The 856th episode and 6th episode of Saturday Night Live's44th season premiered on November 17, 2018, hosted by actor and comedian Steve Carell, star of the NBC's classic hit sitcom The Office and the hit films Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and the sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Sleepover, Evan Almighty, Get Smart, Date Night, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Hope Springs, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Foxcatcher, Disney's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Freeheld, The Way, Way Back, The Big Short, Café Society, Battle of the Sexes, Last Flag Flying, Vice, Beautiful Boy, Welcome to Marwen, Irresistible, Asteroid City and the animated films DreamWorks Animation's Over the Hedge, Horton Hears a Who!, IF and Despicable Me franchise, with English singer-songwriter Ella Mai as the musical guest. Ella Mai made her musical guest debut on SNL, and this is the first appearance in 10 years and a decade and 3rd time as host for Steve Carell. He last hosted SNL on the May 17, 2008 episode, which is the Season 33 finale, with musical guest Usher.
Steve Carell's goodnights speech is "My Thanks to Ella Mai, Ellie Kemper, Ed Helmes, Jenna Fischer and My Family. Thank You, Everyone for Coming, It Was Delight and I Had a Great Time". (Cheers and applause)
Cold Open Sketch Pre-recorded Weekend Update Music Performance Other
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The Ingraham Angle: Voter Fraud Cold Opening
Fox News' Laura Ingraham (Kate McKinnon) talks to Judge Jeanine Pirro (Cecily Strong), Mark Zuckerberg (Alex Moffat) and Marcia Fudge (Leslie Jones) about voter fraud and election interference.
Opening Montage
Monologue by Steve Carell
Returning to host SNL for the third time and his first appearance in 10 years, actor and comedian Steve Carell takes questions from the audience and gets pressure to reboot The Office. An audience Q&A which features Steve's "The Office" co-stars Ellie Kemper, Ed Helms, and Jenna Fischer. Also Features Kenan Thompson. Cameo by Steve's wife Nancy Carell (an SNL alum and The Office guest-star). Onscreen appearance writer Alison Gates.
Disney
A dad (Steve Carell) wakes his kids (Aidy Bryant, Mikey Day, Pete Davidson, Melissa Villaseñor) for a surprise trip to Disney World.
A Message from Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos (Steve Carrell) responds to President Trump's criticisms about the location of Amazon's new headquarters.
Friends-Giving
A couple of strangers (Steve Carrell, Kenan Thompson, Beck Bennett, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Cecily Strong) discover they know the same famous Thanksgiving song at a Friends-giving dinner party.
Pete Davidson and Chris Redd performed "RBG Rap" with Kate McKinnon as Supreme Cour Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Pete Davidson and Chris Redd rap a tribute to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Kate McKinnon).
Space Station Broadcast
An unexpected chain of events occurs while Captain Ed McGovern (Steve Carrell) live streams from the International Space Station to classrooms across America. With Aidy Bryant, Mikey Day, Leslie Jones and Alex Moffat.
Ella Mai performs "Boo'd Up"
Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Amazon choosing a neighborhood in Queens for one of its new headquarters and Post's new Sour Patch Kid-flavored cereal. With guests, Denver Riggleman (Mikey Day) stops by the Update desk to set the record straight about accusations of him writing Bigfoot porn and LaVar Ball (Kenan Thompson) arrives to respond to LeBron James' criticism and the L.A. Lakers slow start.
50s Sleepover
A takeoff of the "Beauty School Dropout" song from the film "Grease". With Steve Carell as John, Aidy Bryant as Becky, Heidi Garnder as Sammy and Kate McKinnon as the girl.
Ella Mai performs "Trip"
RV Life
A married couple (Steve Carrell, Heidi Gardner) retires early to camp out in an RV, and they love it. Also Features Aidy Bryant as daughter, Mikey Day as son and Kate McKinnon as Jibs.
Space Thanksgiving
Kern
A crew of astronauts (Steve Carell, Beck Bennett, Leslie Jones, and Cecily Strong) have Thanksgiving dinner with an alien couple (Kenan Thompson and Melissa Villaseñor) only to discover that part of the food is actually alive (Pete Davidson via green screen).
The sketch went sideways early on. Originally, the sketch was supposed to end with Carell's character, horrified, shooting both aliens with a ray gun that lay on the table. However, just as Kenan and Melissa entered, the gun was knocked to the floor and out of reach of the actors, causing an audible sound and giggles among those present. Unable to end the sketch, Carell improvised nonchalantly eating the food, and Davidson ad-libbing an appropriate line. The camera shot was switched to Davidson; however, the graphics were not ready and he appeared superimposed over a black background. Repeats of the episode, as well as internet copies, fixed the missing graphic, trimmed a shot of Kenan and Melissa where Melissa visibly reacts, and cleaned up the ending.
GPYass
Introducing GPYass!, a GPS mode that expands the voice options menu to include drag entertainers. With Steve Carrell and Heidi Gardner as husband and wife, Cecily Strong as both the announcer and singer and Kenan Thompson as voice of GPS. Cameos by Jiggly Caliente and Peppermint.
Goodnights and Closing Credits
Steve Carell thanked Ella Mai, Ellie Kemper, Jenna Fischer, Ed Helms, his wife Nancy and his family, and everyone at SNL for having him back and everyone for coming, it was delight and he's had a great time.
Trivia[]
Most time in between 2nd and 3rd times hosting SNL; Steve Carell returned to host for the third time and making his first appearance in 10 years and a decade.
Carell also became a three-time SNL host this season.
(November 17, 2018) Steve Carell / Ella Mai episode also features the sixteenth largest age gap in SNL history between an individual Host and Musical Guest.
