In what has been a largely uneven Saturday Night Live season (shakily written sketches, over-reliance on cameo appearances and a significant rookie contingent that has struggled to find its place and jell with more established players to name a few problems), Melissa McCarthy‘s sixth time hosting stint on the venerated late-night show was a clear highlight of Season 51.
The standup-turned-actress took command over Studio 8H with a trove of kooky characters that elevated basic premises to comedic gold — a bread-and-butter SNL recipe the Lorne Michaels-helmed heavyweight would do well to return to. As if the two-time Oscar-nominated performer needed to prove herself to anyone, her outing backed up why she ranks among one of the most featured hosts in the series’ history.
After a solid cold open featuring an absolutely cutting Colin Jost (reprising his portrayal as the boozing, bullying Fox News host-turned-Secretary of War/Defense Pete Hegseth), McCarthy took the stage for her opening monologue. One of the weaker portions of the night, the Only Murders in the Building alum opted for a showcase of practical gags, physical comedy and plenty of repertory player cameos, leading to a mixed-bag beginning that paid homage to New York City’s magical holiday vibes.
However, from then on, the show was a masterclass in comedic timing, sharp writing and excellent pacing. It’s hard to pick a standout sketch from the night, but “UPS Delivery Driver” seems to merge what makes McCarthy such an indelible, reliable and laugh-out-loud talent with SNL‘s best instincts: sketches about seemingly everyday people who are so off-kilter it’s as disconcerting as it is outrageously hilarious.
In the six-minute skit, McCarthy’s Donna is summoned to a meeting by personnel managers Carol (Ashley Padilla) and Ed (Mikey Day) to discuss a customer complaint arising from a series of Ring camera videos, which depict Donna committing increasingly cartoonish acts of vandalism due to a personal grudge she holds after tripping in their front yard. When confronted with the evidence — erratically ripping open packages, dumping out trash, sending a live bat into their open window — Donna fakes fainting while also scooting her chair out the door.
“If you fainted, how can you do that, Donna?” says Ed in exasperated monotone. It takes a lot to make Day break, but this sketch features plenty of opportunities, with the longtime cast member stifling laughs here and there throughout.
But the standout moment comes when Donna, after saying she’s “moved on,” is confronted with another video of her peeing on the customer’s front porch. When presented with an official police statement from the customer about her indiscretion, Donna quickly scarfs down the paper and pretends to faint again, leading Carol and Ed to repeat her name in varying tones of vexation as the latter pries the paper out of Donna’s clenched jaws.
“So that’s it, right? That’s it for me. You’re gonna fire me, after I’ve given this company the best 17 days of my life?” Donna says, asking where she belongs, if not in a UPS truck. With a final punchline, the sketch concludes with a brief ad for USPS, which needs holiday drivers.
Another standout is “Free Sample,” featuring McCarthy as a lonely woman who woefully misinterprets a worker offering her a grocery store sample of goat cheese as a grand gesture of romance. The skit presents one of the first major opportunities for new featured player Jeremy Culhane to shine, as he finds a great rhythm as an awkward low-level employee who, by the sketch’s end, is helplessly drawn to McCarthy’s off-putting shopper.
Given the inherent constraints and challenges of a live format, SNL‘s MVPs have reliably been some of its pre-taped material. Tonight was no exception, with the riotous “A Helping Hand.” A play on saccharine holiday-themed ads, the sketch begins with an elderly McCarthy struggling to shovel the snow off her front yard. When a neighboring kid sees her through the window, he steps in to help, unaware of what this alliance will soon bring. Soon afterward, she spots a bully (Marcello Hernandez) knock over the child’s snowman, and instead of rebuilding it, her peace offering is to tie up, blindfold and strip the aggressor, leaving him on the kid’s lawn alongside a dozen snowballs for him to throw at his stomach (painted with a bullseye). It only escalates from there, as McCarthy offers the kid a gun after he gets pelted with snowballs and hookers for when he’s rejected by a female classmate. A true twist ending, in which the child helps her get away with the murder of her mother, underscores the message: “Kindness, pass it on.”
Other moments of note: A sketch featuring Bowen Yang and McCarthy as a wacky married couple in Yonkers, whose eccentric holiday decor is not nearly as fascinating as their sexual dynamic, as well as a standard dinner party bulwark sketch, which gives Andrew Dismukes significant room to play as an overly enthusiastic and melodramatic host, who threatens to run away and chugs gasoline when his friends won’t agree to a weekly hang.
“Weekend Update” offered its traditional fare, with fairly solid jokes. A standout was Jost’s quip about President Donald Trump receiving the “prestigious soccer peace prize … and that’s why the trophy shows Trump’s gnarled hands dragging Earth into hell.” Another was about Trump’s promise to release his MRI results from October: “He just needs a little more time to write ‘of genius’ after the word ‘stroke.’”
After new featured cast member Veronika Slowikowska and second-year Jane Wickline teamed for a “Cyber Monday” digital short of sorts, featuring a techno-hyperpop-like anthem in the vein of Charli XCX, the duo returned tonight, with McCarthy joining the ranks. The “Cousin Planet” music video — about reuniting with beloved and weird cousins alike amid the holidays — mined 2000s nostalgia with WordArt graphics, pixelated aliens and distinctly Gen Z absurdist humor.
And last, but certainly not least, was musical guest Dijon‘s inaugural performance. With tracks “HIGHER!” and “Another Baby!” the singer-songwriter took to the coveted stage with confidence and ease. With hypnotic alternative/neo-soul tracks, the buzzy, Grammy-nominated indie artist, who has produced for some of the biggest names in music, logged a career highlight after steadily breaking out following well over a decade in the industry.
