Tom Hanks, Melissa McCarthy, Paul Rudd, Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson, Tina Fey, John Mulaney, Alec Baldwin, and Jimmy Fallon welcomed the comedian to the elite institution.

Saturday Night Live' Brings In Tom Hanks, Tina Fey And More To Induct Martin Short Into “Five-Timers Club”

As many Saturday Night Live trivia buffs know, former cast member Martin Short has popped up in several Five-Timers Club inductions over the years — most recently, during Kristen Wiig’s in Season 49. Which made Short’s December 21 Five-Timer’s Club cold open all the more special: He was welcomed by fellow members Tom Hanks, Melissa McCarthy, Paul Rudd, Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson, Tina Fey, John Mulaney, Alec Baldwin, and Jimmy Fallon, packing the Studio 8H stage with A-listers.

The cold open began with Tom Hanks seated in a cozy armchair, Steve Martin in “A Holiday Wish”-style (Short later joked that Martin “would’ve been here tonight, but he had a conflict with me not wanting him to be here”).

SNL: Emma Stone, Alec Baldwin Welcome Martin Short to Five-Timers Club

“In December 1990, I created the SNL Five-Timers Club — an ingeniously lazy way to avoid writing a monologue,” Hanks told the camera. “It has grown into one of the most exclusive clubs in the industry, and tonight, we are here to induct our newest member.”

Enter 2021 inductee Paul Rudd, who asked Hanks who he was talking to. “Oh, I’m sorry! I’ve done so many documentaries, so whenever I sit in a leather chair, I just naturally assume I’m in one,” replied Hanks, who’ll host the 10-part nature docuseries The Americas in February 2025.

Melissa McCarthy, Paul Rudd, Tom Hanks, Tina Fey, John Mulaney, Martin Short, Jimmy Fallon, Emma Stone, Kristen Wiig, Alec Baldwin, and Scarlett Johansson standing on a stage.

Melissa McCarthy, Paul Rudd, Tom Hanks, Tina Fey, John Mulaney, Martin Short, Jimmy Fallon, Alec Baldwin, Emma Stone and Scarlett Johansson during the Martin Short Five-Timers Club Cold Open on Saturday Night Live on Saturday, December 21, 2024.

Photo: Will Heath/NBC

Martin Short did the Five-Timers secret handshake in a callback to Tom Hanks’ induction

When they finally let Short into the lounge, he and Rudd performed the Five-Timers Club handshake as first explained by Elliott Gould in the Hanks’ 1990 sketch: A “One, two, three, four, five” elbow tap, followed by a “You’re great!” “YOU’RE great!” exchange.

When Tina Fey joined the festivities, Short zinged, “You know, I am so glad that you are here. You are one of the rarest things in Hollywood: A writer who’s attractive enough to be on camera.”

Saturday Night Live': Tom Hanks, Tina Fey Salute Host Paul Rudd

“And you are one of the least rare things in Hollywood: a loud man!” Fey shot back.

Alec Baldwin wore a Five-Timers jacket that had a “17” instead, to tout his standing status as the most frequent SNL Host of all time, while Scarlett Johansson jokingly slammed the door in husband Colin Jost’s face upon entry.  Kristen Wiig hilariously intimated that she’d hooked up with both Short and Emma Stone, “but I’m not that girl anymore.”

Tom Hanks in a robe sitting in a leather armchair.

Tom Hanks during the Martin Short Five-Timers Club Cold Open on Saturday Night Live on Saturday, December 21, 2024.

Photo: Will Heath/NBC

Meanwhile, a radiant Melissa McCarthy — who’s SNL episodes have earned her five Emmy nominations, including one win — returned for her first cameo since 2018.

“Just have to say that it is so nice to see each other outside of a sketch,” McCarthy said. “I mean, we can act like the dignified, salt-of-the-earth celebrity folks that we are.” She soon pulled a stunt that had water spraying all over her face, crashing through a wall to make way for John Mulaney (and later spat chocolate milkshake onto a window in a wildly funny sketch appearance.

 

But it was Jimmy Fallon, aka the “Jacket Boy,” who got to enshroud Short in his new finery, and poke fun at himself while he was at it. Watch Martin Short’s Five-Timers Club cold open from Season 50, Episode 10 above.