Melissa McCarthy got Saturday Night Live in the holiday spirit with a festive opening monologue, where she was toppled by a huge faux snowstorm.
After a few weeks off air, the two-time Oscar nominee began the episode by celebrating how “great” it was to be back for her sixth time hosting the sketch comedy series. Marking the first episode to air in the month of December, McCarthy also commemorated it being “a special time of the year.”
“It’s about family and friends and classic Christmas music. Come on, set the mood, gang,” she said as music began playing in the background. The actress then went on to show off her talents as a musician, one that plays the “mouth horn.”
“Speaking of music, there’s something most people don’t know about me, and it’s that I am a musician. And my instrument is the mouth horn. That’s right, it’s the mouth horn,” she said before she began humming the tune of “Carol of the Bells.”
McCarthy continued to rave about the holiday season, noting that she “love[s] this time of year,” going on to list a few reasons why: “The tree is lit, and Santa’s checking his lists. He’s got naughty and nice, and Epstein.”
“We could all use a little Christmas magic. So how about we put a little bit of snow to get us in the holiday mood?” she said as a string of flurries fell down around her on-set. “This is SNL, Don’t be stingy with the snow!”
The snowfall began lightly, but quickly picked up, as a wave of snow fell on top of the Little Mermaid star, engulfing her with a faux snowstorm. “Okay, that was way too much,” she exclaimed as she went on to continue the monologue, where Marcello Hernandez joined her on-stage to prompt a “piano duet.”
The SNL cast member wheeled a piano into the frame, where he accidentally pushed McCarthy out of said frame as the two bickered back and forth. Hernandez set the piano into place, as the actress joked that he dropped it on her fingers.
“Now I’ve ruined Christmas,” she said, though Kenan Thompson assured her she did not sour the occasion.
“Oh, nonsense, Melissa McCarthy. Come on, you haven’t ruined Christmas at all. Everyone here loves you,” he said. “Now why don’t we do one of your favorite Christmas songs?”
“You want me to sing?” the actress asked, as Thompson responded, “No, no. I want you to blow that sweet horn.” McCarthy then mumbled the melody of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” while a few additional SNL cast members joined her to sing and dance.
Earlier in the night, Colin Jost began the cold open by portraying Pete Hegseth, who was asked by a journalist if there was “any truth to the allegations that after an initial strike on a drug smuggling boat, you ordered a second strike to kill the survivors?”
“First of all, that kind of cruel, heartless act has no place in operation Kill Everybody,” he replied. “Second, I wasn’t in the room when it happened, okay? I was so jacked up after the first strike I had to make an emergency call to my sponsor — I’m sorry, a guy at an anonymous meeting — so I don’t drink something that I like and I want but I can’t have, but I want it, and I need it and I want it right now. It’s booze.”
James Austin Johnson joined the cold open as Trump, who showed his support for Hegseth.
“We love Pete. He’s a great guy. He’s just fog of war, right? Fog of war. It’s a thing you only say after doing war crime, right? You never hear a general go, ‘Everything went according to plan in fog of war.’ It’s like when you go into the sauna at Equinox and suddenly you’re doing stuff you never did before,” Johnson’s Trump said. “Fog of War, we love it. It’s a great new excuse, we love it. So I stand by Pete, and nothing can change my mind less. Unless of course, it could hurt me in any way, in which case, I’ll throw him under one of Mamdani’s free buses.”
McCarthy served as the first SNL host of December, alongside Dijon as musical guest. Saturday night marked her sixth time leading the show, though she’s made several cameos over the years.
There are two more SNL shows left for 2025, with Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery star Josh O’Connor set to make his hosting debut on Dec. 13, with Lily Allen as musical guest. Ariana Grande will be the final host of the year, with none other than Cher as the Dec. 20 musical guest, making her first appearance on the sketch comedy show since 1987.
Season 51 has already aired six episodes, as Bad Bunny, Amy Poehler, Sabrina Carpenter, Miles Teller, Nikki Glaser and Glen Powell all took turns in the leading role.
