Latinos across the U.S. were transported back to their childhoods this weekend while watching “Saturday Night Live”’s spoof of the beloved “Sábado Gigante.” The iconic Spanish-language variety show, hosted by Mario Kreutzberger (better known as Don Francisco), ran every Saturday night for 53 years and was a hit on Univision since the network began carrying it in 1986. It stopped running in 2015 but remains a staple in the memories of many Latino families.
Marcello Hernández, the first Gen Z comedian on the “SNL” cast, played Don Francisco and spoke almost entirely in Spanish throughout the sketch. He was joined by comedian Nate Bargatze as Joshua, an American plucked to participate who didn’t speak much Spanish or seemed to understand the point of the show.
“Sorry, I’m visiting Miami. I got free tickets. I don’t know what any of this means,” Joshua says. “I think I’m having a panic attack.”
In an attempt to make sense of Don Francisco’s directions, Joshua accidentally summons “El Chacal de la Trompeta,” or The Trumpet Jackal, a longstanding character from “Sábado Gigante” who appeared on the show as a curt judge in singing competitions, blaring his instrument when he wasn’t satisfied with a contestant’s performance. The “SNL” skit ends with all of the zany characters breaking out into song alongside Joshua, who is still confused.
Viewers were impressed with how well “SNL” captured the over-the-top and eccentric nature of “Sábado Gigante” that they remember from their childhoods, and took to social media to voice their praise.
“This SNL sketch about Sábado Gigante is funny because it’s exactly like Sábado Gigante,” one X user wrote.
“Sábado Gigante sketch on SNL was both hilarious and accurate. Literally learned how to speak Spanish watching that show back in the late 90’s,” another person said.
“SNL” writer Steven Castillo, the skit’s lead writer who is Mexican American, tweeted a shoutout to “all the families that remember watching this show.”
Kreutzberger, who is Chilean, also took to Instagram on Sunday to thank “SNL” and Hernández for capturing the essence of the show.
“I want to thank @marcellohdz and @nbcsnl for bringing to memory those special moments of our dear Sábado Gigante,” Kreutzberger wrote in Spanish. “It wasn’t only a great TV program, it was much more: A meeting point for families and for our Hispanic community.”
The irreverent show entered the Guinness World Record in 2015 as the longest running variety TV show hosted by the same presenter. That same year, The Associated Press reported that the show had an average of 2.2 million viewers per episode, and was No. 1 on Saturday nights among Hispanics in the U.S.
“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 alive as ever,” Don Francisco wrote in the Instagram post.
“SNL” and NBC News share a parent company, NBCUniversal.
