Jean Smart, 73, sends fans WILD as she gives shout-out to lesbians while hosting SNL's season 50 premiere

Jean Smart sent fans wild as she gave a shout-out to lesbians while hosting Saturday Night Live for the first time during the show's 50th season premiere. 

The Hacks actress, 73 - who recently received a standing ovation after winning an Emmy Award for Best Actress earlier this month - also joined musical guest, Jelly Roll, during the big night. 

Maya Rudolph also returned to the SNL stage to portray Kamala Harris - 17 years after her exit from the sketch comedy series back in 2007. 

Smart kicked off her opening monologue as she was greeted by cheers and applause from the live audience while sporting a bedazzled, light pink suit and white, satin top underneath. 

Jena gushed that she was 'honored' to be hosting SNL for its 50th season premiere, and added, 'It truly is incredible to be here.'

'I haven't gotten all dressed up and had hundreds of people clap for me in days,' she joked, humorously referencing to her Emmy win last weekend. 

'Honestly. I remember watching the very first episode of SNL and thinking, some day I'm going to host that show.'

Jean then added while looking at a watch on her wrist, 'And this is the first Saturday that worked with my schedule.'

The actress reflected on how her career first began in New York, and a piano suddenly appeared behind Smart. 

'I moved to New York in my 20s. I remember the first play I did. It was an off, off, off, off Broadway - Jersey, actually, I think,' she expressed. 

'But I always think of New York as home. Even though I have a much nicer home in L.A.,' she joked, causing laughter to erupt from the audience.

Jean then showed off her vocal chops and began to sing about her love of New York while accompanied by a tune on the piano. 

'I happen to like New York/I happen to love this town/I like the city air/I like the drink of it/the more I know of New York, the more I think of it/I like the sound, the sight, and even the stink of it, I happen to like New York...' 

Smart also sang, 'I love autumn in New York. All the garbage on the street is finally changing colors. Beautiful. Beautiful.'

She later added, 'I thought SNL stood for Saturday Night Laughs. And then I watched the show and I thought, well, that can't be right.'

And as she began to sing about New York again, she paused and stated, 'Lesbians are obsessed with me.'

'I mean, my first play, it was all lesbian characters so I had a lot of gay women fans, and apparently I do as well I'm told.'

Smart continued, 'Just the other day, someone said, it's true. "Have you not seen that one woman's podcast? She wants to date you." And I thought, cool. At least I have options.' 

Her opening monologue came to an end as she continued to belt out lyrics about her love of New York. 

Social media users soon jumped to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their thoughts on Jean's hosting duties and applauded her opening monologue. 

'OK...this is good. Nice job SNL. What a great opening. Jean Smart is absolutely a breath of fresh air (a saying I don't really like.) What an absolutely great (rare) opening @nbcsnl,' one wrote. 

Another shared, 'WHY DID JEAN SMART CLOCK ME,' while one fan penned, 'jean smart is for the lesbians yasss!!!' 

'Giggling and blushing watching jean smart's monologue,' another typed out, while one added, 'jean smart singing and then breaking to say with exasperation "lesbians are obsessed with me" is perfect.' 

Another wrote, 'jean smart singing judy garland on the season premiere of saturday night live... i won,' while one shared, 'jean smart's monologue song made me tear up.' 

'Lesbians are obsessed with me - jean smart,' a fan typed along with two crying face emojis. 

One social media user shared, 'jean smart saying "lesbians are obsessed with me" just as I was thing about how I'm now obsessed with jean smart.' 

Others also shared their thoughts on Smart's eye-catching ensemble during her opening monologue. 

A fan penned, 'jean smart in pink suit i cry,' while another typed out, 'I want Jean Smart suit @snl.' 

Also during the 50th season premiere episode, Jean had the chance to showcase her comedic skills by appearing in a variety of skits. 

The first sketch of the night began with a game show called $100,000 Pyramid Celebrity Edition - which was hosted by Michael Strahan (Devon Walker). 

Jean portrayed one of the contestants, Tonia Haddix, from the Hulu documentary series titled, Chimp Crazy. 

Chloe Fineman played Hawk Tuah girl - whose real name is Hailey Welsh - and Marcello Hernandez portrayed music artist, Bad Benny. 

Kenan Thompson also played a contestant, Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina Mark Robinson, who has been embroiled in campaign scandals. 

As he introduced the contestants, Devon asked Hawk Tuah girl, 'Hailey, what charity are you supporting today?' 

She replied with, 'I'll be donating my winnings to someone who will be very happy with them a year from now: myself.' 

The host then introduced Tonia Haddix, who said, 'I know that documentary made me seem crazy, but that's all for TV. I'm a normal lady.'

He then pointed out a chimp that was on her shoulder - and Jean explained that was her 'husband.'

Bad Bunny and Mark Robinson ended up being paired up during the game, with the singer choosing 'In Da Club' as their first category. 

However, as Bad Bunny gave hints to help Robinson solve words on the screen - Mark was unable to answer one correctly, giving the duo zero points. 

The host then jumped over to Hawk Tuah girl and Tonia who were paired together, with their category being 'Things Babies Need.' 

As Hailey gave hints to Tonia to solve the words, she also couldn't answer any correctly. 

Hawk Tuah girl then said, 'Focus, please. All right. This one is how babies get their food.' Tonia then answered correctly with, 'Breastfeeding.'

The host expressed, 'Right at the buzzer. I thought we were about to have the first game with absolutely zero points scored.'

'Finally, Tonia started thinking about human babies,' he added, with Tonia cutting in to reply with, 'No, I didn't.' 

The next sketch was centered around an advertisement for the seasonal retailer called, Spirit Halloween. 

As images of abandoned towns and buildings appeared on the screen, a voiceover said, 'Closed stores, shuttered businesses, empty parking lots.'

'When hard times hit, it's easy to feel like no one cares. But help is on the way. Because when others leave, we show up. We don't see a dead end town.'