Last night’s Christmas episode coincided with Martin Short’s entry into Saturday Night Live’s Five-Timers Club. Short was briefly an Ebersol-era cast member, and the last time he hosted was in 2022 alongside comedy partner Steve Martin. When he and Martin hosted their Only Murders in the Building, costar Selena Gomez popped in for a cameo. Who’d we see this time? Selena Gomez again? Meryl Streep? No, and no, but just about everyone else? Present.
The cold open began with a regal Tom Hanks seated in an armchair to announce a new induction as per custom. In addition to our host, we saw a slew of five-timers: Paul Rudd, Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin (who I guess is on retainer), Kristen Wiig (God, I miss her), John Mulaney, Scarlett Johansson, Melissa McCarthy, Emma Stone, and Jimmy Fallon (also briefly in the monologue, less dead-eyed than usual after a smooch from Short). Steve Martin was absent, and according to Short, “He would’ve been here tonight, but he had a conflict with me not wanting him to be here.” No need. Short was having plenty of fun without him. The monologue also included a song — a nod to the cold open about Christmas anxiety during his last hosting stint — about turning to prescription drugs for holiday anxiety (but nothing from the Sacklers, of course).
The episode’s guest appearances paid off, especially in the sketches including Melissa McCarthy, Paul Rudd, and Kristen Wiig (and ScarJo backstage). It felt like Short himself was top-loaded and then more minimally used in the rest of the show. Between the cameos and Weekend Update, it felt like Short was competing to be a focal point. Still, it was a strong Christmas episode, with sharp jokes and delightful physical comedy.
Here are some highlights:
A “cheap ratings boost” to squeeze nearly a dozen five-timers into the cold open? Maybe. But it’s the end of the year, and I’m tired. If SNL throwing famous people on my screen is the equivalent to jangling keys in front of a baby, then well, feel free to burp me. (Sorry I said that.) But to borrow/paraphrase one of Short’s lines, I genuinely loved seeing almost everyone. I missed Kristen Wiig so much, who trapezed onscreen while brushing her teeth, haunted by last Christmas’s mistakes (namely Martin Short and Emma Stone). Melissa McCarthy is perfect, as always. And the self-deprecation was a biting touch that helped it not feel too gimmicky, i.e. John Mulaney on his failed sitcom — “It wasn’t good and no one liked it” — and Jimmy Fallon referencing laughing at his own jokes.
A father (Mikey Day) and his teen daughter (Chloe Fineman) are in a loud battle with a scary middle-aged man (Short) over a parking spot. They’re yelling across their windows and, to really get the point across, pairing their words with elaborate hand gestures (like Short miming being “super Christian” by outstretching his arms like he’s on the cross). The sub-game of Fineman’s character upsetting her dad with the alarmingly specific sexual gestures adds texture to it. Melissa McCarthy, who pops in at the end, steals the show as Short’s character’s unhinged suburban wife ready to protect her man at all costs. She escalates so seamlessly in such quick succession, and because of her, it’s gotta go into the Christmas canon.
This sketch is a simple and effective joke container as Bowen Yang and Ego Nwodim’s TSA agents cycle through the characters at the airport. The jokes were silly and specific, and Short was put to good use as a rigid, high-standard Delta Lounge bouncer. Melissa McCarthy, Tom Hanks, and Kristen Wiig also made notable appearances. They nicely complemented current cast members’ characters, like lonely spa employees and Kenan Thompson’s coin-operated TSA agent reciting variations of “bag in a bin.”
I know about roast beef! But roast beef is overshadowing Bowen’s cunty, Jersey-defending drone character. “Wow, indoors … this is different” really tickled me. He concluded with a parody rendition of “Defying Gravity” because the Wicked grind never stops. And that annual joke swap, where Jost and Che write outrageous (anti-)jokes for each other to read for the first time on air, is making the rounds online, as is ScarJo’s unbleeped reaction backstage (“Oh, my God, holy shit”). Agree! Brutal. A hot person doing the charity work of marrying a comedian, and this is what she gets in return? I did enjoy seeing both Jost and Che so deeply in pain reading the jokes out loud. I recently texted my friend, “Colin Jost is growing on me. I’m gonna kms” — I think it’s his palpable shame. He’s very succinctly Irish Catholic, and it’s one of the things that makes the joke swap work.
So glad they brought this back. Marcello Hernandez’s assertive, energetic Don Francisco barreling through Paul Rudd’s gringo character’s helplessness. Hernandez, Ashley Padilla, and Chloe Fineman are also so good at facial expressions (and, when we thought we were out of cameos, Dana Carvey pops in). There is no Martin Short in this one, but perhaps he’ll be the Hapless White Guy whenever he hosts next?
• Martin Short’s Baby Toss™ in the monologue. Freewheeling fun!
• Tina Fey’s asking Short to name three current cast members as a Five-Timer’s Club test. “I have no idea,” says Short. Fey responds, “Correct! And that was the whole test.”
• I want to see many, many more minutes of Kristen Wiig’s Woman Who Accidentally Sat Down on a Motorized Suitcase from the airport parade sketch. Take her out on the town!!
• Martin Short right after spitting water at Paul Rudd: “Sexiest man alive? Well, what, is Tim Allen dead?”
• Alec Baldwin’s secret in the cold open being that he has too many kids…
• The Weekend Update monologue joke about Diddy, Donald Trump, and Elon Musk hosting SNL next year—the guilt from the 2016 season has turned into an avenue for self-deprecating humor about the show, and it’s fun. However, I could have lived without the Diddy/Luigi rape joke.
• I’m addicted to the crowd cheering for Luigi Mangione with the same ferocity as the cold open guests (the audience at SNL? Perhaps the class war is close) and to Colin Jost’s amused disbelief at the cheering. “Yeah, definitely “woo,’” he lamented sarcastically. Yes, girl, we are woo-ing! Either send Luigi a Christmas card with your number in it like the rest of us, or don’t!
