Was Opera Man there? Of course Opera Man was there.

It was Adam Sandler’s first time hosting “Saturday Night Live” since he unceremoniously departed the show nearly a quarter-century ago, so naturally he brought back some of his best-loved characters from the mid-90s era when he shared the “S.N.L.” stage with David Spade, Mike Myers, Molly Shannon and others.

Sandler also drew out some other celebrated “S.N.L.” alums to pop up throughout this weekend’s broadcast, which also featured the musical guest Shawn Mendes. But more crucially, Sandler’s presence seemed to inspire the current cast and creative team to dig deeply for material that matched their host’s stature and impish spirit — if nothing else, “S.N.L.” largely set aside its divisive political pantomimes in favor of more absurdist sketches, and ended on a surprisingly touching note.

But first, Sandler had to account for how his “S.N.L.” tenure had ended in 1995. As he said in his monologue, he was 23 years old when he joined the show, his cast mates David Spade and Rob Schneider were 25 and “Norm Macdonald was maybe 60.” He said that he lost his virginity “to a woman in this very studio — I don’t kiss and tell but it was the Church Lady,” adding, “She said I was special.”