Fifth time’s the charm for Paul Rudd, who returned to host Saturday Night Live alongside musical guest Charli XCX for the sketch show’s final episode of the year. Well…that was the plan. Due to a COVID outbreak in 30 Rock that infected several cast members as well as the overall spike in Omicron variant-related cases, SNL was forced to make some last-minute amends to their Christmas show. For starters, NBC sent home Charli XCX amid safety concerns, leaving the show without a musical guest. Well, at least the audience was there to cheer everyone on. Wait, what’s that? No live audience. But the cast was there though, right? Nope, and neither was most of the crew. Alas, the show must go on, and who better to lend a helping hand than Tom Hanks. Before we dive into this (literally) pieced-together and entirely pre-recorded episode, let’s get to know our host, Mr. Rudd.
The actor, producer, screenwriter, candy store owner (yes, this sweetheart really owns a candy store), and People’s 2021 Sexiest Man Alive is one of the most lovable talents in Hollywood. In a podcast interview with Backstage, Rudd explained that he had zero Hollywood connections to lean on while growing up in the Midwest. What he did have was a big appetite for acting. While most people loathe public speaking, he realized in middle school and high school that he actually enjoyed it, and that perhaps there was something there to explore. When he was about 16, his next-door neighbor asked a then-unsure Rudd what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. In what Rudd describes as a sort of “lightning bolt moment,” his neighbor suggested he seriously consider acting. “From that point on,” Rudd explains, “I thought, ‘Yep, that’s what I want to do.’ And I didn’t really veer from it too much after that.”
Rudd moved to New York for school at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He performed in plays and took his love of theater to Oxford, England as part of the British American Drama Academy. “Working on classical text and Jacobean drama and being there while working on it… it was incredible.” He plugged away at theater and commercial work and earned his SAG card with an unaired beer commercial. His first “real” job came in 1992 when he landed a recurring role on the series Sisters. From there, he scored his breakout role as Josh in the hit film Clueless alongside Alicia Silverstone and would later play Phoebe’s love interest in Friends. He’s since become known for his comedy chops and frequent collaborations with Judd Apatow in projects such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Wanderlust, the Anchorman films, Knocked Up, and This Is 40. Oh yeah, he’s also part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Ant-Man, the tiny but mighty hero who will return to the big screen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Right about now is where I'd mention if anything unexpected happened during this week's episode. As you might’ve been able to tell already, this entire episode was unexpected. Save for a handful of pre-recorded sketches, the whole show had to be scrapped. Certainly, this wasn’t the night that Rudd had in mind (or deserved), especially considering this was his initiation into SNL’s famous Five-Timers Club. But luckily some SNL legends, including Tina Fey, (a virtual) Steve Martin, and Tom Hanks, stopped by Studio 8H to help Rudd make sense of such a strange situation and to look back on some of their favorite sketches. So, just like the episode last night, this recap will be a patchwork quilt made up of material both new and old.
Let’s revisit some of the best moments from the December 18 episode of Saturday Night Live. (Not quite) live from New York, it’s Paul Rudd (sort of)!
5. HomeGoods
In this sketch that Rudd filmed earlier this week, he plays Casey HomeGoods, the director of the new HomeGoods commercial starring two older women (Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon). All the charismatic director wants these loyal ladies to do is gush about the wide variety of products available for purchase from the store this holiday season. It’s a pretty simple task, if you think about it, but these women struggle to admit that they even want a gift let alone what specific good it is that they want. After enough coaxing, Evelyn and Eileen spill what they desire most, and how one might go about securing it. And don’t let his last name deceive you, Casey got his job based on merit and merit alone!
4. Steve Martin's Holiday Wish
If you could have one wish that would come true this holiday season, what would it be? Perhaps, the promised safety of your loved ones or world peace. On second thought, is that really what you want? This is the very predicament that Steve Martin finds himself in. See, he does really want all the children “to join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and peace,” but he would also really like $30 million a month to be given to him in a Swiss bank account completely tax-free. Decisions, decisions.
3. One Direction’s Number One Fan
Last night, Rudd remembered a pre-recorded sketch he did on the show back when he hosted on December 7, 2013 with musical guest One Direction. In it, Rudd brings his playful and boyish self to the character of Dan Charles, who just so happens to be One Direction’s number one fan. This adult man sticks out in a sea of screaming little girls, but his enthusiasm outmatches every last one of them. Do not dare question Dan’s fandom or boy band knowledge. Niall Horan is playful and he knows it! Tragically, this sketch isn’t available on YouTube, but fortunately, a somewhat grainy copy of it exists here on Vimeo.
2. Cold Open: Paul Rudd’s Five-Timers Club Induction
This unconventional episode of SNL welcomed Rudd into the famous Five-Timers Club, which, as the name suggests, is an exclusive club for those who have hosted the show at least five times. The I Love You, Man star joins an eclectic list of people that includes Alec Baldwin, Sting, Melissa McCarthy, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Hanks, the latter of whom was there to kick off the night. Hanks trotted down the stairs in his Five-Timers robe and explained to the audience that “Covid came early this year,” and that as a result, there’s no audience or cast. (You know it’s weird when there are more poinsettias than there are people.) Tina Fey helped break the eerie quiet by clapping herself onto the stage and explaining that she’s actually performed for less people before. The two gave him the fancy blue robe he’s been waiting for and introduced a hilarious video from Steve Martin and Martin Short that (allegedly) welcomed Rudd into the club.
1. Tina Fey & Michael Che with a Special Christmas Weekend Update
Despite the dire circumstances, it was an absolute treat to see Fey return to her roots as a Weekend Update anchor. She filled in for Colin Jost, who went home with the majority of the cast. Fey, along with current Update anchor and co-head writer Michael Che, delivered jokes on a range of topics to a very, very small crowd that consisted of Kenan Thompson (the only other current cast member that was present), Hanks, and Rudd. It was up to Che and Fey (that rhymes!) to make those three guys laugh at an assortment of jokes that tackled everything from the New York Jets and vaccines to abortion and O.J. Simpson. Watching this intimate group chuckle with one another was a delightful distraction from the madness that was happening around them.
Paul Rudd stars in the AppleTV+ series The Shrink Next Door and will reprise his Ant-Man character in the upcoming movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. New episodes of Saturday Night Live will return in the new year on NBC. Check back to Collider for weekly recaps by yours truly. Stay safe, and happy holidays!
