The latest episode of “Saturday Night Live” featured a mock Christmas awards ceremony in its cold open — a break from its recent parodies of politicians.
The mock award ceremony honored those who gave the most disappointing gifts, best performances and who was the most unwelcome guest at the Christmas family gathering. The scene opened with Heidi Gardner and Bowen Yang playing “two people from the E! network you’ve never heard of” to act as the ceremony’s hosts.
The first award was given to Gam-Gam, played by Chloe Fineman, for the “most disappointing gift given to a 10-year-old boy.”
“My grandson told me he wanted a Nintendo Switch. So I knew I had to go out and buy him Dockers pleated khakis with a sewn-in belt. A grandmother just knows,” Fineman said as she accepted the trophy.
Throughout the skit, the hosts introduced the nominees for the “best performance category.”
“A huge part of a family Christmas is performative, acting surprised, entertaining a deeply disliked relative, or lying about the quality of the meal,” Yang said.
“The nominees in the best performance category will be recreating their nominated moments for us throughout the ceremony, starting with Dad nominated for pretending to love his son’s gift,” Gardner added before the scene cut to Mikey Day playing a father thanking his son for his “I would rather be golfing” t-shirt.
One of the other nominees for “best performance” included Chloe Troast, who offered a rendition of “Do You Hear What I Hear” with incorrect lyrics. Other categories included “most unwelcome, uninvited guest,” “most unevenly lit tree” and “most dangerous plug.”
The mock hosts of the ceremony also gave an award to someone who showed “incredible bravery and service of their family,” which went to Kenan Thompson, who plays the character of Charlie Bell. He was honored for “grandpa needs help in the bathroom.”
“You never want to get that phone call. But when you do, you go in there, grit your teeth and try not to make eye contact,” Thompson said. “I’m horrified to accept this award.”