Saturday Night Live pulled off both an Only Murders in the Building and a Father of the Bride reunion on the December 10 episode hosted by Steve Martin and Martin Short. The legendary comedians were on high form as they opened the show with a spiky monologue in which they eulogized each other — which were really just roasts. From there, the episode served cameos from Selena Gomez and Kieran Culkin, a gory retelling of “A Christmas Carol,” and Short as an angry elf named Sprinkles or Pringles. (Even he’s not 100 percent sure.)
The Christmas episode marked Martin’s 16th time hosting “SNL,” the most appearances by anyone other than Alec Baldwin, who has hosted the show 17 times. Meanwhile, it was Short’s fourth time, which the duo highlighted in the monologue before diving into their eulogies for one another.
Among the night’s best barbs was Short teasing Martin about all the good things he had could say about his comedy partner. “There are so many good things I could say about Steve Martin, but this just doesn’t seem like the right time or place… I know Steve looks down on us because he looks down on everyone,” the “Captain” quipped Ron” actor.
Not to be outdone, Martin replied, “Even in the end, Marty had a wonderful girlfriend: smart, beautiful, and so realistic. He was always sexually active – as long as there were batteries in the house. He was taken from us too soon, but unfortunately not before he played Jack Frost in ‘Santa Clause 3’.”
At the end of the sketch, Martin considered who he would be working with now that Short was “gone,” leading to Gomez’s first appearance of the night. “And me?” she asked as she walked onto the stage and hugged Martin tightly. She later appeared in the parody “Father of the Bride 8” as a musical guest for Annie Banks’ eighth wedding.
Check out all of Martin and Short’s SNL sketches in the gallery.