“Saturday Night Live” pulled off both an “Only Murders in the Building” and a “Father of the Bride” reunion in the Dec. 10 episode hosted by Steve Martin and Martin Short. The legendary comedians were in top form as they kicked off the show with a spiky monologue that included them delivering each other’s eulogies – which were actually just roasts. From there, the episode went on to serve up guest appearances from Selena Gomez and Kieran Culkin, a bloody retelling of “A Christmas Carol,” and Short as a disgruntled elf named either Sprinkles or Pringles. (Even he’s not 100 percent sure.)
The holiday episode marked Martin’s 16th time hosting “SNL,” the most hosting appearances by anyone other than Alec Baldwin, who has hosted the show 17 times. Meanwhile, it was Short’s fourth time, something the duo highlighted in the monologue before launching into their eulogies for one another.
Among the best barbs of the night was Short teasing Martin about all the good things he could say about his comedy partner. “There are so many good things I could say about Steve Martin but this hardly seems the time nor the place . . . I know Steve is looking down on us because he looked down on everybody,” the “Captain Ron” actor quipped.
Not to be outdone, Martin responded, “Even at 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 away from us too soon, but sadly, not before he played Jack Frost in ‘Santa Clause 3.'”
At the end of the sketch Martin pondered who he would work with now that Short was “gone,” which led to Gomez’s first appearance of the night. “What about me?” she asked as she walked on stage and gave Martin a big hug. Later on, she appeared in the “Father of the Bride 8” spoof as the musical guest for Annie Banks’s eighth wedding.
Watch all of Martin and Short’s “SNL” sketches in the gallery ahead.