Tracy Morgan returns to Saturday Night Live, 16 months after he was nearly killed in an automobile accident

 

 When he stepped onto the stage at NBC’s Studio 8H for his opening monologue on “Saturday Night Live,” Tracy Morgan knew that viewers would question whether he was up to the task of hosting the show some 16 months after he was nearly killed in an automobile accident.

As Mr. Morgan told the audience, “People were wondering: Can he speak? Does he have 100 percent mental capacity?”

“But the truth is, I never did,” he continued. “I might actually be a few points higher now.”

Mr. Morgan’s appearance on “Saturday Night Live” was his first extensive television performance since he was critically injured in the spring of 2014.

The 90-minute broadcast was a sentimental homecoming for Mr. Morgan, who gained fame as an “S.N.L.” cast member in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and then on the NBC comedy “30 Rock.” A sketch during his monologue (presented as if it were a prophetic “30 Rock” episode from 2012) reunited him with the show’s cast members Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Jane Krakowski and Jack McBrayer.

Another “S.N.L.” alumnus, Larry David, appeared in what was likely to be the evening’s most discussed sketch, an opening sendup of CNN’s Democratic presidential debate. The “Seinfeld” co-creator and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star was on hand to impersonate Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

 In the show’s final moments, as he was joined on stage by the “S.N.L.” cast as well as his wife, Megan, and their 2-year-old daughter, Maven, he offered a sincere good night: “I love y’all, thanks for being here with me,” he said. “We out.”