Classic Saturday Night Live Christmas sketches highlight NBC's December 14 lineup

Chloe Fineman on Saturday Night Live
Chloe Fineman on Saturday Night Live (Image credit: Rosalind O’Connor/NBC)

Saturday Night Live is getting in the Christmas spirit on December 14, airing A Saturday Night Live Christmas Special on a Thursday of all days. This two-hour special is going to feature classic SNL Christmas sketches from the show's 48 seasons to get viewers laughing like jolly old St. Nick.

NBC is airing A Saturday Night Christmas Special at 9 pm ET/PT, another US Christmas TV highlight for this year. It'll be available to stream the next day on Peacock. Or, if you miss it on TV and don't have Peacock, it is going to re-air on Saturday, December 23, at 8 pm ET/PT.

There are too many classic Saturday Night Live Christmas sketches to count, so it's almost certain that some are going to be left on the cutting room floor. But some of our favorites that we hope are included in this year's special are Ryan Gosling and Vanessa Bayer's Santa Baby; Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant and Paul Rudd's Home Goods commercial; Molly Shannon, Ana Gasteyer and Alec Baldwin's Delicious Dish skit; and, for those celebrating Hanukkah, Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song is almost certain to pop up.

Viewers are getting a double dose of Saturday Night Live this week, as in addition to the Saturday Night Live Christmas Special on Thursday, an all-new episode of Saturday Night Live season 49 is airing on Saturday, December 16, at the show's usual time of 11:30 pm ET/8:30 pm PT. Former SNL cast member Kate McKinnon is making her return for the first time as host, while the episode's musical guest is going to be Billie Eilish in what is going to be the last SNL episode of 2023 (TBD when the show returns in 2024). 

McKinnon and Eilish actually had a popular holiday sketch of their own back in 2021, Lonely Christmas, that may be included as part of the Christmas special.

If you're interested in watching past Saturday Night Live Christmas specials (they update it just about every year to add additional sketches), some are available to stream on Peacock. Otherwise, tune in to NBC at 9 pm ET/PT on December 14 for A Saturday Night Christmas Special.

Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.