After quite the hiatus due to the Olympics taking over NBC, Saturday Night Live returned last night with host John Mulaney and musical guest LCD Soundsystem. This marked Mulaney’s fifth time hosting, which naturally ushered him into the Five-Timers Club, where he joined a select group of people that includes John Goodman, Melissa McCarthy, Steve Martin, and Justin Timberlake. While he’s best known for being a highly-successful stand-up comedian, Mulaney’s roots are at SNL.
On an episode of the Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist podcast, Mulaney explained that ever since he was four, he knew he wanted to be an entertainer. Despite his parents being “stiff” lawyers, he said comedy was always present in the home. From a very early age, he started collecting comedy albums and was fascinated by reruns of iconic sitcoms, such as I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, and The Dick Van Dyke Show. “I say around age four I knew I wanted to be a nightclub entertainer because I wanted to be like Ricky Ricardo,” adding that by age five, he loved comedy so much that he couldn’t imagine spending his life any other way.
Sure enough, Mulaney dedicated his life to comedy. His early 20s were filled with stand-up and writing for various sketch projects, and while he adored everything about SNL, he never once thought he’d ever have anything to do with it. His style of comedy was, as he’s described, “irrelevant” and far from topical, nearly the exact opposite of what SNL tends to gravitate toward. “I didn’t do impressions and I wasn’t good at doing characters and I did stand-up in a sort of, outdated way.” You can imagine, then, his surprise when he was asked to audition. Knowing it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he went ahead with the audition, but decided that he would only do four minutes of his stand-up rather than any characters. One night while out to dinner his Mom, Seth Meyers called him and offered him a job writing on the show instead of being a cast member. Mulaney went on to write on SNL for the next five years.
While writing on the show, the Emmy-winning comedian (alongside Bill Hader) co-created one of the most popular characters in the show’s nearly 50-year history: Stefon. Hader played the eccentric New York City nightclub connoisseur, which quickly became a Weekend Update staple, always telling Meyers about what the city’s “hottest club” has to offer. Like several classic SNL characters, Stefon was inspired by real-life people. The idea came from a person Mulaney knew that promoted and described very specific and strange clubs, and the persona came from a barista that worked at a coffee shop Hader frequented. Another (albeit far less popular) character Mulaney is responsible for is Riley, a raspy, crude child that Fred Armisen played only once. (Please watch it.) In addition to his many stand-up specials, you can hear Mulaney in the hit animated series Big Mouth as well as the voice of Chip to Andy Samberg’s Dale in the upcoming film Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers.
Mulaney’s fifth time as host was chock-full of many unexpected special guests. The show forgoed its typical Cold Open to address the devastating events in Ukraine. Rather than poke fun at the news, veteran cast members Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong welcomed the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York to perform a lovely song. The somber yet inspiring start to the evening was a tasteful change of pace and a lovely beginning to a strong episode.
Let’s revisit some of the best moments from the February 26 episode of Saturday Night Live. Live from New York, it’s John Mulaney!
5. Blue River Dog Food
Oh my God! You’re feeding your dog that load of hot garbage? How are you even able to look at yourself in the mirror? Fine. Maybe you think that this fancier Blue River dog food is too healthy and expensive for your four-legged friend. Well, uh, if you actually had a heart and soul like Rebekah (Strong) and Daniel (Mulaney) then nothing would stop you from buying this edible pricey perfection that is Blue River. And, if feeding your dog isn’t enough, Blue River might also help your marriage.
4. COVID Dinner Discussion
The best time to bring up your controversial opinions on emotionally charged and divisive subjects is during a nice night out with your friends. This group of pals look back on the wild and exhausting two years of intense COVID and wonder if the worst is finally behind them. Could the days of wearing masks everywhere really be in the rearview? Also, okay…these folks have some thoughts that they’ve been keeping to themselves for months. Dare they spill some of their skepticism all over the dinner table? Careful…
3. Please Don’t Destroy - Good Variant
Oh great. Just what we need. Another variant. What’s that? You’re telling me this variant is…good? And so getting a positive test result is indeed positive? Well, then a celebration is in order! Bring out the beers, big sandwiches, and of course, Al Roker. Let your freak flag fly and your spirit be free. Throw your masks in the air and brush your suddenly long hair. You got COVID, my friend!
2. Subway Churro
Ah, the subway. The infamous, smelly, disorganized, and frankly, unsafe subway. Even if you’re hungry, it’s best to not eat anything down there. Especially if it’s a baked good from a bare-handed mystery woman with a cart. This classic mode of transportation is known for having more colorful characters than Sesame Street. You might bump into a guy that’s feeling a bit stabby, step in an unidentified puddle, or hear from Jesus wearing a beer helmet. And, there’s a good chance that you’ll break out in song. You’d have to be crazy to think that you’ll get to your destination on time. Then again, if you’re riding the subway, there’s a good chance you are crazy.
1. Five-Timers Club
As mentioned numerous times already, this episode marks John Mulaney’s fifth time hosting SNL, and per tradition, means he is expected to get an official and very exclusive induction. To properly welcome Mulaney into the club are long-time members Steve Martin, Elliott Gould, and Candice Bergen, who, if they’re being honest, have zero clue who Mulaney is. The confusing and velvet-robe-filled ordeal is complicated even further when fellow Five-Timer Paul Rudd, at the risk of sounding like a “total b*tch,” talks about how his Five-Timers celebration that was thwarted in December was going to be way better than Mulaney’s. Upon hearing the words “not special,” talk show host and former SNL writer Conan O’Brien barges in to tell Mulaney that the two of them weren’t meant to be seen on camera. Wait a second… was Tina Fey really the first woman to wear glasses on TV?
Next week, Moon Knight himself Oscar Isaac makes his SNL hosting debut alongside musical guest Charli XCX.