Posted in: NBC, Peacock, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl

SNL 51: Johnson, Grande Sing for Their Sketch in Rare Read-Thru Video

SNL star James Austin Johnson offered a rare look inside the read-thru in a post that included a video of Johnson and Ariana Grande singing.

We were hoping that host Ariana Grande and musical guest Cher would help NBC's Saturday Night Live head into its midseason break on a strong note, and we were not disappointed. One of the sketches that worked well for us (check out our full review) was "Random Duets Christmas Spectacular," in which Grande and the SNL cast took on some great impressions of very famous faces. The surprise highlight of the sketch, though, was James Austin Johnson's Andrea Bocelli and Grande's Celine Dion, who made for a wonderful pairing. Earlier today, Johnson shared some images and video from last weekend's show, with the highlight being a rare look inside the midweek read-thru spotlighting Johnson and Grande sing-pitching the sketch.

"Christmas show was an all timer. And lo, here's some bts for the true heads," Johnson wrote as the caption to his Instagram post from earlier today, which included some great behind-the-scenes looks at the midseason finale:

SNL Cut For Time: Espresso Martini Defense; Last Stop Christmas Shop

In the first Cut For Time sketch from the midseason finale, Ariana Grande, Jeremy Culhane, and Ben Marshall extoll the benefits of an "Espresso Martini" safe room, while Chloe Fineman and Sarah Sherman "demonstrate" all of its much-needed benefits. Following that, Grande and Sherman are partners (with an assist from Marcello Hernandez) in a Christmas tree business: the "Last Stop Christmas Shop." It says a lot about just how stacked last night's show was, because both of these sketches could've easily made the cut any other week. Here's a look at the Cut For Time sketches that were released earlier this month, with SNL returning on January 17th with host Finn Wolfhard and musical guest A$AP Rocky:

The Season 51 cast includes Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, Colin Jost, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, and Bowen Yang, along with current featured players Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline. Joining them are newcomers Ben Marshall, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson, and Veronika Slowikowska.

New writers for this season include actor-writer Jack Bensinger (Rap World), stand-up comedian Jo Sunday (Just for Laughs), comic Maddie Wiener (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon), actor and writer Rachel Pegram (Harley Quinn), writer-comedian Claire McFadden (Second City), Maxwell Gay (The Harvard Lampoon), and Tucker Flodman (The Harvard Lampoon). NBC's Saturday Night Live premiered on Oct. 11, 1975, and broadcasts live from NBC's famed Studio 8H in New York City's Rockefeller Center. The program is a production of Broadway Video in association with SNL Studios. Lorne Michaels is the executive producer.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!