Saturday Night Live

For Dakota Johnson, Hosting “SNL” Is a Family Affair

“Fifty Shades of Grey” star Dakota Johnson revealed during her first hosting gig on “Saturday Night Live” a special connection to the show.

In her opening monologue, Johnson said that her dad, Don Johnson, proposed to her mom, Melanie Griffith, after Griffith hosted “SNL” in December of 1988.

“And exactly nine months later, I was born,” she said. “So I must have been conceived that night, after the show. Or maybe even during the show.”

The camera cut to the audience where Dakota's Johnson's parents were seated, shielding their eyes with their hands in the cameo.

Asked if they were embarrassed by the story, Don Johnson told Dakota they were just afraid she was "going to be naked."

Johnson’s monologue was followed up with a send-up of Toyota's Super Bowl ad that showed a father dropping off his daughter at the airport so she can join the military. In "SNL's" version, the seemingly heartwarming father-daughter moment turned out to be a recruiting ad for a terrorist group.

“Dad, it’s just ISIS,” the girl (Johnson) tells her father (Taran Killam) before climbing into a pickup truck filled with heavily-armed militants. Cue the tagline: “ISIS: We’ll take it from here, Dad.”

The host (playing herself) also fielded questions from a surprisingly well-informed fourth-grader (Kyle Mooney) at a “Fifty Shades of Grey” press junket.

“I gotta ask—does your character play video games?” he asked.

“Um, I don’t think she does,” Johnson replied.

“Oh, of course—she prefers twisted games of sexual domination,” he concluded.

The first “SNL” episode since the Oscars opened with “Giuliani,” a spoof of the Oscar-winning film “Birdman” that lampooned the former New York mayor’s divisive comments about President Barack Obama. During a break from a guest appearance on FOX News with host Gretchen Carlson (Vanessa Bayer), Rudy Giuliani (Killam) grapples with the voice of his conscience (Beck Bennett).

Weekend Update co-hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che credited ISIS with “a devastating psychological attack that made us question everything we believed in,” also known as #TheDress. (Jost said it was #whiteandgold. Che didn’t care.)

“Have you ever seen two groups of people look at the exact same image and have two totally different opinions about it?” an exasperated Jost asked Che.

“Yeah, I remember one time,” Che said, before a picture of Obama appeared onscreen.

Joining them at the desk was a remarkably spry Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (McKinnon), who dispelled any notions of retirement, even at 81.

“I might be the oldest justice on the bench, but that doesn’t mean I’m the closest to death,” she told Jost. “Have you seen Justice Scalia? He looks like he’s permanently hooked up to an IV bag of bolognese.

"Hey Scalia! Ya just got Gins-burned!” she crowed, before breaking into a dance at the desk.

Also making an appearance were Riblet (Moynihan), Che’s microphone-obsessed friend from high school, and Kanye West (Jay Pharoah), who rapped a series of overblown, self-centered apologies.

The band Alabama Shakes performed, with singer/guitarist Brittany Howard belting out “Gimme All Your Love” and “Don’t Wanna Fight No More” to roars of applause.

Another crowd favorite: "SNL’s" tribute to the late Leonard Nimoy, beloved for his role as Mr. Spock in “Star Trek.” In “Emergency Room,” two confused nurses (Johnson and Leslie Jones) try to help a dying patient (Killam), only to find that the doctor on call (Kenan Thompson) has arrived dressed as Worf, from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

During the goodbyes, cast members — and, from the audience, Don Johnson — saluted Nimoy with Spock’s iconic Vulcan farewell.

“SNL” returns March 7 featuring Chris Hemsworth and the Zac Brown Band.

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