¡Mira! ¡Sabado Gigante got a shout-out on SNL!
Many of us, including Sabado Gigante's longtime host Don Franciso himself, never thought we’d see the day that the all-American NYC-based comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live would feature a Sabado Gigante skit in Spanglish. But we did see the day! It actually happened this past Saturday night, during the show's celebratory 50th season.
"I want to thank @marcellohdz and @nbcsnl for bringing to memory those special moments of our beloved Giant Saturday," Don Franciso posted on his Instagram page on Sunday. "It wasn't only a great TV program, it was much more: a meeting point for families and for our Hispanic community. Thanks to the unconditional support of the public, we closed that chapter nearly 10 years ago, but the love and respect for what we built together is still as alive as ever. Thank you for so much!"
The rest of us are thankful for this rare TV moment too. Was it made possible thanks to the first Miami-raised bilingual SNL cast member Marcello Hernandez? Or is the skit part of a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at NBC, the show’s network home? Who cares! Sabado Gigante was featured on SNL for the first time, and we're just thankful!
Si, SNL Sketch Pays Tribute to Sabado Gigante
The unexpected Spanish skit, set in the middle of the English-language show, began with a scene mimicking a typical opening of Sábado Gigante, the popular primetime Univision program. The show’s special guest host, comic Nate Bargatze, plays “Joshua Rogers,” a non-Hispanic tourist visiting the live taping of the Spanish-language variety show, who gets called on stage by Hernandez, aka Don Francisco.
“Joshua Rogers, estas confundido? Qué pasa? Calabaza,” Hernandez asks.
“Oh, sorry. I'm visiting Miami. I got free tickets. I don't know what any of this means. I think I'm having a panic attack,” Rogers answers.
“Oh. Muy bien. Es un panic attack,” the host replies, as the curtain reveals an SNL cast member in a sandcastle costume screeches: “Ay, mama, tengo mucho anxiety.”
The almost-six-minute long sketch just gets funnier and funnier from there.
The Fans Love It
The morning after the skit debuted, it was all over social media. And, according to the feedback, in both English and Spanish, viewers approved.
“Me encanta Marcelo Hernández imitando a Don Francisco en SNL (I love Marcelo Hernández imitating Don Francisco on SNL.)” emmies_gma writes on Don Francisco’s Instagram post.
RELATED POST: Bad Bunny’s SNL Spanglish Extravaganza: A Comedy Revolution
Another SG fan on Instagram, @pattylopez1509, comments: “Lo vimos en SNL, nos trajo muchos recuerdos cuando veíamos Sábado Gigante, extrañamos mucho el programa. (We watched it on SNL, it brought back many memories when we watched Giant Saturday, we miss the program a lot.)”
Over on YouTube, @Eutrofication writes: “I love that they unapologetically went for absolutely no English except for the one character. It was clear and hilarious even with that restriction, I think this is a brilliant sketch."
Latinos Making SNL History
This isn’t the first time SNL has shown off its comedic espanol skills. Cast member, Venezuelan-American Comedian Fred Armisen, often mixed things up during his time on SNL, playing Latino-infused characters, including a bilingual TV host, similar to a Don Fransisco. Chilean-American SNL cast member Horatio Sanz also added some Latino culture during his eight-year stint at the show.
Last year, Singer Bad Bunny made SNL history when he became only the second Latino star to join as the show’s host and musical guest. On that episode, Bad Bunny was featured alongside cast member Hernandez in a sketch about the Spanish monarchy. Sub-titles were used in the Spanish-language skit, which had non-Hispanic cast members Mikey Day and Andrew Dismukes showing their comedic talents in the foreign language.
Prior to Bad Bunny, the last time SNL made history in the Latino community was with I Love Lucy star Desi Arnaz, when the Cuban actor and performer served as the show’s host and musical guest in 1976. Other recent memorable Spanish language moments on SNL include Chilean Actor Pedro Pascal’s portrayal as a “protective mom,” which currently has over 6.7 millions views on YouTube. Actress Ana de Armas also made SNL history in her “Spanish Class” skit based on Hernandez’s real life experiences as a Latino living in the Midwest.
If SNL’s 2023 - 2024 season is any indicator, then SNL is about to make more Latino history in Spanish. And us fans can’t wait.
