is like R. Kelly —."

It was then immediately followed by a 2013 clip of R. Kelly performing with Lady Gaga.

As John Mulaney joked, there had been "two murderers" hosting the show, referring to the likes of O.J. Simpson and Robert Blake.

The video aimed at Hanks himself, too, noting dumb portrayals of ethnic stereotypes — including Rob Schneider as a Mexican and Dana Carvey as an overly sexy Italian waiter. "SNL" blurred out additional examples of blackface and other harmful representations during its montage, which also included an example of "SNL" producer Lorne Michaels in blackface.

More recent sketches that survive include Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor lobbing racial insults at each other and Lucy Liu saying her mom cooked a dog.

And the anniversary special didn't shy away from past sketches addressing grave matters -- such as child sexual abuse and sexism -- featuring Mike Myers in a bathtub with a young Macaulay Culkin and Norm MacDonald joking there were no women writers.

The look back on "SNL's" history also included lots of ableism and lots of deeply cringeworthy portrayals of characters from a younger, less wise Ben Affleck.

"SNL" also focused on these awkward moments but also noted that not all old "SNL" should be called out as objectionable today.

A clip of Will Ferrell apparently saying something rude about a dog was shown as an example of "animal cruelty" — but only if the dog spoke English, it said.

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Saturday Night Live, Snl