One of the highlights of Saturday Night Live in the past two years is the unexpected Melissa McCarthy cameo. Whether she's playing Sean Spicer or just dropping by, you never know when to expect the Emmy award winning comedian. For Mother's Day, Melissa McCarthy played Michael Che's stepmom on Saturday Night Live, disrupting Weekend Update just the way your parent or guardian probably would if they had the chance, too.
"Don't even look at me," the World's Proudest Step-Mom proclaimed as she slipped Che some Claritin. "I can't wait to laugh," she said later. As the bit progressed, McCarthy became less and less uncomfortable with being on camera and was just genuinely delighted and impressed with everything going on around her. "Colin, were we cracking up or what?" She also hugged and kissed on Che a lot. She is every doting and overly supportive mom dialed up to eleven, basically.
Of course, no Update jokes got told during the segment. McCarthy's enthusiasm kept derailing them. Hilarious! She even decided that Colin needed to hear an anecdote about a young Michael reciting a poem about horseshoe crabs that (allegedly) made everyone weep. At the end of the sketch, Che invited her to read one of the jokes — but without her "cheater," also known as reading glasses, she had to get right up in front of the camera to read what was ultimately a sweet holiday greeting intended for her. Watch the segment below:
Can this please be a recurring character? Step-Moms deserve all the love they can get on Mother's Day too! Maybe she can be joined by someone playing one of Colin Jost's relatives in a similarly exaggerated fashion?
This wasn't the only mom content in the episode. The cold open included the real life moms of the SNL cast poking fun at their children in various ways. A game show sketch teamed up mothers and children in a Newlywed Game scenario that got weird, to say the least. Kate McKinnon and Mikey Day's weirdly intimate mother and father duo fully had Leslie Jones breaking.
Host Amy Schumer starred in a digital short that juxtaposed the horrors of giving birth and early motherhood against the sweet things parents tell their children about the day they were born. "To all the moms in the world," a title card reads at the end, "Thanks for pretending it was easy." Amen.
Even the Graduation Day video — which was entirely too accurate about how silly graduation ceremonies can be, was somewhat appropriate for Mother's Day if not just this time of year. But the new "Michael Che's Step-Mom" character is definitely a highlight.
When you talk to your mom, or your step-mom, or whatever family member you choose on Sunday morning — these Saturday Night Live clips might be a good conversation point! Even if your mom is tired of the politics on SNL, as the cold open mentioned might be a possibility, mom content is much closer to universal. Send your mom a link, even if that means you have to teach her how to open said link. The laughs will be worth it.
It's always a pleasant surprise to see McCarthy back on the show, no matter what. With the absence of Sean Spicer at the White House, SNL must have been missing having her around. This was a really fun character that wasn't quite as radical but definitely showed off her talents. At the end of the day moms stole the show on Saturday Night Live this week. As well they should, honestly. Happy Mother's Day!
