Steve Martin and Martin Short breathed some life back into Saturday Night Live.
Saturday’s telecast hosted by the comedians drew 5.1M viewers, marking the most-watched episode this season, according to live + same-day Nielsen data. Brandi Carlile was the musical guest.
That’s a nice lift from the week prior, when Keke Palmer hosted to a low audience of around 3.9M. The December 10 episode even managed to beat Dave Chappelle‘s controversial hosting gig, which posted the previous Season 48 high of 4.8M total viewers in November.
SNL has struggled to bounce back with audiences after a major cast exodus prior to the start of the season, with the first five episodes of Season 48 averaging around 4 million viewers. Even Amy Schumer couldn’t lift the sketch comedy show out of its ratings slump, managing a 0.79 demo rating and 4.3 million viewers when she hosted on Nov. 5. The week prior, Jack Harlow’s double duty as host and musical guest drew a 0.76 in the demo and just 4.1 million total viewers.
After seven days of delayed viewing per episode, Season 48 is averaging a 1.22 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The final episode of the year will air on December 17 with host Austin Butler and musical guest Lizzo.
The December 10 episode surprised audiences with a 2022 reboot of the 1991 film The Father of the Bride, reuniting Kieran Culkin with Short and Martin. In another sketch, the pair reimagined an R-rated version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with Short as Ebenezer Scrooge.
In addition to the broadcast on NBC, SNL streams live on Peacock at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT.