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Steve Martin's SNL Holiday Wish Is a Gift That Keeps on Giving — and It Got a Reprise
The iconic 1986 Christmas sketch got a hilarious "reprise" featuring Kristen Wiig's Gilly in 2009.
While Steve Martin was never a Saturday Night Live cast member, the mark he's made on the show is undeniable. Martin is the second-most-frequent SNL Host of all time with 16 episodes under his belt — he hosted eight times in the show's first decade alone. And in Martin's 1986 episode, co-hosted by Chevy Chase and December 21 Host Martin Short, the Only Murders in the Building star delivered one of the most memorable SNL Christmas sketches with "A Holiday Wish."
In the December 1982 sketch, Martin plays a version of himself seated in an armchair next to a Christmas tree, sharing his biggest hopes for the yuletide as a pianist plinks meaningful notes in the background.
"If I had one wish that I could wish this holiday season, it would be that all the children of the world join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and peace," Martin tells the camera. "If I had two wishes that I could make this holiday season, the first would be for all the children of the world to join hands and sing in the spirit of harmony and peace, and the second would be for $30 million a month to be given, to me, tax-free, in a Swiss bank account."
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"You know, if I had three wishes that I could make this holiday season, the first — of course — would be for all the children to get together and sing. The second would be for the $30 million every month, to me, and the third would be for all-encompassing power over every living being in the entire universe," he continues.
Martin's wishes get increasingly (hilariously, gloriously) selfish from there.
"So, if I made that the first wish — you know, 'cause, it could all go boom tomorrow, and then what have you got, you know? — No, no, the kids. The kids singing would be great," Martin equivocates as he reshuffles his priorities. "That would be nice. But wait a minute: Who am I kidding? I mean, they're not gonna be able to get all those kids together! I mean, the logistics of the thing is impossible!"
Watch Steve Martin's "A Holiday Wish" from Season 12, Episode 6 above, and stream every episode of Saturday Night Live on Peacock anytime.
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Steve Martin's "Holiday Wish" got a reprise co-starring Kristen Wiig's Gilly
During the 2013 Saturday Night Live holiday special "A Very Gilly Christmas," hosted by Kristen Wiig as Gilly, her troublemaking character, Martin reintroduced the classic — and reflected on its legacy with faux narcissism.
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"Hello, I'm Steve Norton," Martin joked, seated in a near-identical armchair next to a new tree. "When I first performed this sketch, 'A Christmas Wish'" — Martin holds for applause, as one lone slow clap comes — "I never expected it to enter so many hearts, and impact so many lives. How can I have known that one day, it would be considered by all to be the greatest SNL sketch of all time?"
Martin may kid, but for at least a few fans, that just might be true.
