In a first for “Saturday Night Live,” hours before an episode was set to air, producers scrapped the planned show and sent most of the cast home.
Instead, as the show kicked off at 11:30 p.m., none other than Tom Hanks strolled out in front of a mostly empty, eerily quiet studio. “Thank you, surviving crew members,” Hanks said, as a few people applauded.
He noted that SNL planned to do its big Christmas show and induct host Paul Rudd into the “five timer’s club” — celebrities who have hosted the show five times — but because of the surge of coronavirus cases and in the interest of safety, that would not happen. (Before the show, the New York Post and Variety reported that multiple cast members tested positive for the coronavirus, though that was not mentioned on the air.)
“But I came here from California,” Hanks continued. “And if you think I’m going to fly 3,000 miles and not be on TV, well, you got another thing coming. And I am not alone! Isn’t that right, Tina?”
With that, former SNL star and head writer Tina Fey joined him. “Yes, I am here,” she announced. “And this is not the smallest audience I have ever performed before, because I have done improv in a Macy’s.”
Hanks noted that Fey was also a five-timer. “Thank you for joining me,” he said. “As you know, I started the five-timers club.”
“Oh, like you started covid!” Fey shot back.
They declared that no matter what, they were going to welcome Rudd to the stage. The actor bounded out wearing a suit. “Thanks for coming!” he said to both stars. “I’m extremely disappointed.”
They enlisted Kenan Thompson, the longest-tenured cast member, to honor Rudd with his five-timer jacket. Steve Martin and Martin Short were beamed in with a simultaneous congratulatory and insulting message.
Thompson assured viewers that they were still going to air a great show, though it would be composed of pretaped sketches, while Fey added that they would show their personal favorites from earlier episodes.
“It’s going to be a little bit like that new Beatles documentary,” Rudd explained. “A lot of old footage but enough new stuff that you’re like, ‘Okay, I’ll watch that.’”
The stars stuck around to introduce various sketches, including one taped Thursday night with Rudd, Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant, about how all moms want for Christmas is grandchildren; another about the life of Pete Davidson; an Andy Samberg-Justin Timberlake classic; one featuring Eddie Murphy playing an elf amid a Santa scandal; Steve Martin’s “Holiday Wish” sketch; and another from when Hanks hosted in 1991 and played Dean Martin in a spoof of a Christmas special hosted by Carl Sagan (Mike Myers).
However, “Weekend Update” persisted: Michael Che arrived to host with Fey subbing for Colin Jost (“It’s not what you think … he’s having work done”) before an audience of only Hanks, Rudd and Thompson, who did seem to enjoy jokes such as:
“Time Magazine has made Elon Musk person of the year. You can read more about it on your phone while your Tesla is self-driving you into a lake.”
“It was revealed that on Jan. 6, three Fox News hosts all texted Mark Meadows to urge him to get Trump to call off his supporters. And you know you’ve gone too far when Fox News is like, ‘Somebody better calm these White people down.’”
“German police have broken up a plot by anti-vaxxers to kill a local official over vaccine mandates. It’s a classic conflict between Germany’s two favorite things: Violence and rules.” (Fey pointed out that Hanks really cracked up at that one.)
Hanks, Fey, Thompson, Che and Rudd gathered at the end, all wearing masks, to bid viewers farewell. Rudd also gave a shout-out to Charli XCX for rehearsing so much for a performance that never happened.
“I know it wasn’t the Christmas show that you expected, but that’s the beauty of this place. Like life, it’s unpredictable,” Rudd said. “As my good friend Tom Hanks once said in a movie: ‘Life’s like a big weird chocolate bar. Sometimes it’s delicious. Other times, it’s got that orange cream filling in it and it’s like, okay, it’s not what I would have chosen — but it’s better than nothing.’"
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