‘SNL’ Serves up Thanksgiving Special With Vintage Sketches Tonight

While it may not be Saturday night, and it’s definitely not live, Saturday Night Live is dishing out a whole slew of classic Thanksgiving-related sketches ahead of the big holiday tomorrow. As noted by Uproxx, details about which of these sketches will be reheated for the holiday special are anyone’s guess at this point. On the upside, there isn’t exactly a shortage of options to choose from.

There are some vintage classics, like “Thanksgiving Dinner,” which features former stars Bill Murray and Jane Curtain devolving into childlike antics after being assigned to sit at the kids’ table. There’s also the Thanksgiving edition of “Bill Swerski’s Super Fans,” which features the late Chris Farley doing what he did best.

More recent options include a truly bizarre cut-for-time sketch with Kristen Wiig extolling the virtues of Thanksgiving foods and “Vincent Price’s Thanksgiving Special,” featuring Barry star Bill Hader as the notorious horror icon. Of course, there are a number of commercial parodies, including a fake ad for Target with Cecily Strong, as well as Chris Rock offering up a rap about a Nikey Turkey that can be pumped up to feed unexpected guests. And, of course, who can forget Crystal Gravy?

On the subject of the food-centric holiday, the long-running variety show has recently come under fire this week after a questionable sketch titled “The First Thanksgiving” left some fans feeling uncomfortable. It featured former cast member Will Ferrell, who’d returned once again as a host, playing the patriarch of a Native American family. Melissa Villaseñor played his granddaughter Pochahontas, and Beck Bennet played John Smith.

While it attempted to address the country’s current political divide in a pseudo-historic context, many fans were critical that the sketch was tone-deaf, and ultimately failed to deliver a satisfying punchline.

That episode also featured a somewhat awkward gathering of “Weekend Update” co-host Colin Jost, who is currently engaged to Scarlet Johansson, and Johansson’s ex-husband Ryan Reynolds, with the later on-hand for two cameo appearances. Johannson will also be hosting her own show on Dec. 14.

Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving airs from 9-11 p.m. ET tonight on NBC. The series will return to its normal night and format on Dec. 7 with host Jennifer Lopez and musical guest DaBaby.