Scarlett Johansson played a dating show participant who was looking for the kind of love that you can only find in a Hallmark holiday movie in one of her Saturday Night Live sketches.
The Avengers: Endgame star hosted the December 14 episode of the NBC comedy show, which included quite a few holiday-themed sketches. Saturday Night Live went all-in with the Christmas theme for its “Hallmark Dating Show” bit. Scarlett, who has found real-life love with SNL cast member Colin Jost, played a Hallmark holiday movie stock character who was participating in a dating show on the wholesome television network.
According to the show’s host, Emily Kringle (Aidy Bryant), the actual title of the matchmaking show was “A Winter Boyfriend for a Holiday Christmas.” This was an obvious spoof of the festive titles of the dozens of holiday-themed romance films that Hallmark airs each year. According to The Wrap , some of this year’s 40 new Hallmark offerings include Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses; Check Inn to Christmas; Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen; and A Merry Christmas Match .
Scarlett’s character, Lauren, was described as a “New York 6 and a Buffalo 10.” She was a big city gal who was on her cell phone when she was introduced. After she was finished talking to her boss, she informed the audience that she had to “write a big article for the paper about how Santa isn’t real.” She also made sure to say that she wasn’t looking for love, even though she was on a dating show. Later on, it was revealed that Lauren had to find love before December 25, or else “Christmas is canceled, and the killer goes free.”
The trio of guys Lauren had to choose from included Brian from her hometown (Beck Bennett), a Christmas tree farm employee. His business was in danger of being bought out by Googisoft Computers unless he could come up with the money to save it by Christmas. The second eligible bachelor was Prince Simon of Caucasia (Alex Moffat). He described his home country as “vague Europe” and informed Lauren that he couldn’t sign a peace treaty unless he got married by Christmas. Then there was Nick St. Claus (Kyle Mooney), who definitely was not the real Santa Claus.
Chris Redd spoofed the lack of diversity in Hallmark holiday movies with his small role as “the only black person in town.” He had a minor meltdown when Lauren asked him questions about his life, informing her that he didn’t have a backstory before fleeing the set. As Lauren struggled with her decision and emotional music played, her father (Mikey Day) showed up just in time to help her choose. His sage advice was to consult a snow globe.
“Well, that’s it. The true reason for Christmas is husband,” Aidy said at the end of the sketch. “This has been ‘A Winter Boyfriend for a Holiday Christmas.’ I’m Emily Kringle for Hallmark, reminding you to stay straight out there.”
The line about staying “straight” was likely in reference to The Hallmark Channel’s recent decision to quit running an ad portraying two women kissing .
You can check out the entire dating show sketch below.