There’s nothing quite like a Saturday Night Live holiday episode. For more than 50 years, the final show of the calendar year has carried extra weight—not just for cast members delivering their last impression before the season’s longest break, but for viewers as well.
Lorne Michaels has often noted that most people’s favorite era of SNL is the one they watched at home with family and friends. That sense of nostalgia is especially pronounced during the holiday show, when households reunite and tune in together. That feeling is only amplified this year, with SNL vet Ariana Grande headlining an episode that also features entertainment legend Cher in her first visit since to the show proper since 1987.
Here are five storylines we’ll be watching this Saturday night:
Take a Bow-en
Bowen Yang has carved out one of the most impactful SNL runs of the past decade. From boundary-breaking characters to viral moments, his influence on the show—and its cultural relevance—has been unmistakable.
He was already likely to be front and center this episode, with Grande—his close friend and Wicked co-star—hosting. But with Friday’s news that Yang is expected to depart the show after this weekend, it’s a safe bet his exit will be acknowledged on air—perhaps even with a serenade from Cher, for whom he has previously expressed open adulation.
Holiday Cold Opens
So far this season, SNL has leaned heavily on political cold opens, with only one notable departure from that pattern. This week’s holiday timing makes the opening sketch especially worth watching.
There’s still the possibility of a news-driven open—particularly with Trump’s mid-week address to the nation and the the long-anticipated Epstein files release on Friday—but recent holiday episodes have taken a different approach. Last season’s Martin Short episode opened with a Five-Timers Club sketch, while Season 49 kicked off its Christmas show with the “95th Annual Christmas Awards.” Whether the show opts for topical urgency or seasonal warmth will be one of the night’s first tells.
Welcome Home
Last season’s holiday episode doubled as a reunion, with a parade of familiar faces returning to the show. That kind of cameo-heavy atmosphere is hardly unusual for the Christmas show, when film and TV productions are wrapping for the year and schedules suddenly open up.
With relatively few celebrity drop-ins over the past couple of episodes, this feels like a night when the doors could swing wide open again. If SNL is going to turn Studio 8H into a holiday party, this is the moment.
Cher the Love
At 79, Cher is set to become the second-oldest musical guest in SNL history this weekend, trailing only Eubie Blake, who appeared at age 92 in 1979. The “Goddess of Pop” also brings decades of holiday-season TV history with her, dating back to her variety-show days in the 1970s.
After stealing the show at SNL50: The Homecoming Concert earlier this year with her performance of “If I Could Turn Back Time”—and trading sharp banter with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler during the anniversary special’s Q&A—fans are hoping Cher won’t be confined to musical duties alone. With Grande hosting, the opportunity for shared screen time is very much there.
Where Will We Say Goodnight?
On December 11, 1976, Candice Bergen led the original cast to Rockefeller Center’s skating rink to close out the year—a moment that became one of SNL’s most enduring holiday traditions. The show has returned to the rink seven times since, most recently in Season 43.
Few SNL customs feel more in the spirit of the season than watching the cast lace up skates and usher in their holiday break together. If this episode turns out to be as momentous as it’s shaping up to be, putting the year on ice would be a fitting way to say goodnight.
This weekend’s Saturday Night Live airs Saturday, Dec. 20 at 11:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock. Join us at LateNighter.com immediately after for the Saturday Night Network’s live after-show, where SNL experts and superfans share their hot takes on the night’s best and worst moments.
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