The title for the weirdest sketch of the “SNL50” special may have just been claimed by John Mulaney’s latest and most star-studded musical mashup to date.
The former “Saturday Night Live” writer returned, following his appearance during the “SNL50” monologue, in a sketch that begins in 1975 New York with him selling “hot dogs and heroin” to two out-of-town newbies (Pete Davidson and David Spade as two guys who are definitely the same age). When the newcomers ignore his warnings about the city, Mulaney leads them on a mind-boggling musical journey into New York’s past and future.
The sketch, yet another bold follow-up to Mulaney’s viral “Diner Lobster” from 2018, remixes songs from “The Lion King,” “Les Misérables” and “Hamilton,” and it features guest appearances from, among others, Kate McKinnon as Rudy Giuliani, Adam Driver as a singing hot dog, Kristen Wiig as a green M&M, Scarlett Johansson as a woman run over by a Citi Bike, and Nathan Lane as a drug-addicted Wall Street broker.
That’s to say nothing of the sketch’s audience members, who include Jenna Ortega and Kevin Costner, both of whom got caught unexpectedly in the middle of a rendition of “The Confrontation” performed by returning “SNL” cast members Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte. It’s all, well, a lot.
You can watch the full sketch below:
New York 50th Musical#SNL50 pic.twitter.com/UukZq4SGXG
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) February 17, 2025
With all of its surprise cameos and absurdist touches, the sketch truly needs to be seen to be believed. Some of its more noteworthy moments, though, include Lane remixing his “Lion King” hit “Hakuna Matata” into a song praising the mixing of cocaine and vodka as “a wonderful phase.” Wiig’s green M&M, meanwhile, sings a rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream,” in which she expresses her nostalgia for the days when she was “high on meth and skittles” and concludes that “Giuliani killed the dream I dreamed.”
Wiig’s comment leads to McKinnon’s reprisal of Giuliani. The breakout “SNL” star jokes about how the former Mayor of New York fumbled his post 9/11 popularity by remixing “My Shot” from “Hamilton,” singing, “I am throwing away my shot. Hey, yo, I’m just like my city, I’m drunk, corrupt and crazy and I am throwing my shot!” “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda joined McKinnon, making his second “SNL” appearance in less than a month.
“I’m just asking all of us here to still believe in the power of New York,” Mulaney tells a disillusioned Davidson at the end of the sketch, teeing up a rousing performance of “One Day More” headlined by Kenan Thompson’s singing diner lobster. It’s a fittingly ridiculous conclusion to an insane sketch.
