Jesus was a carpenter, but there’s a new vixen here for Christmas. (Well, if this is going to be a proper Sabrina Carpenter review, there has to be one joke-innuendo-entendre, right?)
Carpenter—hot off her Short n’ Sweet summer album release and midway through her subsequent tour—released a Netflix “musical comedy holiday special with celebrity guests” called A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter on December 6. Featuring the likes of Chappell Roan, Kali Uchis, Tyla, and Shania Twain, the special glistens with holiday spirit as jolly as the many Santa-related costumes that fit into the under-hour program.
The special situates itself around three main throughlines: the musical performances, drawn from holiday classics like “Last Christmas” or “Santa Baby” and Carpenter’s 2023 LP fruitcake; comedy skits where Sabrina dates Santa Claus and struggles to think of a gift for her brother-in-law; and refreshing behind-the-scenes glimpses that momentarily de-gloss the highly scripted set of the skits.
While the comedy adds to the coziness of the on-set feel—as if we, too, sit beside the live studio audience—they also stifle the special, eliciting about as much as a nose-exhale laugh that you’d expect from any comedy-set special worth its salt. (The exceptions are Megan Stalter and Quinta Brunson, obviously.) A particularly ultra-scripted Christmas Carol-inspired interlude in which the spirit of Ghosted Past, Present, and Future visit a tech-bro Scrooge didn’t jingle these bells.
Perhaps it’s Scroogeish for me to dampen the holiday cheer right off the bat. And I did like Carpenter’s backstage clips, like a confession of childhood longing for cake after opening presents, as well as her nonsense take on “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”. But I would forgo all the skits for more of Carpenter’s musical sets—with her originals: the superb and yearning “santa doesn’t know you like i do,” despondent “cindy lou who,” and uproarious “buy me presents” containing all the glistening star power needed to light up the Christmas tree.
Of course, “A Nonsense Christmas,” a holiday spoof of her emails i can’t send single, is playful nonsensical fun and the song rounds out the special with another more-naughty-than-nice wink, as well as a surprisingly chaste “Nonsense Outro.”
The gifts inside the special’s well-hung stockings (sorry) are a delight too. Chappell Roan’s and Carpenter’s “Last Christmas” duet imagines a decorous post-party karaoke lament, while the infectious “This Christmas” with Tyla opens the program with a jolly R&B record. Maybe it goes without saying, but Carpenter’s vocals and costuming are polished.
As Carpenter says, “You could have been anywhere tonight, … but instead, you’re here, half-watching a big screen while scrolling social media on a smaller screen.” Maybe that’s all the attention we needed to pay to the special. And so, if you’re ready to do just that—and willing to endure the Christmas tunes already infiltrating every store you enter in the next month—you’ll meet some tunes and glammed-up costumes worth your half-half-attention.
Article Courtesy of Arleigh Rodgers
Image Courtesy of Netflix