When you see Tom Hanks on your TV screen sitting in a comfortable seat, you know that either you’re about to get an education on America’s national parks or a new member is going to be inducted into the Five-Timers Club at “Saturday Night Live.”
This weekend, it was the host Martin Short’s turn to join the elite legion of performers who have hosted “S.N.L.” five times, welcomed by a pantheon of celebrities that included Paul Rudd, Tina Fey, John Mulaney, Scarlett Johansson, Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy.
The segment began with a short introduction from Hanks, who explained that he started the club in a December 1990 “S.N.L.” episode as an “ingeniously lazy way to avoid writing a monologue.”
He was joined by Rudd, who asked Hanks who he was talking to. Hanks apologized, saying, “I’ve done so many documentaries, whenever I sit in a leather chair, I just naturally assume I’m in one.”
An exuberant Short entered the room, followed by Fey, whom he described as “one of the rarest things in Hollywood: a writer who’s attractive enough to be on camera.”
Fey responded in kind, calling Short “one of the least rare things in Hollywood: a loud man.”
The club members sampled a cocktail called a “Marty-tini,” which Rudd told Short was “just like you: super sweet and after a few sips you’re like, I get it.”
The party also featured appearances from Alec Baldwin, who wore a special jacket commemorating his 17 occasions as an “S.N.L.” host; Johansson, who entered by closing the door on her husband, Colin Jost; and Wiig, who traded an icy exchange with Short.
Whatever they shared in the past, Wiig said, “I’m not that girl anymore”
Short replied, “And I’m not that flexible anymore.”
McCarthy took a healthy swig from a wildly spraying tap and fell backward through a breakaway hall, providing an entrance for Mulaney, who had a short-lived Fox sitcom, “Mulaney,” with Short in 2014.
“You could never do that show now,” Mulaney said.
“Why, because everyone’s so woke?,” Short asked.
“No, because it wasn’t good and no one liked it.”
At last it was Short’s turn to receive his club jacket, provided to him by Jimmy Fallon, the “Tonight Show” host and “S.N.L.” alum. Fallon told Short it was in “exactly your size: a women’s small.”
Opening monologue of the week
When you’ve got a host as versatile as Short, do you give him a monologue stocked with zany one-liners or do you give him a big brassy musical number to perform? Hey, it’s the holidays, so why not have him do both?
In the standup portion of his set, Short joked about his long friendship with the “S.N.L.” creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels. “We’re kind of like Trump and Elon Musk without the sexual tension,” he said. Short also explained the absence of his frequent performing partner and “Only Murders in the Building” co-star Steve Martin: “He had a conflict with me not wanting him to be here,” Short said.
Then it was onto the musical number, a sendup of Jerry Herman’s “We Need a Little Christmas” about the medications that people depend on to get them through the holiday season. It was an energetic production that got Short dashing all throughout the studio, playing Cupid with Fallon and dancing and prancing with a chorus line at the end.
Unexpected holiday tradition of the week
Last season, in an episode that preceded the Thanksgiving holiday, “S.N.L.” served up an unexpectedly hilarious sketch about a parade of the eccentric characters who turn up at airports during its busiest time of year.
While it might not have seemed like the most likely sketch to turn into a recurring franchise, the airport parade was back again — now with a Christmas theme and a roster overflowing with many of the celebrity guests who made cameo appearances in the opening sketch. (We give our top marks to Rudd, who ended up on the receiving end of a vigorous spit take from Short, playing an overly aggressive Delta lounge employee; and Hanks, who of course reprises his role as Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III from the 2016 film “Sully.”
Weekend Update jokes of the week
Over at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors Jost and Michael Che riffed on a final round of headlines and news events from the year.
Jost began:
Well, it is our last show of a wild 2024 that saw Diddy go to jail, Donald Trump get re-elected president and Elon Musk appoint himself co-president. And I don’t know what next year will hold but one thing’s for certain: we will see all three of those guys at “S.N.L.”’s 50th anniversary. Luigi Mangione — [reacts to shouts and screams from the audience] Yeah, definitely Woo! You’re Woo-ing for justice, right? Luigi Mangione dropped his extradition fight and was flown from Pennsylvania to New York to face multiple charges. In related news, Bumble exploded.
Che continued:
Luigi Mangione has been placed in the same federal prison as Sean Combs. Said Combs, “Mmm, Christmas came early.” It was reported that the House Ethics Committee has voted to release its report on sexual misconduct charges against Matt Gaetz. Gaetz says he’s just glad his girlfriend is too young to read the news.
Weekend Update desk character of the week
If Bowen Yang could play the iceberg that sank the Titanic and the pygmy hippo turned viral sensation Moo Deng, then why not one of the mysterious drones that has lately been mystifying residents of New Jersey and people up and down the East Coast? Dressed in an elaborate black costume festooned with whirring fans, Yang asked, “What is so threatening about random machines in the night sky? It’s like y’all have never been to Afghanistan before.” When Che asked him why he was in New Jersey, Yang responded, “Um, why is anyone in New Jersey? Oh, right, because there’s beautiful nature and good schools. Bet you thought I was going to make some cheap ‘Sopranos’ joke.” Naturally, Yang — a co-star of the film adaptation of “Wicked” — closed with a drone-theme parody of “Defying Gravity.”
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