So here I am writing said post.
It’s become a staple the last several years (probably been over a decade by this point, lol) that all of us gather around the tv to watch. The best part is that they have sketches going as far back as season one while sprinkling in more recent highlights.
This year had 2 new ones I hadn’t seen before but made all of us laugh.
The first was a tv infomercial for ABBA Christmas which saw the return of Kate McKinnon and BFFs Kristin Wiig and Maya Rudolph. (I assume the one guy is a newer cast member because I didn’t recognize him).
But all the snippets of performances were either ABBA songs rehashed as Christmas songs or new Christmas songs that had the musical trademarks of their music. I don’t know if the whole gag was for them to be unintelligible because they’re from Sweden but it still kinda bugged me I couldn’t understand a word. The funniest part of course was them singing super close to each other and seeing who breaks first. Kate McKinnon is just crazy good enough to be able to stay in character but even she has a moment where she cracks.
Best comment was the MC explaining the contents of the CD, which ends with “Christmas covers of all 86 of their songs”. Something like that but even as huge Mamma Mia fans, we laughed so hard.
The other new one was a white elephant party where Austin Butler (fresh off his “Elvis” promo tour) played a disgruntled guest because his beloved catch-all ashtray got stolen by another guest.
In the end he gets what he wants when he happens to open another one but in black.
Never seen someone so happy to get an ashtray in their lives, haha
Most of the same sketches return every year and we all have our favorites.
However, I do have one in particular I NEVER want to see again. In recent years, it’s just been in the first hour and I happen to be watching something else at the time. Previous to that, I find an excuse to just leave the room for 2 minutes.
I’m talking, of course, about the Will Ferrell vomit sketch. Where they’re playing “it’s the most wonderful time of the year”, he’s on a spinning platform and he gets motion sick everywhere.
In general I’m not a huge Will Ferrell fan in general. Ron Burgundy (first movie only) is great but he mostly plays an overgrown man child. “Elf” has one or two good lines but I cannot stand that movie because of him.
I’m not a fan of toilet humor in general but vomit is NEVER going to be funny. Especially for someone like me who had sensitive stomach problems as a kid that participated some unspeakably embarrassing moments. Just find the master tapes and the negatives and burn them…
Another sketch I’ve seen a little less in recent years but would get rid of one or two parts of.
The Michael Buble Christmas duets infomercial. Some of the impressions like Taran Killen as Scotty McCreery are really good and lady Gaga just being a glammed up Christmas tree with googly eyes is well played.
But Kristin Wiig being Taylor Swift- not cool! Her whole bit was doing her surprised face and not singing a single note. It’s a good impression, but omg, stop making her look like a complete airhead and sing!
Jimmy Fallon’s Justin Bieber impression is no better. No singing at all but I have to admit his goofy face and dance moves were pretty funny. And this is me speaking as someone who didn’t like Justin at all until he outgrew that heartthrob phase- his music got a lot more enjoyable after that although I still wouldn’t consider myself a huge fan.
Another quick pet peeve before moving on to the good stuff.
The shortened segments leading to commercial breaks. I’m going to YouTube just so I can see the entirety of the Mr Robinson’s neighborhood sketch. What happens besides the eviction notice?! You’d think they’d someday treat us to the full sketch.
...after seeing the whole thing, I can kinda see why they might not show the whole thing. He talks about breaking into people's houses and taking stuff (opposed to Santa who gives stuff). Plus two schemes that are kinda troubling but also entertaining. One is pretending to collect for the Salvation Army (complete with bucket and bell) when he's really giving money to himself. But the best part has to be him selling knock-off Cabbage Patch Dolls to stupid children- where he beheads a doll and gives it a head of lettuce. This was probably done in the midst of the mania of that fad so it was probably cathartic for a lot of people.
I’d love for them to bring back the “it’s a wonderful life” sketch where Dana Carvey is a perfect Jimmy Stewart, uncle Billy remembers Mr Potter has the money and the whole town gives him his much needed comeuppance after they find out he’s not even a cripple.
The one thing that movie was missing… and also George Bailey finally getting to travel outside Bedford Falls.
But instead we’re stuck with the pointless “leave me alone, please go away!” riff on Carol of the Bells… saw the rest of the sketch on YouTube. Not missing too much. But it ends with a number for 1-800-Get-Help... I know they're dysfunctional, but dang!
The following are sketches the season would be incomplete without:
Candice Bergen's consumer probe
What’s Christmas without Johnny switchblade or, my personal favorite, bag of glass?
D*ck in the box
This came out when I was in college and so many people loved it.
It took me a little extra time to warm up to the idea but it is pretty fun. The one part I always remember is the steps. And what was with that stupid flower he was rubbing all over her face?
(I’m not a fan of Justin Timberlake by any means but he’s always great on SNL holidays. Particularly when he’s dressed as a cup of soup, does a little dance and ends with “give it all to Homelessville!”)
The Hanukkah Song
If you’re sensing a pattern here, it’s not your imagination.
I’m not a huge Adam Sandler fan either (see Will Ferrell man-child comment) but this is a really fun staple where you pick out new things every year or you’ve memorized more of it despite only seeing it once a year.
It’s at the point where my sister and I will anticipate and shout our favorite lines.
Best line is spinning the dreidel with Captain Kirk and Mr Spock (BOTH JEWISH!!)
Followed by “OJ Simpson… not a Jew” and “so many Jews in show biz. Tom Cruise isn’t but I think his agent is.”
The best part is that he almost goes off the rails laughing multiple times yet he keeps it together to the very end.
Heck, the Californians Thanksgiving sketch is the stupidest thing ever but it’s funny because they break character constantly and still manage to get through it.
(My favorite thanksgiving sketch is with Anne Hathaway working at a soup kitchen and slowly losing her sanity because Kristin Wiig kept one upping her on everything… which shows off Kristin’s amazing improv skills because she built up everything Anne said in the same order she said- it kinda blew my mind)
Sweddy Balls on NPR radio
Nothing will make me out to be a bigger hypocrite than my feelings on Alec Baldwin.
I’ve wanted him to be cancelled for ages because of his terrible Donald Trump impression… this is a whole rant but I’ll spare the extraneous details.
But the fact, accident or not, he literally killed someone on the “Rust” set and got away with it because the prosecution didn’t follow procedure… that’s straight up reprehensible and he should be held accountable for the rest of his life.
All that being said… I may not like the guy (or any of his movies except maybe rock of ages) but I don’t want them to stop airing this sketch.
Again, I’m a massive hypocrite but in this day and age, who isn’t?
I made comments about not liking toilet humor but when it comes to playful cheeky innuendos, bring them on!
The whole joke is that this is meant to be radio so you don’t see what’s actually going on but it’s still funny at face value. Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer are perfect together and we find new favorite lines to say with them every year.
Funnels are great for funneling and Molly Shannon lowkey has an excessive rat problem.
This year we counted- they said “balls” 24 times, lol
Not sure if it was inspired by this or it’s just a reflection of our love of cocktails in this house but one recipe we like to make every year is fudgy chocolate bourbon balls. No baking required so they are boozy and have a small serving size compared to most of our other holiday desserts.
Another Alec Baldwin sketch that’s gotten traction in recent years is him being an elf from the home office. The worker elves are complaining about weak tools and wanting more pay and stuff. He’s very strict about keeping them as they are and threatens to fire them if they don’t stop complaining. But it’s a fun sketch for two reasons.
1- he reads an acronym off Always Be Cobbling but completely misreads cobbling as Cable multiple times before correcting himself… the smile he cracks after the fact is hilarious, not to mention the fact he’d torn into them about cobbling a number of times before the this
And 2- he ends his tirade with “you’re all getting bonuses, it’s still Christmas” and everyone rejoices!
I wish it was Christmas today
This is one I look forward to every year but this year it felt extra special.
We’ve been listening to Jimmy Fallon’s Christmas channel on Sirius all month and it’s been a blast. Best part is the variety- it’s rare you hear the same song (or artist) more than once in the same hour. A huge plus this time of year when some songs are done to death.
But we not only learned about coquitos from him (they are GOOD- definitely recommend- basically a Puerto Rican riff on egg nog) but he gave us the backstory of this particular sketch.
This song arose from a late night spontaneous jam session and the next day the dude who plays the guitar came up with lyrics. Jimmy called it one of the dumbest sketches he’s been a part of but a band called The Strokes did a full version that’s played on the channel a couple times.
The sketch itself- yeah it’s kinda lame. Only the guitar guy is doing any real work. Jimmy will sing some backing vocals but he spends most of his time messing with the keyboard. It’s actually providing the drumbeat but it looks like he’s either pressing random buttons or wiping fake snow off it.
But it’s better than Chris Kattan holding the keyboard and just shaking his head back and forth (how does that not make him dizzy?) or Tracy Morgan just jogging in place.
But it still has some charm to it and I enjoy it anyway. The one little part where Jimmy Fallon repeats “I wish it was Christmas today” and he and guitar guy bop back and forth— that lives rent free in my head all year and I unconsciously do it when I hear certain songs. Although not as frequently as I imagine Molly Ringwald (Ala the breakfast club) dancing to some of my favorite songs— one day I’ll compile a list cuz there’s a bunch of them.
Honorable Mentions (I had no other place to talk about)
I’d love for them to bring back the “it’s a wonderful life” sketch where Dana Carvey is a perfect Jimmy Stewart, uncle Billy remembers Mr Potter has the money and the whole town gives him his much needed comeuppance after they find out he’s not even a cripple.
The one thing that movie was missing… and also George Bailey finally getting to travel outside Bedford Falls.
But instead we’re stuck with the pointless “leave me alone, please go away!” riff on Carol of the Bells… saw the rest of the sketch on YouTube. Not missing too much. But it ends with a number for 1-800-Get-Help... I know they're dysfunctional, but dang!
The following are sketches the season would be incomplete without:
Candice Bergen's consumer probe
What’s Christmas without Johnny switchblade or, my personal favorite, bag of glass?
D*ck in the box
This came out when I was in college and so many people loved it.
It took me a little extra time to warm up to the idea but it is pretty fun. The one part I always remember is the steps. And what was with that stupid flower he was rubbing all over her face?
(I’m not a fan of Justin Timberlake by any means but he’s always great on SNL holidays. Particularly when he’s dressed as a cup of soup, does a little dance and ends with “give it all to Homelessville!”)
The Hanukkah Song
If you’re sensing a pattern here, it’s not your imagination.
I’m not a huge Adam Sandler fan either (see Will Ferrell man-child comment) but this is a really fun staple where you pick out new things every year or you’ve memorized more of it despite only seeing it once a year.
It’s at the point where my sister and I will anticipate and shout our favorite lines.
Best line is spinning the dreidel with Captain Kirk and Mr Spock (BOTH JEWISH!!)
Followed by “OJ Simpson… not a Jew” and “so many Jews in show biz. Tom Cruise isn’t but I think his agent is.”
The best part is that he almost goes off the rails laughing multiple times yet he keeps it together to the very end.
Heck, the Californians Thanksgiving sketch is the stupidest thing ever but it’s funny because they break character constantly and still manage to get through it.
(My favorite thanksgiving sketch is with Anne Hathaway working at a soup kitchen and slowly losing her sanity because Kristin Wiig kept one upping her on everything… which shows off Kristin’s amazing improv skills because she built up everything Anne said in the same order she said- it kinda blew my mind)
Sweddy Balls on NPR radio
Nothing will make me out to be a bigger hypocrite than my feelings on Alec Baldwin.
I’ve wanted him to be cancelled for ages because of his terrible Donald Trump impression… this is a whole rant but I’ll spare the extraneous details.
But the fact, accident or not, he literally killed someone on the “Rust” set and got away with it because the prosecution didn’t follow procedure… that’s straight up reprehensible and he should be held accountable for the rest of his life.
All that being said… I may not like the guy (or any of his movies except maybe rock of ages) but I don’t want them to stop airing this sketch.
Again, I’m a massive hypocrite but in this day and age, who isn’t?
I made comments about not liking toilet humor but when it comes to playful cheeky innuendos, bring them on!
The whole joke is that this is meant to be radio so you don’t see what’s actually going on but it’s still funny at face value. Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer are perfect together and we find new favorite lines to say with them every year.
Funnels are great for funneling and Molly Shannon lowkey has an excessive rat problem.
This year we counted- they said “balls” 24 times, lol
Not sure if it was inspired by this or it’s just a reflection of our love of cocktails in this house but one recipe we like to make every year is fudgy chocolate bourbon balls. No baking required so they are boozy and have a small serving size compared to most of our other holiday desserts.
Another Alec Baldwin sketch that’s gotten traction in recent years is him being an elf from the home office. The worker elves are complaining about weak tools and wanting more pay and stuff. He’s very strict about keeping them as they are and threatens to fire them if they don’t stop complaining. But it’s a fun sketch for two reasons.
1- he reads an acronym off Always Be Cobbling but completely misreads cobbling as Cable multiple times before correcting himself… the smile he cracks after the fact is hilarious, not to mention the fact he’d torn into them about cobbling a number of times before the this
And 2- he ends his tirade with “you’re all getting bonuses, it’s still Christmas” and everyone rejoices!
I wish it was Christmas today
This is one I look forward to every year but this year it felt extra special.
We’ve been listening to Jimmy Fallon’s Christmas channel on Sirius all month and it’s been a blast. Best part is the variety- it’s rare you hear the same song (or artist) more than once in the same hour. A huge plus this time of year when some songs are done to death.
But we not only learned about coquitos from him (they are GOOD- definitely recommend- basically a Puerto Rican riff on egg nog) but he gave us the backstory of this particular sketch.
This song arose from a late night spontaneous jam session and the next day the dude who plays the guitar came up with lyrics. Jimmy called it one of the dumbest sketches he’s been a part of but a band called The Strokes did a full version that’s played on the channel a couple times.
The sketch itself- yeah it’s kinda lame. Only the guitar guy is doing any real work. Jimmy will sing some backing vocals but he spends most of his time messing with the keyboard. It’s actually providing the drumbeat but it looks like he’s either pressing random buttons or wiping fake snow off it.
But it’s better than Chris Kattan holding the keyboard and just shaking his head back and forth (how does that not make him dizzy?) or Tracy Morgan just jogging in place.
But it still has some charm to it and I enjoy it anyway. The one little part where Jimmy Fallon repeats “I wish it was Christmas today” and he and guitar guy bop back and forth— that lives rent free in my head all year and I unconsciously do it when I hear certain songs. Although not as frequently as I imagine Molly Ringwald (Ala the breakfast club) dancing to some of my favorite songs— one day I’ll compile a list cuz there’s a bunch of them.
Honorable Mentions (I had no other place to talk about)
They only played it a few times but there’s one memorable sketch with Kate McKinnon.
There’s a homely couple being interviewed along with her about their Christmas Eve. They had fun with Santa, got to go to the North Pole and have cocoa and cookies. Kate is a red neck stereotype talking about Santa’s helper Krinklemaus and her bizarre night. She gets taken to the reindeer shed and gets roped into deworming the reindeer with Shart, the deranged Gollum-like elf who works there. All the while, she lost her pants in transit so she alludes to the fact numerous times that she's rocking no pants.
She’s so unbelievably weird and unhinged at her best, so this is right in her wheelhouse.
They didn't show it this year, but I remember a YouTube video in the other room of someone playing Jennifer Coolidge and her talking about Christmas stuff. The actual video, once I finally saw it, wasn't quite as funny as just hearing the audio.
Best part is someone playing Jingle Bells.
She says "that's really good, did you write that?"
He pauses "did I write Jingle Bells?... no..."
"Then who?"
"I don't know, some guy"
Best part is someone playing Jingle Bells.
She says "that's really good, did you write that?"
He pauses "did I write Jingle Bells?... no..."
"Then who?"
"I don't know, some guy"
That freaking killed me :P
One final one that doesn't get played as much anymore. Molly Shannon is in character as Mary Catherine Gallagher and Whitney Houston has a cameo as a classmate. Both are singing "Sleigh Ride," trying to one up each other and it ends with Molly Shannon falling over in spectucular style.
Of course the grand finale always involved a musical guest. For years it was Bruce Springsteen and in recent years, Paul McCartney got the final spot.
It’s on the back of a sketch where he’s in a duo with an overbearing Martin Short… not a fan of that part but the performance on the SNL stage is great.
I get the feeling those will become extra special when these legends are no longer with us and we’re left to reminisce about the one time “he was a big star but not so big he didn’t mind taking the time to play on SNL.” Both look like they had the best time up there and we all feel the same watching them.
It’s on the back of a sketch where he’s in a duo with an overbearing Martin Short… not a fan of that part but the performance on the SNL stage is great.
I get the feeling those will become extra special when these legends are no longer with us and we’re left to reminisce about the one time “he was a big star but not so big he didn’t mind taking the time to play on SNL.” Both look like they had the best time up there and we all feel the same watching them.
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