Saturday Night Live fans are still recovering from Dana Carvey’s surprise return to the show this weekend. But Heidi Gardner might be more thrilled than anyone.
The current cast member took to her Instagram to post a heartfelt reflection about being able to watch Carvey in action once again.
“Some of my first formative laughs came from watching Dana Carvey,” she wrote on her IG Story. “I got to hear myself laugh like that again this week.
“All morning I’ve been walking around saying ‘Guess what? And by the way’ and giggling to myself” she added, referencing Carvey’s catchphrase for Joe Biden, who he’ll be playing at least through the 2024 election. “Feeling like I did back then. Quoting a comedic genius every Sunday week after week.”
Gardner wrote her thoughts over a fittingly familiar image for folks who grew up in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s: a retro TV set with a Wayne’s World VHS sticking out of its built-in VCR. Wayne’s World, of course, is the 1992 film spun off of Carvey’s signature SNL sketch with Mike Myers. (It remains the most successful SNL spinoff film to date, and spawned a 1993 sequel.)
She also shared a photo of herself and Mikey Day alongside Carvey. The image, captioned “Dana’s Dorks,” shows the two cast members in Church Lady T-shirts, paying tribute to another one of Carvey’s most memorable recurring characters from his time on the show.
While Carvey has appeared on the show numerous times since his original 1986 to 1993 run as a cast member, he hadn’t guested since Gardner became a cast member in 2017. Carvey last showed up in Studio 8H to reprise his Church Lady character on “Weekend Update” in November 2016.
