‘Sorry, the Rockefeller tree has a human star?’

Melissa McCarthy takes a break from her side hustle (thirty bucks an hour!) to promote her return to ‘SNL.’

Bill Kuchman Dec 3, 2025

‘Sorry, the Rockefeller tree has a human star?’ — **Ashley Padilla**, **Ben Marshall** and **Melissa McCarthy** during McCarthy’s *SNL* promo. / NBC

Deep SNL Thoughts is now The Cold Open. New name. Same extensive SNL coverage.

The host: Melissa McCarthy

The musical guest: Dijon

Cast members in the promo: Ben Marshall, Ashley Padilla

SNL is back this weekend after taking the last two weekends off for Thanksgiving. Melissa McCarthy returns to host for her sixth time. With Sean Spicer (kind of?) back in the news, will we see McCarthy’s version of the former White House press secretary face off against Ashley Padilla’s version of the current White House press secretary?

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Deep SNL Thoughts is written and produced by Bill Kuchman.
Copyediting by Tim Kuchman.

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Deep SNL Thoughts is a publication of The Omnicosm.
Issue No. 24

Published in: The Cold Open • Host Promo, The Cold Open, SNL, Melissa McCarthy, Ashley Padilla, Ben Marshall

Author

The Omnicosm founder. Snackology, Popculturology and The Cold Open writer. A Rochester, N.Y., native now living in the Washington, D.C., area. Won’t pass up a Genny Cream Ale.

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