SNL closed out 2021 with no live audience and no musical guest, but a few surprises.
We live in uncertain times and all may yet be taken from us.
Welcome, sweet Coneheads, to the finalSNLin Reviewof 2021.
Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Tom Hanks, and Kenan Thompson open final ‘SNL’ of 2022.NBC
It’s theSaturday Night LiveChristmas episode, hosted by newFive-Timers ClubmemberPaul Rudd.
Not long ago, you could conjure in your mind what this episode was going to look like.
And then, well, theomicron variant made it to Manhattan.
Tonight,SNL’s live audience has been nixedand many in the cast and crew sent home.
Musical guestCharli XCX’s performance was also axed.
A clip show, in other words.
I am joined tonight by formerSNLcast member, Jeff Richards.
In season 4, at Walter Matthau’s request, Garrett Morris sang an aria fromDon Giovanni.
Hanks started the Five-Timers Club back in 1990.
Tonight, they welcome Paul Rudd to join, and he comes on stage.
We last saw the actor in the FaceTime With Rudd (a.k.a.
Cousin Mandy) sketch during the “Saturday Night Live at Home” period.
Tonight’s upheavals aside, Jeff Richards is happy they were still able to honor Rudd joining the Five-Timers-Club.
He’s interviewing them to record what they want most for the holidays.
But they just want grandchildren.
That’s all they answer.
It is a bit eerie without the laugh track.
Funny to have the roles reversed at the end, and Bryant and McKinnon interrogate Rudd about wanting children.
“I want weird opinions about Israel not bad, weird!”
cries Rudd, realizing he wants to be a grandfather.
Like, they wouldn’t go this far in 2021, I think?
An Evening With Pete
The year is 2054.
We’re in a spoof ofRaging Bull.
Instant Schillervision vibes here, folks.
“Don’t Look Back in Anger,” what’s good?
Pete Davidsonis introduced by Robo-Jost.
“Do Chad!”
cries Mikey Day in the audience.
“Okay,” he reluctantly says.
Another fun commentary from Davidson this season about his celebrity.
As always, it feels like he is on his own island.
What are his best moments on the show?
Is this warranted…?
They are very eager for their punishment.
Carl Sagan (Mike Myers!)
introduces Dean Martin (pitch perfect work from Hanks.)
A weepy Sally Struthers is played by Victoria Jackson.
Great to see her!
And Jan Hooks and Phil Hartman!
God I miss this era.
“You got paint in my hair you nerd!”
Hanks' Dean is totally puzzled by Paul McCartney (Dana Carvey).
The gifts have been distorted by greenhouse gasses.
And the actual Ralph Nader!
This is an excellent example of the show successfully using the full cast, organically modernSNLtake note.
They are performing in front of an audience of only Rudd, Hanks, and Thompson.
Che lands a fantastic joke about he and Kenan being the only cast members in the studio.
Her laughs at punchlines during Update always feels genuine, like her writerly taste offering approval.
I love Hanks' reactions in the audience too.
Kyle Mooney plays a 6-year-old, mmmk, buying a pair of socks.
They tell a story about meeting in line, connecting about their birds.
Shout out the source material, the plodding, saccharineChristmas Shoes.
Charli gets to make an appearance in the episode as TJ Rocks, the returning bird.
This is an all-timer.
“The kids singing would be great.”
Way back in season 38.
Martin Short berates his cousin through marriage, Paul McCartney.
No love for theMister Robinson’s Neighborhood Christmas sketch?
It’s offensive their snubbing the Ebersol era, in my honest opinion.
One Direction’s No.
But it also has to be true.
That’s his intro to the Dan Charles/One Direction pretape from a few seasons back.
Still love him reaching to touch Harry Styles.
“Her name is… Dan Charles.”
That’s what she says.
This is a strange episode, isn’t it folks?
TV Funhouse: Christmastime for the Jews (2005)
Another classic.
If you haven’t, I recommend reading this2018 oral historyabout the making of this sketch.
It’s so cool they actually got Darlene Love for this.
Also love Fey shouting out theSNLcostume department with an anecdote about making a Christmas outfit for her baby.
Final Thoughts
-Well, that was something.
What did we learn?Vote here- or weigh in below!
-Thank you to Jeff Richards for his thoughts!Check out his podcast.
-“Life is like a weird big chocolate bar.”
Rudd is very poignant at the goodnights the show is unpredictable, as is life.
Funny him shouting out two current cast members.
