Martin Short marked his fifth time hosting Saturday Night Live on December 21. And as is tradition, his predecessors returned to Studio 8H to induct him into the Five-Timers Club.
The cold open on Saturday’s episode started with Tom Hanks seated in an armchair, introducing himself to viewers, and saying that he created the SNL Five-Timers Club in December 1990 as “an ingeniously lazy way to avoid writing a monologue.”
Then Paul Rudd shows up and asks Hanks who he’s talking to. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Hanks responds. “I’ve done so many documentaries, whenever I sit in a leather chair, I just naturally assume I’m in one.”
Hanks and Rudd invite Short into the clubroom, and Tina Fey is there to greet the newest member. Short hails Fey as “one of the rarest things in Hollywood: a writer who’s attractive enough to be on camera.”
Alec Baldwin comes next, wearing a “17” badge on his jacket, as SNL has brought him on as host 17 times now. “They call me when they need someone to play a Republican,” he explains, “apparently because of my face, my voice, and my strong daddy vibes.”
Then comes Scarlett Johansson, who leaves husband Colin Jost at the door and asks about Hanks’ Secret Santa present. “It’s not another book about World War II, is it, Tom?” she says.
“No, it’s about outer space,” Hanks responds.
Next up is Kristen Wiig. “I hope you’re not expecting a repeat of what happened last year when we saw each other,” she tells Short. “We took a hot yoga class together where we made love and got kicked out.”
Emma Stone and Melissa McCarthy arrive, and Stone seems less than thrilled to see one of the club members. “Hello, Kristen,” she says. “I hope you’re not expecting a repeat of what happened last time.”
McCarthy, meanwhile, observes how nice it is that the group can see each other outside of a sketch and that they “don’t do any of that sophomoric comedy stuff here”…. right before she takes a tumble and falls through a wall.
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And through the Melissa McCarthy-shaped hole in the paneling steps John Mulaney, with whom Short appeared in the 2014 sitcom Mulaney, which Fox quickly canceled. “But you came back strong, and then you crashed and burned, and then you came back strong, and we’re all so curious what will happen next,” Short tells his former costar.
When it comes time to confer the Five-Timers Club jacket, the “jacket boy” turns out to be Jimmy Fallon. “I can only stay for a little bit, and then I have to go and host another game show and laugh at my own jokes,” Fallon says. “I’d like to present to you the official Five-Timers Club jacket in exactly your size, a women’s small.”
And, as Short struggles to get his arms into the jacket (in what appears to be an unscripted moment), he tells the other club members that it’s a special night. “I just want to say, I love most of you so much,” he adds.
Saturday Night Live, Saturdays, 11:30/10:30c, NBC
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