The entire concept of “A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter” is fascinating: a retro-futuristic crowning of pop’s newest star and a simultaneous assertion from Netflix further into the space — and cultural centrality — of a classic broadcast network. Carpenter’s public persona is perfect for Netflix’s modernization and claiming of this format; her sharpened professionalism and knack for confident innuendo bridge the late-night and social media host roles in a way many will try and fail to replicate. This experiment passes with flying colors, for Carpenter’s suite of contemporary Christmas songs is strong, the array of skits match the music’s wit and charm and a few of the guests — one in particular — meet and sometimes exceed her bar.
Overall, Sabrina Carpenter’s songs in this special carry on the wit that defined the excellent “Short ‘n’ Sweet” while offering her the chance to put more power into her vocals than she does on that album. Her spin on “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” here “It’s the Most Nonsense Time of the Year,” adds raunch and fourth-wall-breaking referentiality that instantly endears the audience to the hostess. While most of the numbers are entertainingly cheeky, she also finds time to deliver a surprisingly affective breakup ballad, “Cindy Lou Who.” The only weakness in her vocal performance is apparent pitch correction throughout, not as a stylistic choice but to conceal potential mistakes, which it does not achieve as it sounds unnatural. There is a deliberately auto-tuned faux rap number within a funny skit about coming up with a gift for a distant brother-in-law, but the song comes off as grating when it shouldn’t. The special’s title track is far better here than in its single release, but “A Nonsense Christmas” itself tries to take the easy way out with its innuendoes and comes off sophomoric, lacking the spark, creativity or compositional momentum of “Most Nonsense Time.”
The duets are more of a mixed bag, with Tyla’s performance fading fast into memory and Kali Uchis’ vocals, perhaps due to poor mixing, barely sticking. Shania Twain and Carpenter’s duet is a fantastic song, but in “Last Christmas” with Chappell Roan, although Carpenter and Chappell’s singing don’t mix well together, the latter’s performance is easily the show’s highlight. Chappell’s vocals are brilliant, with no hint of pitch correction, and the pain she brings to her performance is transportive. She lives the longing and betrayal she sings, outacting the entire rest of the special’s cast as she goes through her grieving process over the number. I have not found Chappell’s music so far to be as revolutionary or captivating as others have. But in this rendition of “Last Christmas,” her authenticity is far more magnetic than Carpenter’s professionalism, and she is a true superstar.
The comedy scenes interspersed between the songs are inventive spins on Christmas tropes, such as Sabrina Carpenter dating Santa Claus or, as previously mentioned, struggling to find her in-law a suitable gift. Even the weakest skit, the “ghosting” skit where multiple women haunt a serially uncommunicative man like “A Christmas Carol,” is still plenty fun and likely quite relatable. And despite its faults, one of the celebrity guests therein gets a great line about her true romantic intentions at the end. Despite featuring ostensibly more adult subject matter, all the skits are quite sweet and Carpenter plays hostess well as she leads the audience through them.
In the larger industrial context, “A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter” seems like a pure glimpse of the future. It is a streamer stamping the old domain of the networks by reimagining their wide-appealing variety of programming with less moralistic restrictions on the stories told. It seems only a matter of time before Netflix and Amazon unveil late-night talk shows or awards fare with similarly contemporary sensibilities, and having seen the edge of this future, I’m excited about it. This special has its faults, but there’s far more to enjoy, especially as it serves as a doorway into the forming future where streaming services are our cultural center of gravity, with new stars like Carpenter and Chappell in their orbit. Spend some time with Sabrina Carpenter this Christmas — this special, though imperfect, is a worthy present.
