Christmas has become an extra special time for Saturday Night Live, as the cast and writers save their best for the end of the year and always manage to attract their biggest alums and famous friends to make a holiday cameo or two.
Having all-time favorites Tina Fey and Amy Poehler co-host helps, too!
Fey and Poehler star in the other big movie out this weekend (and biggest among non-sequels, looking at you Alvin, Simon and Theodore and Han, Luke and Leia), Sisters, which also features SNL friend Maya Rudolph. So, yes, Maya made a couple of appearances on this Saturday. Amy Schumer received an invite to Tina and Amy’s comedy squad. And musical guest Bruce Springsteen invited Sir Paul McCartney to sing along as he and the E Street Band played us out to 1 a.m. (Eastern/Pacific) as a truly joyful cast joined in for “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.” You could feel the glee glowing from everyone on that crowded stage.
Not even a massive technical glitch at the start of an otherwise instant classic live sketch (“Meet Your Second Wife”) nor a crowded cold open that chose to spotlight the crazy Republican presidential field (with Darrell Hammond re-taking his Donald impersonation from Taran Killam, who switched over to play Ted Cruz) instead of Saturday night’s very own live Democratic debate (which could have brought Larry David in for another cameo) could dampen anyone’s spirits.
Well, it wasn’t all great. But we don’t have to waste anyone’s time reliving those sketches. Instead, let’s look once more on the greatness of Tina, Amy, Amy and Maya.
Roll the clips!
Two Hillary Clintons and a Sarah Palin dancing? Yasssss comedy queens!
“Meet Your Second Wife” — Hosts Helen Walsh (Amy Poehler) and Tina Fey introduce three contestants (Bobby Moynihan, Taran Killam, Kenan Thompson) to their future second wives. Rich social cultural commentary. You can feel Tina and Amy’s presence is strong here.
The monologue: Tina and Amy wrote their own Christmas songs to avoid licensing issues, and it’s a classic case of who’s naughty, who’s nice, and let’s see how they fare trading places.
Tina & Amy’s Dope Squad: Take that, Taylor Swift. Loving the glam looks on our comedy queens, and how Amy Schumer tries to take to it, and even Aidy Bryant’s obscure podcasting character from the movie junket gets in on the action. Also, are those Tina and Amy’s actual nannies and gynecologist?
Weekend Update with Tina and Amy! Two jokes and they’re out.
Special Offer: Chad and Victoria Douglas (Taran Killam, Vanessa Bayer) share Christmas highlights from their variety show. Or rather, an excuse for Maya Rudolph to play an old drunken diva. And another chance for Tina Fey to flex her comedy influence and muscle Kenan Thompson into mocking Bill Cosby for their own version of “Baby It’s Cold Outside.”
Bronx Beat 2015: This SNL classic recurring comes back with Amy and Maya dissing Star Wars but loving Tina’s Philly accent.
“Not even a massive technical glitch at the start of an otherwise instant classic live sketch…” = ugh I know, I was aghast when this happened because otherwise the sketch would have been SO so so funny! instead, very awkward and embarassing for the show’s director….to have yet ANOTHER cringe-moment that could’ve easily been prevented. It just gets so frustrating week after week with all the technical problems, audio glitches, cue-card mistakes leading to flubbed lines, canned laugh-tracks to “supplement” audience laughter, singer’s mic problems, etc. So many talented production staffers out there in NYC would love to work for this show, but SNL insists on employing the most bumbling foolish mistake-prone incompetent morons to screw things up week after week after week. Why don’t they fire these no-talent studio hacks & hire some actual professionals who know what the heck they’re doing?!?! And for those who say “well it’s a live show, mistakes are bound to happen” that’s true to a degree, but this NEVER used to happen this much 5-10 years ago, where production mistakes like these are now the NORM instead of the exception 🙁