Martin Short joins the Five-Timers Club in the star-studded Christmas episode

Holly jolly holiday greetings, Conehead nation – it is SNL in review: 50th Anniversary Recap. And tonight – in a season of already deeply special moments – is a particularly special episode, the Christmas show. The show that closes in 2024. The show that unofficially puts to rest an era of American politics and ushers in the next Trump term. Oh, and that’s it Martin Short‘s official entrance to Five Hours Club.

Short has specialized in December hosting gigs since he co-hosted with his Three Amigos friends Chevy Chase and Steve Martin way back in 1986. His last hosting gig was also with Martinalso in December. We’ve seen him pop up via cameo several times over the years, including last April during the Kristen Wiig episode. My favorite photo: when Justin Timberlake hosted SNL for the fifth time in 2013, Short appeared as a servant in the Five-Timers Club sketch. Now he is a member. Rejoice.

Tonight I have the company of the best of the best, formerly SNL starring Gary Kroeger. He recalls that he “first met Marty at SNL in 1984. I was retained along with Jim Belushi, Mary Gross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as more or less a SNL basis because Dick Ebersol had made the rather brilliant decision to put Marty, Chris Guest, Billy Crystal, Harry Shearer, Pamela Stevenson and Rich Hall on the show. If you’re going to replace Eddie Murphy, that’s a pretty good line-up. However, I wasn’t happy about losing my best friend Brad Hall, or Tim Kazurinsky, or Robin Duke. I hadn’t seen SCTV in recent years and did not know Marty’s work very well. I wondered if he would cut into the turf I thought I was finally cutting for myself SNL. Well, long story ‘short’ I quickly realized that Marty was brilliant and there would be no competition. Ed Grimley paved the way for an understanding that Martin Short lives in another dimension. Watching Marty create characters that lived both in reality and also just in his head was a master class in spontaneous creation. I was happy to have the best seat in the house.”

Related: Every Saturday Night Live season 50 host and musical guest

More from Gary: “Marty is one of the sweetest, most down-to-earth, generous artists around. He was a real human being, empathetic, who always gave everything that was asked of him. Needless to say, I admired him a lot After that season I only saw Marty at SNL reunion shows, and one time around 2003. I was at a lot in Hollywood doing audience warm-ups for several shows—a great freelance gig between acting jobs—and Marty was there shooting the first season of Jiminy Glick. He gave me a warm hug and he told me about Jiminy. I laughed and told him in all seriousness, ‘America should just cut in and make you a national treasure.’ He looked at me like I was being sarcastic, but I wasn’t. I meant it. still do.”

Hozier is our musical guest tonight – scroll down to read the recap!

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Cold open

Cameo overload! As expected, Short is accepted into the Five Timers Club – this time from Tom Hanks and Paul Rudd! Short and Rudd do the famous “You’re Great!” handshake – Tina Fey so Alec Baldwin follow. Scarlett Johansson asks Hanks if his gift this year is another World War II book. He meekly replies, “No, outer space.”

A drunken Kristen Wiig is next, and Short himself laments that this premise exists solely for a cheap ratings boost. With that, her Bridesmaids co-star Melissa McCarthy appears, as does Emma Stone. I love McCarthy’s rant. Short’s old FOX sitcom co-star John Mulaney says congratulations and they joke about the show’s failure.

Want a self-deprecating Jimmy Fallon cameos? Here you go!

Monologue

Short jokes about Matt Gaetz and being forced to play an elf ten times tonight. He says he and Lorne are like Trump and Elon Musk without the sexual tension.

Short’s lucky number is 5. He is a Five-Timer and they are starting the fifth season of Only murder in the building.

Sarah Sherman comes out, she is full of holiday dread. She is joined by other cast members who ask him to cheer them up. This triggers a fun song about anxiety at this time of year. I love this because he moves around the studio – reminds me of the classic monologue songs of yesteryear. (We even get a Lorne cameo! I don’t remember any Fallon kisses back then, though.) “Don’t smoke snow!”

Kroeger notes that Shorts “SNL heritage is not unlike his SCTV legacy, not unlike his film and television legacy that followed. An actor who surprises us by simultaneously rooting his characters in places we know while taking them to places we don’t. He is an inexhaustible source of energy and ideas, willing to take a character to the edge of reality, where another wafer-thin step may be over the top. But he always knew when to stop short.” (I asked him what his favorite Christmas moment on SNL was, and he adds, “no favorite Christmas memory. except, of course, The Gumby Christmas Special, where I was Donny Osmond to Julia’s Marie, and we did it. That sketch is still going around.”)

“Parking space change”

The universal language of parking lot frustration! This is a repeat of the 2023 sketch where Mikey day and Quinta Brunson had a traffic accident. Meh.

“An Act of Kindness”

In this short film, a hard charge Heidi Gardner drops a gift on the street and a disheveled homeless man (Kenan Thompson) helps her. She decides to give Ricardo a “fresh start” – a shave, a gold watch. She takes him out to dinner. It’s lovely.

Here’s the payoff – it’s Christmas Eve and she’s missing her family! Her husband (Day) calls upset and Kenan only escalates things. A fun riff on good intentions, with a bad last line about Fox News thrown in.

“Christmas Airport Parade”

Another familiar sketch prompt, this time a live broadcast of vacationers trying to get out of Newark. Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and Paul Rudd cameo. This basic template has been seen a few times, so meh.

A reason to watch: Tom Hanks reprises his performance as Captain Sullenberger from the modern Clint Eastwood classic, Sully. He welcomes a group from Turkey.

Hozier Performs “Too Sweet”

Gary Kroeger shares, “I love me some Hozier! ‘Take Me To Church’ caught my attention years ago. I love the Irish tradition as it fuses with rock. Van Morrison comes to mind that way. ‘Too Sweet’ is on my personal A rotation!”

“Weekend Update”

Bowen Yang plays a New Jersey drone and belts a huge show stopper! Jost is at a loss for words. After Che tells a dark joke about suicide, Jost announces that it’s time for them joke swap! He says he’ll do it with a black vote, so unlike before, he won’t get in trouble. Buckle up – and get ready for a ScarJo cameo!

Meanwhile, Che defends Jay Z and Diddy! Former cast member Patrick Weather thinks this is a bomb, noting to me that this “sounds like an MJ concert. I feel like I have a bad seat and can’t hear the crowd. Youthful high spirits become depressing during such circumstances.”

Commenting on the political humor, Kroeger comments: “To be honest, I’ve never been completely comfortable with the show’s Joe Biden take. Several funny impressions from various actors – Jim Carrey is the most surprising – but I’ve never seen a nuanced picture. Not on the way Trump has been done, or earlier with Dana’s George Bush, or even way back to Joe Piscopo as Reagan and Dan Aykroyd as Carter. SNL does a commendable job of satirizing the right, left, blue, red and purple. While we all know the general climate is progressive, they also do a good job of drawing attention to our idiosyncrasies.”

“Sábado Giant Christmas Special”

The Spanish-language game show Sábado Gigante is back with Marcello as host Don Francisco – that’s what they did during Episode by Nate Bargatze. Similar vibes, with Dana Carvey popping up for good measure.

Rudd enters from the audience. His character’s “English is very good luck!” – he missed his flight home and getting to this was his ticket.

Hozier performs “Fairytale of New York”

“Fairytale of New York” is a classic written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan, originally a Pogues song with English singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl on vocals. The song is an Irish folk ballad and was written as a duet. Bill Murray memorably sang it in his 2015 Netflix special A very Murray Christmas.

“Peanuts Christmas”

Short and Bowen Yang play the theater directors of Charlie Brown and his friends’ classic pageant. I like Dismukes as Schroeder. A little sweet.

Final thoughts

• Thanks Gary Kroeger! Check out his podcast and blog. Subscribe and like!

• Also thanks to Patrick Weathers.

“What did YOU think of Martin Short SNL?” See you in 2025!

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