‘Saturday Night Live’ review: Wrappingville, Madonna, Barry Gibb, Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake rock

There are great episodes of “Saturday Night Live,” and then there are episodes that are so great that you don’t even want to get up for a hot chocolate refill. That’s what we had here with a legendary hour and a half that may be one of our favorite editions of the show of all time.

This show had everything that you could possibly want, whether it be great comedy, huge surprise guests, reprises of popular sketches, Jimmy Fallon as the host, and some music from Justin Timberlake, who was of course kind enough to show up in a few sketches himself. We’re not dividing this up between the good and the bad tonight, mostly because almost every little part of this was great through and through.

Wrappingville – The moment that we saw Aidy Bryant with that little card on the street selling paper, we knew just what this was going to be. This was the reprisal of a sketch that has brought us Liquorville, Tofuville, and a few others. Timberlake’s basically done it in some form every time that he is on the show. The songs this time were probably not as creative as some others, but having he and Jimmy Fallon basically combine this with their “History of Rap” battles that they do on “Late Night” was all kinds of awesome.

Jimmy Fallon monologue – At first, we thought this was just Fallon showing off of his different impressions, and we would have been pretty happy with that, but it turned out to be a really fun cameo for Sir Paul McCartney as we had an opportunity watch him sing a fun little Christmas carol with Jimmy. We just couldn’t help but think what a wonderful moment that this had to be for the host to sing with a legend like this.

Celebrity Family Feud – So funny and stuffed full of great impressions that we didn’t even mind Kenan Thompson’s Steve Harvey … or that pretty awful Alyson Hannigan. Fallon did a good Jim Parsons, but the winner here was Timberlake actually doing a really good Fallon. Also, Brooks Wheelan randomly playing himself on the NBC team was perfect.

Let’s Do It on My Twin Bed – This was once again ANOTHER great sketch to start the night, since it really took off on the subject of what happens when you go back home with your significant other, and try to get a little frisky in their childhood bed? It was all very funny, and the ladies all have surprisingly strong singing voices. The scene-stealer of the group here, though, was Aidy, who wins our award right now for the most-improved cast member of this season.

The Barry Gibb Talk Show – It’s hard to even really fathom how in the world Lorne Michaels pulled this off. Did you seriously get McCartney and Madonna on the same show? For the first few minutes, we sat here thinking that this had to be some sort of crazy trick or an impression. It wasn’t until she started talking for a few seconds that we really believed it. Then, to cap this off with the real Barry Gibb at the very end, incredible.

Weekend Update – A great update all around. The jokes were funny (including a well-placed jab at “Duck Dynasty”), and then you also add to that a wonderful Billie Jean King from Kate McKinnon, and a cameo from Mayor Mike Bloomberg as he, Fallon, and Seth Meyers all sat around and talked about their changing job statuses.

Waking Up with Kimye – We’re still not the biggest fan of the Kim Kardashian impression from Nasim Pedrad, but there were still some pretty funny moments in here. When this is the worst sketch on the night, you know that you are in pretty awesome shape.

Now That’s What I Call Christmas – Anytime you get an impression sketch this late in the show is proof that it’s a good one – In here, you had “performances” from DMX, Zooey Deschanel, Lorde, Harry Styles, Guns N’ Roses, and a ton of other voices. Not all of them were A+ necessarily, but there was so much value part of the fun was in the surprise of going from one to the next.

Scrooge – This was also one of the weaker sketches, but still funny in that it explains a good bit about where Scrooge came from, and the origins of some of his various antics. There’s not much more to say here, since it was really just a vehicle for Fallon to really go over the top.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside – This was actually a really funny and sweet sketch that Jimmy and Cecily Strong starred in showing what happens after that classic holiday song wraps up. As it turns out, this is a guy trying to seemingly bail on a one-night stand, but is later convinced that this is a relationship really worth exploring, and he has feelings that are there, as well. It’s not often you get an “aww” moment from “SNL,” but we got it here.

Overall, we cannot say enough about how lovely this was from start to finish. It was a show just sprinkled with awesome moments, great cameos, and proof that “SNL” can do what no other show can. This was Christmas magic that ran the full gamut of emotions in 90 minutes: Grade: A+.

What did you think about this week’s “SNL”?