“Saturday Night Live” has brought the laughs for 50 years but it’s not always the audience who can’t hold it in!
Originally appeared on E! Online
Tracy Morgan is grateful to be able to celebrate.
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WATCH HEREMore than a decade after the "Saturday Night Live" alum was severely injured in a car accident, he expressed how much it means to be surrounded by his comedy family to celebrate the legendary sketch series with "SNL: The Anniversary Special." (See all the stars on the red carpet here.)
"I'm just thanking the Lord that I'm a part of this," he told Matt Rogers inside 30 Rockefeller Center after walking the red carpet Feb. 16, "that I survived that accident and I'm alive to be here for this."
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In June 2014, the "30 Rock" alum suffered a severe brain injury as well as several broken bones after a six-car pile-up in New Jersey, which included a Walmart tractor trailer colliding with the limo the Morgan was riding in. The accident, which killed the comedian's friend James McNair, left Morgan hospitalized for weeks and included a lengthy recovery.
Indeed, Morgan — who was a cast member on "SNL" from 1996 to 2003 — was absent from the 40th anniversary special more than six month later, through "30 Rock" costars Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin shared a heartfelt tribute during the telecast.
“I wish my friend Tracy Morgan was here tonight," Fey said during the February 2015 special, and I know that he was hoping that he would be well enough to be here too.
She added, “And if he were here tonight, I’m sure Tracy would like to remind us that more than anything, he would like to get us all pregnant."
Before introducing a clip of one of Morgan's iconic characters, Brian Fellows, Baldwin and Fey expressed their love for their colleague and noted they'd be seeing him at the 41st reunion. Of course, that reunion didn't take place, but Morgan was sure to be on-hand for the next major milestone.
And as he reminisce about his time at the show, he revealed his favorite memory with SNL creator Lorne Michaels.
"Him saying, "I pick you,'" he gushed. "Greatest memory ever was Lorne Michaels picking me to be a cast member."
