So, I’ve always known that Sabrina Carpenter is hilarious. However, now, thanks to her A Nonsense Christmas special being part of Netflix’s 2024 releases, an even larger audience is about to learn this fact. This is because the project isn’t just filled with her angelically singing holiday tunes, oh no, it’s chock full of hilarious sketches too. Honestly, if I learned anything watching this 50-minute show it’s that this pop star needs to host Saturday Night Live as soon as possible.
When I used my handy-dandy Netflix subscription to tune in for Carpenter’s A Nonsense Christmas, I expected it to be funny. However, I didn’t think it’d be downright hilarious and feature so many SNL-like sketches. Even her opening monologue (which came after a gorgeous opening song) was formatted like the sketch comedy show. Honestly, it reminded me a lot of monologues that performers like Harry Styles, Ariana Grande, Justin Timberlake and more have done during one of their hosting gigs. Take a look:
The cheeky lyrics, spot-on comedic timing and, you know, the excellent singing made this the perfect opening monologue that highlighted Carpenter’s strengths as a performer. It also proved in dividends that she’d absolutely slay as a host on SNL.
Notably, two out of the three credited writers on A Nonsense Christmas – Jimmy Fowlie and Fran Gillespie – have been or are writers on Saturday Night Live. Fowlie is currently employed by SNL, and has been there since Season 48. Meanwhile, Gillespie was a writer on the show for seven seasons (Seasons 41 through 47, to be exact). So, it's not surprising that this special had the same flair as the NBC sketch show. However, what's really impressive about this is how effortlessly the "Taste" singer committed to and killed every single sketch.
Plus, SNL alum Kyle Mooney was featured in the special too, making the connections back to the NBC mainstay even stronger. They played opposite each other in a hilarious musical sketch where the pop star sang about how hard it was to buy a gift for her brother-in-law, and the comedian played said brother-in-law.
It had me literally laughing out loud, and it reminded me of various musical sketches from SNL, like the Emma Stone sketch “The Christmas Candle” and “Christmas Morning,” which Mooney was in.
That mixed with other comedic bits -- like the girlfriends of Christmas past, present and future (which starred Nico Hiraga, Quinta Brunson and Cara Delevingne alongside the pop star) and the Santa boyfriend bit with Sean Astin and Shania Twain -- truly made the entire special so genuinely funny. Overall, all of this was executed at the highest quality, and at the center of every single moment, was Sabrina Carpenter.
Altogether, A Nonsense Christmas featured immaculate musical numbers and sketches, just like SNL does every week. So, I think it’s a no-brainer that the “Espresso” singer should be brought on to host and be a musical guest when Season 50 airs on the 2025 TV schedule (seeing as the final 2024 slots are filled).
Between this special, her appearance as a musical guest on Jake Gyllenhaal’s SNL episode during Season 49, and her incorporation of the viral Domingo sketch at one of her concerts, she has more than what it takes to pull double duty on one of the best sketch comedy shows of all time.
So, Lorne Michaels, get Sabrina on the phone, because it’s time for her to host. In the meantime, I’ll be rewatching A Nonsense Christmas on Netflix and tuning in for the final SNL episodes of 2024 with my Peacock subscription (they’re also on NBC) as they air live from New York every Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET.
