The 50th anniversary special for "Saturday Night Live" began with music generations colliding, with Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter singing "Homeward ... before comedy legend Steve Martin took the stage to give a host's traditional monologue.

Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter duetted on Simon's song “Homeward Bound” and five-decade “Saturday Night Live” luminary Steve Martin delivered the monologue to open the a 50th anniversary special celebrating the sketch institution that was overflowing with famous former cast members,

The Grammy winners performed a touching duet of Simon & Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound," which he sang on the show decades earlier in 1976.

Bill Murray showed up on 'Weekend Update' to mock the anchors, Tom Hanks introduced an "In Memoriam" segment devoted to "characters and sketches that have aged horribly" and other highlights.

"Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey" was a long-standing segment on SNL in the ‘90s where Phil Hartman offered surreally soothing adages as Jack Handey. "Looking back over 50 years, we treasure the laughs, the friendship, the fond memories,” Handey’s voice said."But the real treasure was how much money we were making."

SNL50: The Anniversary Special is billed to be a star-studded affair, and it opened on Sunday with some big guns: Sabrina Carpenter joined Paul Simon to perform a tender rendition of Simon and Garfunkel’s 1966 classic, “Homeward Bound.”