See A Legendary Comedian Return To Saturday Night Live
They always make it better!
This article is more than 2 years old
Selena Gomez hosted Saturday Night Live this past weekend, but perhaps the most talked-about moment of the show came from the brief return of Steve Martin. Gomez stars with Martin in the Hulu series Only Murders in the Building, which returns to the streaming service for a second season on June 28, so it made sense that the comedian return in support of his co-star. Martin appeared with Gomez in a sketch spoofing History Channel documentary shows. The fictional show, American Inventors, was “hosted” by Gomez (playing Taylor Gosh) and featured Martin as the inventor of the whoopie cushion, Archie Gizmo, as Deadline reported.
The sketch also featured current SNL cast member Aidy Bryant as Ms. Dina Beans, Gizmo’s muse who inspired his creation of the whoopie cushion and numerous other gags. The appearance served as a reminder of just how timeless Steve Martin and his comedy truly is. In recent years, viewers have found Saturday Night Live’s humor too timely or political; such humor can often age too quickly to be truly memorable. The current SNL cast surely would never do fart jokes these days, and yet, Martin’s self-deprecating sense of humor elevates the jokes to fine art, a rare thing among comedians these days. Gomez’s absolute deadpan delivery of the absurdity and the sketch’s recreation of the whoopie cushion fad also sold the laughs.
Steve Martin recently trended on Twitter, after a tweet criticizing Martin’s “King Tut” SNL sketch went viral. After a Twitter user explained that his “millennial brain” couldn’t find anything funny in the sketch, although his parents likely did, the internet rightfully roasted him. Even TMZ picked up the story, noting that millennials, too obsessed over political correctness, just didn’t “get” the gag. What millennials saw as a culturally insensitive gag about Egyptians made more sense when viewed in context. Many pointed out that the full sketch, with an opening monologue by Martin, shows the “King Tut” song was actually a mockery of American consumerism. At the time the episode aired (May 22, 1978), the King Tut Exhibit was touring American museums, and many saw up close – for the first time – the opulence of the Egyptian pharaohs and kings. Martin perfectly captured how America’s obsession with King Tut manifested in merchandising and a cheesy song, as seen in the full sketch below.
Saturday Night Live, currently in its 47th season, made its debut in October of 1975. Steve Martin has appeared on the show 28 times (including Saturday’s appearance) and hosted 15 times, second only to Alec Baldwin, and helped make memorable comedic moments every time he appeared. Among his fan-favorite appearances is the “Wild & Crazy Guys” sketch with Dan Aykroyd, where the pair play Czechoslovakian brothers Festrunk and Georg, who use a dating service to meet American “chicks.”
Selena Gomez and Steve Martin will reunite with Martin Short in the second season of Only Murders in the Building on Hulu June 28. Martin and Short, who famously appeared together in the Father of the Bride films, play residents of an exclusive apartment building on New York City’s Upper West Side. When a neighbor is murdered, they team up with a fellow resident (Gomez) to create a podcast to solve the murder, which they discover is one of the other tenant. Martin’s other film appearances include Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, The Jerk, L.A. Story, and more recently, the animated film Home.
