John Mulaney, 37, returned as SNL host for the fifth time! The former cast member slayed even more musical sketches this week, and was joined by a variety of cast members as he sang at an unfortunately lame dance, outside a churro stand, and wearing a baseball jersey. Castmembers from Cecily Strong to Keenan Thompson supported him in the hilarious sketches, making his Five-Timer Club episode truly one to remember.
Back in March 2020, John brought the laughs with a Sound of Music bit that included Cecily Strong as Liesl von Trapp alongside his Rolf Gruber. The music followed the sound of the original Julie Andrews film — which is one of the most iconic movies in cinema history — but put their own spin on a tune related to a whopping age difference between the on-screen sketch characters.
“I’m only 19, I know I’m that naive…the fellows that meet me tell me I’m sweet and willingly I believe,” Cecily sang, before realizing that John’s Rolf was much older than her. “You’re 33? But you ride a bicycle and you live with your mother?” Cecily’s Liesl questioned.
John’s late 2000s run as writer on the iconic comedy sketch show was a dream come true for him — but in an interview, he admitted it was a childhood dream. “I was at dinner with my mom and I saw [the call] was a 212 number, and so I said, ‘Mom, I’m sorry I’m going take this outside.’ And it was Seth Meyers and he said, ‘We want to hire you as a writer’,” John recalled, noting that Seth made it clear he would be writing only — and not in the cast.
“I accepted on the spot, and I went back inside the restaurant and told my mom and she’s like, ‘You were 11 and you read an article about Conan O’Brien and you said, ‘I want to be a writer at The Harvard Lampoon and then I want to be a writer on Saturday Night Live.’ And you know, at the time, I was so excited because I thought you were going to work harder to get into Harvard, but even though you didn’t, now you’re at Saturday Night Live!” he also said.