Martin Short Hosts Cameo Packed ‘SNL’ With Hozier

Martin Short returned to Saturday Night Live to join the five-timers Club with musical guest Hozier. The holiday episode was a star-studded affair with the most cameos of an already cameo-heavy season.

Short was a cast member from 1984 to 1985 and hosted his first episode in December 1986—or rather, co-hosted it, as he shared the episode with fellow amigos Chevy Chase and Steve Martin. He returned to host solo in December 1996, December 2012 and most recently, December 2022. He has also appeared in 11 episodes in cameo roles (the most recent being Kristen Wiig’s April 6, 2024 episode).

Short was joined by Hozier for his second time as a musical guest. The Irish singer guested for the first time on a Bill Hader-hosted episode in 2012.

If there were a theme to the night, it would have been cameos and returning sketches. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but get ready for many pauses for claps and premises that feel familiar.

Cold Open

The Cold Open this week was a self-indulgent cameo-fest. This usually happens when someone joins “the five timers club” (aka hosts who have hosted the show five times.) Short is joined by Tom Hanks, Tina Fey, Scarlett Johansson, Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Emma Stone, Paul Rudd, Jimmy Fallon (who is not a five-timer), John Mulaney and, of course, Alec Baldwin. Huge SNL nerds might find this fun, and there are some great jokes in it, but it feels more like an excuse for claps and ‘woos’ than a real sketch. It is also long. Maybe it needs to be with all these people.

Monologue

With so many stand-ups this season, it felt fresh and fun to have a musical monologue. It also feels right for a Christmas episode. There are even more cameos in this monologue from Fallon and Lorne Michaels. Short really sells this song about needing meds to get through the holidays. It is big and goofy and perfect for the holiday show.

Parking Lot Altercation

This sketch follows Short and Mikey Day using hand signals to fight over a parking space. This is a follow-up to a 2023 sketch with Day and Quinta Brunson. This version doesn’t go anywhere that the original didn’t. While this sketch didn’t need to be done again, if someone was going to, it is good that it was Short. He really commits, and the cameo from McCarthy was fun.

An Act of Kindness

In this pre-taped sketch, Heidi Gardner gets more than she bargains for after she helps a homeless man during the holidays. While the stinger of this sketch is funny, it doesn’t fully make up for this sketch feeling like it is punching down.

Christmas Airport Parade

Here’s another recurring, cameo-filled sketch. The sketch follows Bowen Yang and Ego Nwodim as TSA agents/parade announcers at a busy Christmas Airport. Rudd stops by as himself, but the best cameo in this sketch is Tom Hanks as Captain Sully. He steals this sketch. However, it is another sketch premise that was done recently (Jason Mamoa did a Thanksgiving version last year).

Weekend Update

While Yang as a New Jersey Drone is hilarious, most will be watching this week’s Weekend Update for the annual Joke Swap between Colin Jost and Michael Che, in which the hosts try to make each other look bad by writing off-color jokes for each other to read.

The joke swap is always good for viral moments, and this year’s was no different. Che makes Colin tell a racist joke (like every year), but he raises the stakes by launching into jokes about Jost’s family while his wife, Johansson, is in the studio. Cutting to her reactions really works. Jost makes Che tell a rape joke, which works less well given he opened Update with a different rape joke on his own accord, making it seem less of a “thing he is made to do” and something he just does. If there were a Joke Swap Winner it would certainly be Che.

Sábado Gigante Christmas Special

It’s another recurring cameo filled sketch. Marcello Hernández returns as Sábado Gigante host Don Francisco. He played the veteran Univision host earlier this season with Nate Bargatze. This iternation doesn’t change the game of sketch or add much other than cameos from Rudd and Dana Carvey. However, notably absent, Short.

While this sketch doesn’t do anything new, this reviewer was such a fan of the original Sábado Gigante sketch, that it still felt fun (even if not inventive.) Maybe just watch the first one again- it is so, so good.

Hozier

Hozier first performed his song “Too Sweet.” While that performance was beautiful, if you are going to watch one performance make his second song: a cover of The Pogues’ “The Fairytale of New York.” It was such a great choice from Hozier and his version is achingly wonderful. The Irish folk style song was written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan. With MacGowan’s death last year, the performance feels especially special.

Peanuts Christmas

Charlie Brown gets replaced as director of the christmas pageant by two mean community theater gays played by Yang and Short. This sketch is cute, funny, and really made by the visual gags of having adults dancing like Peanuts characters.

Bonus- Cut for Time: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

This sketch is wild. In it, the Grinch accidentally kills several Whos. However, they are avenged by Lucy Liu Who, in her iconic Kill Bill Vol. 1 costume. It feels odd that this sketch was cut, especially with such a big cameo. However, in an episode this saturated with cameos maybe it was inevitable that one would get cut.

While there are no more guests announced for season 50, it will be back in the new year, and so will this recap.