SNL: Watch Fallon and Timberlake close out 2013 with stars and song
Madonna, Paul McCartney, Michael Bloomberg, and Barry Gibb help Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake get festive on Saturday Night Live
Jimmy Fallon returned to Saturday Night Live this weekend to host the Christmas show; joining him as musical guest was a man who has hosted SNL himself a number of times, Justin Timberlake. The combination was calculated to please, and the math worked: It was the most-watched SNL since January 2012, according to Nielsen, and the highest-rated Christmas episode since 2004. It was also, at times, pretty funny. And Fallon and Timberlake had help from some pretty big names.
It's no surprise that Fallon and Timberlake reprised their old "Barry Gibb Show" sketch, a favorite from back in the days when Fallon was an SNL cast member and Timberlake a frequent guest. (Watch above) But having Madonna on as herself was unexpected. So was having the real Barry Gibb pops in at the end. Taran Killam played Paul Ryan and Cecily Strong was Megyn Kelly, but they are mostly afterthoughts.
The premise of this recurring sketch is "so nonsensical and random that you have to just accept it on its own terms," says Joe Berkowitz at New York's Vulture:
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Fallon and Timberlake reprise another recurring segment in the cold open. They dance and rap together impressively well by this point. Funny? That's debatable. The talent on display is pretty obvious, though:
Fallon's monologue also featured music, the idea being that he'd invited David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and Paul McCartney to sing with him but they were all stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel — because, evidently, three of the world's most iconic living musicians were all in New Jersey? Fallon fills in for them, mimicking their respective voices pretty admirably until, as he's channeling McCartney, the former Beatle himself comes onstage. Jimmy Fallon and Paul McCartney — of course it is charming:
The final celebrity appearance is at the end of "Weekend Update," when outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg stops by to joke about his future plans. He does deadpan pretty well. The real cameo, though, is dwarfed by Kate McKinnon playing Billie Jean King, President Obama's gay emissary to the Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia:
All the surprise guest appearances, including those by Timberlake, were "overshadowed by a silly video by the SNL ladies about making love in a twin bed," says Claire Zulkey at the Los Angeles Times:
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For a bonus laugh, watch this greatest-Christmas-songs-sung-by-today's-artists set piece through at least until Fallon does Alan Rickman in his Professor Snape character:
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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