Don Francisco Reacts To Marcello Hernández’s ‘Sábado Gigante’ Spoof: “I Thank SNL For Bringing Back Memories”

Saturday Night Live‘s Marcello Hernández tapped into nostalgia for Latinos in the U.S. by spoofing Univision‘s variety show Sábado Gigante.

English-language speakers in the U.S. have SNL to look forward to every weekend, but Spanish-language speakers had Sábado Gigante. The variety series hosted by Don Francisco entertained Hispanic audiences for almost 30 years, going off the air in 2015 after a 29-year run.

“I thank SNL for bringing back memories of our Sábado Gigante, which was not only a great television program, but was also very important as a meeting point for the family and our Hispanic community,” Don Francisco replied on Instagram. “Thanks to the public, we closed our story almost 10 years ago, but we still feel the affection and respect for what we were able to build together.”

In a second message, Don Francisco added in Spanish, “Special thanks to Marcello Hernández for his acting. Notable.”

Latinos in the U.S. felt seen on SNL, tapping into their childhood, growing up watching Sábado Gigante on Saturday nights with the family. Having Hernández in the SNL cast gives the NBC late-night sketch show a more diverse representation of what the U.S. looks like.

The Sábado Gigante sketch was primarily done in Spanish, with the week’s guest host, Nate Bargatze, providing dialogue in English, completely confused as to why his character was chosen to be a contestant, not knowing any word in Spanish.

SNL‘s sketch featured dancing, singing, and a party atmosphere, which made Sábado Gigante entertaining for viewers. The sketch also featured El Chacal de la Trompeta, a character on the show that played contestants off stage, throwing them into a lion’s den when their signing was terrible.

Watch the Sábado Gigante sketch in the video above.