Tis the season for fondly remembering past holiday memories as we prep for new ones this year. For Saturday Night Live star Chloe Fineman, one of her favorite SNL memories happened during a Christmas episode. Surprisingly, it involves a dog and peanut butter and Kristen Wiig? Admittedly, after hearing this story, I think this will be a hard moment for any other SNL installments to top amid the 2024 TV schedule.
Chloe Fineman’s favorite sketch, titled “Christmas Morning”, was filmed in 2020 during the COVID pandemic, at which point Kristen Wiig returned to host the annual Christmas episode. As it so happens, the dog handler for the sketch in question unfortunately came down with Covid. For the Father of the Bride actress, it was the opportunity of a lifetime to get her own dog in a sketch, and she told People the story of how she made it happen:
So we snuck my dog in and he's in that video and I love it because he's like so cute. He did dog acting, which was basically [when] you put peanut butter all over the set and he just kind of licked stuff. It was really a star turn for my dog and he is held by Kristen Wiig. She's like a hero of mine. So that's my favorite.
That has to be the best “take your pet to work day” experience I’ve ever heard. This sketch always gets a laugh out of my family during our annual watch of the SNL Christmas special, and I love it even more now that I know the silly story behind it. If comedic legend and A+ line deliverer Kristen Wiig held my dog, I’d never wash her again. I have to say though, Chloe Fineman's Shibu Inu, Peach -- who was a puppy at the time --nailed his role, giving his mom a run for her money. Check out the sketch below:
The Megalopolis actress joined the sketch comedy ensemble as a featured player amid its 45th season. Fast forward to 2024, and she's ringing in the 50th anniversary season as one of the main cast members, appearing in all of this season’s best sketches, including “Bridesmaids Speech” with the viral character Domingo.
It doesn’t surprise me one bit that Chloe Fineman sees 5-Timer Club member Kristen Wiig as a role model. Based on her own trajectory over the past five years, Fineman's on pace to be one of the SNL greats just like Wiig, although her tenure hasn't been without trial and error. Still, she has since become a sketch staple, while also racking up impressions like her hero, reliably impersonations of Jojo Siwa and Kaitlan Collins this season. I wouldn’t be surprised if Fineman starts earning more gigs outside of the late night comedy show, eventually moving onto bigger opportunities, as so many former cast members have done.
I will say though, some of the best moments happen when SNL alums return to Studio 8H and, given it's the 50th season, I’m sure viewers will see many familiar faces in the next few months. Already this season fans have seen appearances from Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Pete Davidson and John Mulaney, not to mention the iconic return of Dana Carvey as President Joe Biden. Paired with what I would say is the most talented cast since the Bridesmaids actress’ era, including Fineman, Bowen Yang, Heidi Gardner and Marcello Hernandez to name a few standouts, this is bound to be one of the most memorable seasons in SNL history.
But, while you're taking in the Christmas season, why not revisit Chloe Fineman's sketch as well as other yuletide-centric ones. Also, since 30 Rock always sees its comedians return home for the holidays, be sure to check out this year's SNL holiday episode to see who else besides Santa might make a surprise visit. You can also look forward to the show's next episode, which airs tonight, December 7 at 11:30 p.m. ET and features Paul Mescal as host and Shaboozey as musical guest. The episode will also be available to stream with a Peacock subscription.