We’re sure Bad Bunny needs no help with his February 8 Super Bowl Halftime Show, but SNL’s got some ideas for a high-camp experience.
How to Watch
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Back in Season 39 of Saturday Night Live, Melissa McCarthy hosted on February 1, 2024, aka the night before Super Bowl XLVIII. The Seattle Seahawks were playing the Denver Broncos, and Bruno Mars and The Red Hot Chili Peppers were set as the halftime show performers.
SNL‘s “Broadway’s All-Star Super Bowl Halftime Spectacular” sketch demonstrated what might happen if, say, Mars and the Chili Peppers couldn’t make it to the game due to a polar vortex. To make it even cooler, this was the night’s cold open!
SNL‘s “Broadway’s All-Star Super Bowl Halftime Spectacular” starred Season 39 cast members
The announcers, played by Season 39 cast members Jay Pharoah, Beck Bennett and Bobby Moynihan, began the sketch by announcing the halftime show replacements: “the best and brightest of Broadway.”
It’s a full old-school musical number, complete with sparkly jerseys and sometime IRL Broadway star Taran Killam playing then-Broncos player Peyton Manning, who has lost confidence in his skills. There’s just one person who can help him: “Mama Pass,” played by McCarthy.
It’s not your typical halftime performance, but it’s also one we’d pay to see in full.
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Melissa McCarthy’s SNL Super Bowl song lyrics were (sort of) inspiring
Mama Pass, who deemed herself a “quarterback coach,” offered Peyton some great advice that would really help anyone who’s struggling with the rules of football.
I can tell you, all you need’s a little…womp womp
Throw it where they’re going and make sure that they’re wearing (womp womp)
Your same color shirt ’cause if they catch if you’ll be (womp womp)
Scoring all the touchdowns, that’s the only way to (womp womp)
Win all the points
Kenan Thompson played Ben Vereen as Seahawks player Richard Sherman, while cast member John Milhiser played a dancing football. Meanwhile, Kate McKinnon and Noel Wells wore stripes as the game referees.
The final, inspirational line of the number can easily be adapted to apply to this year’s game between the Seahawks and the New England Patriots.
There’s no Seattle / There’s no New England / There’s just love!
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SNL has given us so many football-inspired songs
In Season 46, Dan Levy and Cecily Strong played bartenders whose TVs had broken at just the wrong time. To entertain their angry customers, they sang their “football song,” “Hot Damn.” Lyrics include, “Hot Damn, I want to score the winning goal / You will, you’ll put it through the football hole,” and “If I don’t score a touchdown right now, I swear that I’ll eat my bra.”
Watch “Hot Damn” here.
In the Season 36 sketch “Embrace Me During the Super Bowl,” Dana Carvey and Fred Armisen led a band called The Fingerlings. They took over a sports bar to perform their song that was allegedly inspired by the Green Bay Packers, though it’s hard to tell how, exactly.
Watch “Embrace Me During the Super Bowl” here
When Jane Lynch hosted in 2010, she starred as Faith Hill in “Sunday Night Football Theme Song” and sang an informative (and very long) new theme song for Sunday Night Football. It involved a history lesson, a nacho recipe, and game commentary.
Watch “Sunday Night Football Theme Song” here.
Watch “Broadway’s All-Star Super Bowl Halftime Spectacular” from Season 39, Episode 13 above, and stream every season of Saturday Night Live on Peacock anytime.
