As Saturday Night Live (1975-Whenever the world ends) aired its season 47 finale last week, I figured it would be a neat time to release a list of my all-time favorite SNL skits. Cold opens, as well as regular skits, are eligible for the list, while host monologues and Weekend Update segments are not as they'd be too hard to compare (perhaps one day they'll get their own post). Throughout SNL's long tenure, I've found these skits to be the best of the best!
Here are my honorable mentions: Sarcasm 101, Squid Game, The Clintons' Halloween Party, The Olympia Restaurant, Cha Cha Slide.
15. Michael Cohen Hearing Cold Open
Ben Stiller's guest role as Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen is funny enough, not to mention the then-relevant references to the political landscape of the Trump era that were especially poignant when the episode was aired and I had followed the news a lot that week. But what really makes this skit all-time-top-15-worthy is SNL alumnus Bill Hader's guest role as congressman Jim Jordan, which just gets more and more hilarious throughout the lengthy skit. Like every role I've ever seen him in, Hader nails it.
14. White Like Me
SNL has always had an eye for making fun of racism and race relations in the U.S. - nowadays such satirical humor is all the rage, but back in 1984, the series was ahead of the curve. The discrimination that Black people face was seen as a largely uncomfortable topic back then, as many white folks wanted to pretend that the problem doesn't exist while African-Americans were painfully aware of the issues. This skit, where Eddie Murphy puts on "white-face" and goes undercover to see just how differently white people are treated, is so deliciously over-the-top and objectively funny that it made many different Americans come together and laugh at the inherent stupidity of racism.
13. Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base
Guest host Adam Driver absolutely kills it in this skit, where he reprises his role as Star Wars villain Kylo Ren for comedic purposes. In the tradition of popular reality series Undercover Boss (2010-Present), we follow the Sith Lord as he goes undercover as a Stormtrooper, to see what his employees have to deal with in their everyday lives. This makes for quite the hilarious sequence of events, as SNL's sketch humor blends with the Star Wars world and the reality series atmosphere beautifully.
12. Airport Sushi
John Mulaney, perhaps my favorite comedian in the world, has hosted Saturday Night Live five times. His first time hosting, he did a skit where a guy (played by Pete Davidson) is in a diner with a friend (Chris Redd), and orders lobster from the waiter (John Mulaney). The idea of ordering lobsters from a diner being untypical and even absurd is taken to a hilariously over-the-top point, as it all turns into a large-scale musical number. And every time Mulaney has hosted since, there has been a new take on the skit: there's one where Davidson's character wants to use the bathroom at a bodega, one where he orders a churro at the subway, et cetera.
The third instance of this wonderful tradition is Airport Sushi from a few years ago. The commotion that begins from poor Pete's decision to order sushi at an airport leads to showtunes such as Kenan Thompson's creepy 'Phantom of LaGuardia', Bowen Yang re-working Little Shop of Horrors track 'Suddenly Seymour' into the timely 'Profiled Asian', and of course, guest star Jake Gyllenhaal channeling Wicked with the hysterically spectacular 'Enjoying Security'. It's all pretty great.
11. Gov. Sarah Palin's Press Conference
Tina Fey as Sarah Palin has got to be one of the best impressions of all time. It was nice to get some additional context for this skit when I read Fey's autobiography Bossypants (recommended reading for anyone who isn't afraid of choking from laughter), as she explains just how nervous she was about being in the same setting as the real-life Palin, who did a cameo for this skit.
The sketch is pure gold already before the shocking appearance by the infamous right-wing loose cannon, as Fey has more fun than ever before with the role. But the real Palin's appearance really seals the deal - as much as I disagree with her on pretty much everything, I must give her just a tiny fragment of respect for agreeing to show up on the famously liberal-leaning series as they're making fun of her. Guest star Alec Baldwin mistaking the real Palin for Tina and ranting to her about "that horrible woman" has got to be one of the funniest jokes in SNL history.
10. Bodega Bathroom
Out of the five Pete-Davidson-orders-something-strange-as-John-Mulaney-turns-things-into-an-over-the-top-musical skits that have been done, four made it into my all-time top 15 SNL skits - that's how magnificent this tradition is. Bodega Bathroom is the second-ever skit in the series, and it's naturally from Mulaney's second time as host. In this installation of my favorite running gag, Davidson's character wants to use the restroom in a shady bodega, and the owner (Mulaney, living his secret dream of being a Broadway diva) takes things to the next level as we meet all sorts of weird characters.
The skit pays tribute to many different musicals, such as Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Cats and Rent. Kate McKinnon bursting into 'Memory' (with extremely modified lyrics) while dressed as a cup of soda is a thing to behold, but it pales in comparison to the final act: the iconic 'Season of Love' re-imagined in this crummy bodega, with pretty much the entire cast joining in, as the chorus goes "What about FLAAAAAAAAAN?". Tears of laughter, man.
9. Republican or Not?
As you might've noticed, most of my all-time favorite skits are from very recent years - while I've watched my fair share of old SNL, I have seen much more of the new ones as I started actively following the series just a few years ago, so mathematically the current era is bound to be more represented. Bear with me, old-school fans: there are going to be a few nostalgic gems ahead amidst all the modernity!
SNL has done many, many game show parodies in the last few decades (and I'm pretty sure that Kenan Thompson has played the game show host in literally every single one of them). Republican or Not? is a genius satire of current political rhetoric in the U.S., as the contestants try to guess whether the people in front of them are Republicans or not. This makes for some deliciously clever jokes: "I think Facebook is evil" / "Because they're spreading disinformation or because they're banning Donald Trump?", and "I respect pro athletes who stand up for their beliefs" / "Which athletes - and which beliefs?", just to quote a few.
8. Celeb School Game Show
The concept of this skit from last year is quite generic and has been done many times - cast members, pretending to be various celebrities, compete in a game show. Yawn.
Except, this particular sketch happens to feature one of the single funniest things I have ever seen.
You see, this episode was hosted by actor Rami Malek, who has often been said to look similar to SNL star Pete Davidson (for example, when SNL parodied Malek's series Mr. Robot, Davidson played the main character). In this skit, they do the most wonderful thing with the similarity: Davidson plays the role of famous actor Rami Malek, while Malek plays Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson. And they sit next to each other.
This is from the first-ever SNL episode that I got to watch live on a Saturday night from TV, as we don't get that here in Finland, but this episode aired when my Dad and I were visiting Colorado. When we realized that Davidson and Malek are playing each other and doing so incredibly well, we burst out in a fit of laughter that lasted for pretty much the whole skit; every time Malek opened his mouth with his hysterically chaotic Pete-impression, or Pete parodied Malek by just looking at the camera eerily, it just became funnier and funnier.
7. Kavanaugh Hearing Cold Open
It was funny enough to watch this satirical skit after it aired, as I had followed news of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings very closely and was therefore able to appreciate the insanely many ways in which this cold open poked fun at the ridiculous proceedings. It became even greater when I read head writer Colin Jost's autobiography A Very Punchable Face, where he reveals a crucial bit of context: the skit was written in the last moments, Matt Damon was called about whether he could guest star as Kavanaugh on the night before, and apparently he had arrived and chugged a beer to get into character pretty much right before the skit went on air.
Damon's entrance will never not make me roar with laughter. While I do appreciate subtle humor, there is something to be said for very on-the-nose humor as well, and SNL prides itself in this comedic field. For example, if the thing they want to make fun of is how judge Kavanaugh was weirdly angry during the hearing, they put the parody up to eleven by having Damon enter with blistering fury, as he sits down looking as spiteful as one can, looks around himself and screams "WHAT?!" from the top of his lungs as an answer to the committee calling on him. Brilliance.
6. Landshark
Told you that I'd have some vintage SNL in the mix! This iconic skit from the show's very first season in 1975 is a classic example of sketch comedy where the idea is so brilliantly stupid in a creative, 'who the hell would ever come up with this' way, that it can't help but work like a charm. We essentially witness a trailer for the then-fictitious "Jaws II", in which a shark assaults people on land while posing as a human. Yes, it's just as magnificently dumb as it sounds.
The whole thing just gets more and more absurd, as we follow multiple gullible women opening the door to a 'delivery man' who knocks on the door and speaks plain English, only for Landshark (Chevy Chase in a hilariously bad shark costume) to devour them. The one victim who says "I don't need a plumber - you're that clever shark, aren't you?", but still ends up opening the door and getting eaten, is 100 per cent The Simpsons -style humor even though The Simpsons wouldn't exist for another fourteen years, showing just how influential SNL's brand of comedy has been in American culture.
And then there's Dan Aykroyd, informing a man of his wife's death by saying that he has good news ("Betty and I are having a party tonight, come on over, you'll have a great time!") and bad news ("You'll be coming stag").
5. American Households Cold Open
As I mentioned when describing the Kavanaugh Cold Open, SNL's political satire is often more on the obvious and on-the-nose side of things. But sometimes, they manage to tap into nuance and make for some surprisingly clever satire - never more so than with American Households. In this yule-tide cold open ahead of the 2020 Presidential election, we follow three families: a stereotypical liberal family, a stereotypical Trump-supporting family, and a lovable Black family who have a delightfully different approach to politics.
The parallels between the discourse in the two first families is a razor-sharp dig at how divided America is and how we're so similar yet so different: "If Obama did half the stuff Trump did, he would be in jail already" says one family, while the others claim "Obama did way worse stuff than Trump ever did yet they didn't impeach him" (naturally followed by Kenan Thompson's character excitedly claiming "Can you believe they didn't kill Obama! I thought they were gonna kill him for sure!").
Furthermore, the ending twist on what all three families have in common is a brutal jab at America's broken democracy, really driving home the point that the best kind of satire makes you think while also making you laugh.
4. The Shooting AKA Dear Sister
I consider the Bill Hader / Seth Meyers / Andy Samberg / Tina Fey etc. era of Saturday Night Live to be the show's definitive golden age - all that many skits from that period didn't make it onto my list, but overall the quality of humor seems to have been the best then, not to mention that the cast had probably half of my all-time favorite comedians in it. This digital short is an extremely influential piece of comedy, as it has been credited with more or less giving birth to so-called 'Millennial humor'.
I've never watched The O.C., but from what I've gathered, the series once aired a season finale where a character is dramatically killed to the backdrop of Imogen Heap's song Hide and Seek (better known as the 'Mmm whatcha say" song). Soon afterwards, SNL had fun at the popular show's expense by parodying the death scene in a fantastically tongue-in-cheek manner. Comedy masterminds Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Fred Armisen and Jason Sudeikis (as well as guest star Shia LaBeouf) all bring their A-game in this skit that keeps on giving, as more and more people keep getting over-dramatically shot as 'MMM WHATCHA SAYY" starts to play every time. Hysterical.
3. New York Musical
Never have I switched moods from amused to emotionally touched as quickly as when I first saw this skit. The fourth-ever instance of the John-Mulaney-Pete-Davidson-Chris-Redd musical sketch done every time Mulaney hosts, this one was extra special as it belonged to the last episode aired before the 2020 Presidential election, just three days prior to Election Night. A majority of the skit is just what you'd expect from this running gag: a bunch of zany characters do hilarious musical numbers, this time due to Davidson's character wanting to buy a pair of "I <3 NEW YORK" underpants at a tourist shop.
But then, when you least expect it, things take a turn for the honestly moving. After a series of silly showtunes, Mulaney's character starts to talk about the state of New York and America, after which he launches into 'One Day More' from Les Miserables, but with the lyrics being 'Three days more' and all about the upcoming election between Trump and Biden. The full rising-on-barricades feel of Les Mis can be felt despite the show's sketch-humor silliness, because the stakes of what they're singing about were so real and felt by all. I distinctly remember watching this for the first time on the morning after it aired, as I laughed my ass off for a majority of the skit, and suddenly out of the blue, there's a tear in my eye - quite a powerful change of atmosphere.
2. Election Night
Speaking of U.S. Presidential elections, this skit is from the first episode to air after the infamous 2016 election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Once again, crucial context was found from head writer Colin Jost's autobiography: like many of us, the SNL writers had felt subconsciously sure that Clinton was going to win, and they had mainly planned sketches involving a Clinton victory for that week's episode, only for the brutal real-life plot twist known as Trump's victory to throw a major wrench in the gears. The episode that they scrambled together in a few days is remarkably good for two reasons: 1), the monologue by host Dave Chappelle, who was the best possible person to share his take on Trump's victory on the SNL stage. And 2), this sketch.
The skit follows a group of liberal friends throughout Election Night, and the most genius thing about it is how every liberal who lived through the 2016 election can thoroughly relate to how it all goes down. The dialogue's progression from arrogance to unsure nervousness to downright panic is very similar to what went down in our own household that Election Night. As a jab at the prevalent racism throughout Trump's campaign, this skit feels like a tribute to the wisdom of African-Americans, as the two Black members of the friend group (played by Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock) are constantly the only ones who understand that Trump might win, and how his victory was actually quite on-brand for America's history with racism, while their white liberal-bubble friends are hilariously clueless that such racism could take place in their homeland.
It's impossible to decide just one favorite moment: Chappelle's cynical "I guess the Latinos didn't hear your little toast", Rock's hysterical "I don't get you ladies, I mean the country's 55% women! If the country was 55% Black, we'd have tons of Black Presidents, I mean Flavor Flav would be President!", Cecily Strong's incoherent panic-rant about urban counties, or Beck Bennett's hope-deprived "You never know guys, Alaska's still out there". This whole skit is gold.
1. Diner Lobster
I didn't even have to think twice about this one. I'm trying to keep an open mind, but a part of me is sure that no Saturday Night Live skit will ever top Diner Lobster - such a scenario feels impossible to comprehend. This sketch hits my comedic tastes with absolute perfection, and I still laugh out loud every time I re-watch it even though I've seen it countless times.
Diner Lobster is the very first instance of the Mulaney-Davidson-Redd-ordering-debacle-turned-musical gag. While on some levels the tradition has improved every time, I still can't help but see the original as the best: with the sequels, you know what to expect, but when I first saw this skit, it was nothing but positive shock of the highest order. It's funny enough that Davidson's character wants to order lobster from a diner and the waiter (Mulaney) is absolutely appalled by this, but when Kenan Thompson appears, dressed as a lobster, and bursts into song, you know you're in for a life-changing bit of comedy.
And it just gets better and better from there. Mulaney being fully Broadway-dramatic while the rest of the cast struggle not to break in laughter due to the skit's absurdity? Awesome. Pete not being able to hold it and fully breaking character multiple times as he simply found the premise so hilarious? Magnificent. The escalation as more and more characters appear leading up to the "Do you hear the people sing?" finale? Jaw-dropping. The line "This diner has incredible set design!"? Perfection. Every cast member giving their everything for the final number, as Alex Moffat waves a flag while Beck Bennett marches with dead-serious dedication and Kenan's lobster prances in the background? Extraordinary. It doesn't get any better than this.
Thank you for reading! Tune in next week, as I celebrate Pride Month by ranking the Top 10 cult LGBTQ+ movies!
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