Five of Saturday Night Live’s best Christmas sketches
By Matt Moore
Serial: The Christmas Surprise, Season 40 (2014)
There hasn’t been a podcast that had the cultural impact that season one of “Serial” had when it debuted in 2014. In just two years, it had over 80 million downloads. This was right at the start of podcasts significantly taking off to the point now that seemingly every celebrity and average Joe has their own podcast.
So like with anything that becomes incredibly popular and part of the culture, it has to be satirized and spoofed on Saturday Night Live. But the podcast medium doesn’t exactly make it easy for sketch comedy. Yet Cecily Strong and writer Brian Tucker figured it out better than anyone could have imagined.
If you were a fan of “Serial” at the time, then you can tell how perfectly Strong impersonates Sarah Koenig’s tone and cadence. And Kyle Mooney is excellent as the Adnan Syed-inspired version of Kris Kringle.
The sketch is indicative of how much of Saturday Night Live is reliant on good timing as much as talent. The first season of “Serial” came to a close half way through December, perfectly lining up with the Christmas episode. And Strong happened to be recently promoted on the show, coming into her own as one of the best performers on the cast. Hard to believe, you get that right?