Best, Worst Moments from Martin Short's 'SNL'

by Julian Spivey

The final episode of the first half of the milestone 50th season of “Saturday Night Live,” hosted by Martin Short, was fun for multiple reasons. Not only was it the show’s “holiday” episode – although there were more holiday sketches in the previous week’s episode -  but it also marked Short’s entry into the “Five-Timers Club.”
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It was also the best episode of the season thus far, probably due to all the fantastic cameos, recurring bits throughout the evening and Short’s exuberant personality.  
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Photo: NBC

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Here are the highlights and lowlights from the episode:

Best
I’m a sucker for ‘SNL’ nostalgia – so anytime they have a new member of the “Five-Timers Club” and do a sketch involving other members of the club returning to celebrate the “new guy,” I’m giddy. Short’s entry into the “Five-Timers Club” likely included the most returning “Five-Timers” of any of the previous sketches, with Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Scarlett Johansson, Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Emma Stone and John Mulaney all appearing – not to mention Jimmy Fallon as “jacket boy” to bestow Short with his “Five-Timers” jacket. 

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Worst
There was only one sketch the entire night that I didn’t enjoy – the only thing keeping this from a rare perfect episode. That was the return of Marcello Hernandez’s Sabado Gigante sketch from the Nate Bargatze episode earlier this season. The bit was funny in the Bargatze episode but relies on one joke – a non-Spanish speaking audience member being chosen to compete in games on the show – for its humor. This makes it a poor choice for a recurring bit. 

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Best
One of the funniest sketches from season 48 of ‘SNL’ came in the Quinta Brunson episode when she and Mikey Day played drivers arguing in a traffic jam with exaggerated pantomimes to hit home their point. It makes for a good recurring bit but you’d have to find the right host to be game for it and that’s undoubtedly Martin Short. Short and Day portray drivers fighting over a parking spot, and their exaggerated gestures make for hilarity – but once again, it’s Chloe Fineman who steals the sketch with her overly sexualized gestures right in front of her father. Well, she would’ve stolen the sketch had it not been for the amazing cameo that you’ll have to see to believe. 

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Best
The tradition of Michael Che and Colin Jost making each other tell obscene and racist jokes during Weekend Update for Christmas and the end of the season has become a favorite for many show viewers. However, like everything else, the ante must be upped to remain fresh. And since Jost’s wife Johansson was already in Studio 8H for the episode, they found the perfect way to up the ante with her watching on a monitor backstage as her husband was forced to read whatever Che prepared for him, including a wild joke involving roast beef. 

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Best
Hozier was the musical guest for the holiday episode and a fine choice – potentially my favorite musical guest of the season thus far. For his first performance, he performed his latest hit, “Too Sweet,” one of the best hits of 2024. However, his second performance had me in my feels for the holiday season when he covered “Fairytale of New York,” the great Pogues and Kristy MacColl collaboration that has become a must-have addition to Christmas playlists. The performance was made sweeter because Shane MacGowan, the frontman of The Pogues, died late last year and, as an Irish band, must’ve been a musical hero for Hozier.