The “Saturday Night Live” host, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin riffed off “Sex and the City” in a mock spinoff following Mike Wheeler’s adventures in New York.

Finn Wolfhard and his *Stranger Things *costars spoof show’s secret episode and SATC in hilarious *SNL *parody

The "Saturday Night Live" host, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin riffed off "Sex and the City" in a mock spinoff following Mike Wheeler's adventures in New York.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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January 18, 2026 12:32 p.m. ET

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Finn Wolfhard,Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin in a 'Saturday Night Live' parody of 'Stranger Things'. Credit:

Stranger Things Promo - SNL

Still hung up on Conformity Gate? *Saturday Night Live* has just the solution.

With Finn Wolfhard making his hosting debut fresh off the series finale of *Stranger Things*, the show couldn't help but poke fun at the Netflix series and its divisive ending.

"Remember that mysterious ninth episode the internet was convinced existed?" a narrator asks during a pre-recorded Jan. 17 sketch. "It didn't — but it does now!"

*SNL* then surprised the studio audience by reuniting Wolfhard with his costars Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin as their characters arrived in Iceland to check out those waterfalls and determine the truth behind Eleven's fate.

"Everything we thought happened was an illusion that was planted by Vecna," Wolfhard as Mike yells, parroting fan theories that have taken the internet by storm. "He's still out there!"

Unconvinced, McLaughlin's Lucas asks his friend to provide one good reason why they should believe him.

"You want one reason?" Mike asks. "How about… Eleven."

Cue the dramatic music as the trio slowly turn to see that character. Only instead of Millie Bobby Brown, it's Kenan Thompson wearing a hospital gown and holding an Eggo, with Eleven's signature nosebleed and all.**

Kenan Thompson as Eleven in the 'SNL' parody of the alleged 'Stranger Things' secret episode.

Stranger Things Promo - SNL

And don't worry, there's plenty more *Stranger Things *where that came from. The sketch also provided a glimpse at a bunch of potential spinoffs for the hit series with the promise, "Everyone is getting a show."

One possibility follows Steve Harrington (played by Andrew Dismukes) as he leaves Hawkins to become a high school teacher in inner-city Los Angeles. A snippet of the series, hilariously titled *Strangerous Minds*, sees one student taunt Steve, telling him that he won't last a day in the new school. But it doesn't shake him.

"You think I don't know what it's like to be a teenager?" Dismukes' Steve asks the student. "I was 17 for 10 years!"

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Meanwhile, Nancy headlines *The Wheeler Report*, in which her investigative journalism career takes her deep into high-profile '90s crimes such as… the O.J. Simpson car chase.

But the most tempting entry in the spoof was a *Sex and the City–*inspired spinoff in which Mike heads to New York to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. *Mike in Manhattan* finds Finn typing at a computer, doing his best Carrie Bradshaw impression as he reflects on the New York City dating scene.

"And just like that, I was in a new Upside Down… New York," he writes. "And it doesn't take a hive mind to realize that after you've dated an Eleven, even 10s fall short."

Mike is then joined by none other than Dustin and Lucas (Matarazzo and McLaughlin again) for a brunchy, Cosmo-drenched gab sesh, during which it is quickly revealed that their post–*Stranger Things* lives are looking pretty grim, especially in the bedroom.

Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin in an 'SNL' spoof mashing up 'Stranger Things' and 'Sex and the City'.

Stranger Things Promo - SNL

"As you know, I recently dated that weird nerdy girl who helped us save the world," Dustin begins, referencing his season 3 love interest, Suzie. "And then I never talked to her again. And ever since, my series of bad dates has been a *NeverEnding Story*. I'm a disaster!"

Adds Lucas, "Max and I started off hot and heavy, but a couple years in she just lies there like she's back in that coma."

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The trio are shocked out of their depressing catch-up when Mike's nose begins to bleed — a lot like El's did when she used her powers. But he quickly reassures his friends there's nothing supernatural about it.

"This is from cocaine," he says this with a laugh. "New York in the '90s, right?"

*SNL* also put Matarazzo and McLaughlin to good use for Wolfhard's monologue, in which he lamented the struggles of starring in a show for 10 years, having his first kiss on camera, and going through puberty in the public eye.

"I'm not a kid anymore," he told the crowd, prompting his costars to pop up beside him on stage and declare, "And neither are we!”

They finished the monologue with a toast to being "child stars who are now ready to do adult films," a joke that earned a perfect side-eye from McLaughlin.

Watch the full *Stranger Things *spinoffs* *parody above.**

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