The 50 Best ‘Saturday Night Live’ Sketches of the 21st Century
We’re celebrating 50 years of “Saturday Night Live”! All this week, we’re digging into the late-night comedy institution with new stories, including lists, essays, interviews, and more.
We know what you’re thinking. Why choose to highlight only the later seasons of “Saturday Night Live” as opposed to the full 50 years? It is the 50th Anniversary after all, right? Being perfectly honest, most of the people involved in making this list were not born before 1990, meaning we really couldn’t even appreciate “SNL” until after the turn of the 21st Century. That being said, we’re also all TV obsessives who have certainly seen “Word Association” with Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor, as well as Phil Hartman’s Bill Clinton, and even the sketch that got Damon Wayans fired. Our reasoning for sticking to just the sketches that aired between 2001 and today — outside of the standard generational divides in humor — is because we here at IndieWire believe the best form of the staple variety show lies in this era.
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As important as those early years were for “SNL” and as successful as it was in the late ’80s and ’90s, these periods were terribly inconsistent, with cast members often not staying on for more than 5 seasons. People may balk at Kenan Thompson sticking with the show for 22 years or Colin Jost still being around after 12, but that kind of consistency allows for not only a pedigree to be built, but also an institutional knowledge to be maintained. For instance, The Lonely Island’s success with comedic music videos bred future hits like “(Do It In) My Twin Bed” and “Welcome to Hell,” both featured on this list. Sketches that may not have worked fully at one point may get a new life a decade later and prove riotous. This is the benefit of having writers and cast members who stick around for a long time, but especially when those writers and cast members were as fantastic as they were throughout this period of time.
To name Chris Parnell, Fred Armisen, Mikey Day, Bill Hader, Michael Che, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, and Will Forte would be to only recognize a fraction of the talent featured. Even Tim Robinson, who wrote for four seasons, but was only a cast member on one, went on to carve out his own unique corner of the comedy world. But perhaps the most prominent shift “SNL” took moving into the 21st Century was finally embracing female comedians in a way it hadn’t before. Sure, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, and Laraine Newman may have opened the door, but Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Cecily Strong, Kate McKinnon, Sarah Sherman, Ego Nwodim, and many more have blown it off its hinges.
Another huge boost to the longevity and continued appreciation of “Saturday Night Live” is how the internet made the show less about each episode as a whole and more about the impact of individual sketches. It even pushed “SNL” to start releasing “Best of” DVDs during the late ’90s/early 2000s. When YouTube was still in its nascent years, “SNL” helped contribute to the website’s growing popularity with videos like “Lazy Sunday.” Nowadays, the internet often brings the talent to “SNL,” with players like Bowen Yang and the group Please Don’t Destroy having built popular followings online before being brought onto the show. TikTok has even turned a character like Marcello Hernandez’s horny home-wrecker Domingo into an overnight cultural phenomenon, pushing the show to bring him back only a few weeks after he first debuted.
With something as divisive as comedy, we know not everyone will agree with the sketches we’ve chosen to include, but we can rest easy knowing that at least they all come from the height of the long-running late-night series. Keep reading below for the 50 Greatest Sketches of the 21st Century.
With editorial contributions from Wilson Chapman, Marcus Jones, Proma Khosla, Tony Maglio, Chris O’Falt, Sarah Shachat, Erin Strecker, Ben Travers, Brian Welk, and Christian Zilko.
50. Mafia Meeting
SPACE PANTS! You gotta admit, it’s kind of catchy. There are so many elements of this sketch that combine to make it one of silliest bits of comedy “Saturday Night Live” has ever done. From Jon Rudnitsky’s late arrival, leading to an awkward intro (it really is a live show folks) to the contrast of a mob hangout featuring an interstellar, Devo-inspired singer named Jonathan Comets, “Mafia Meeting” starts pretty straightforward, veers into the ridiculous, then keeps riding that high as host Peter Dinklage fully commits to his character — as strange and out of place as he may be. Add in a verse from a space short-clad Gwen Stefani playing herself and it’s hard not to get the giggles for how grounded and absurd “Mafia Meeting” manages to be. —HR
49. Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals
Andy Samberg isn’t “good” at impressions in the way Bill Hader or Dana Carvey is, but they’re always inspired moments of silliness. Some will be partial to Samberg’s hilarious Nic Cage, but this is a bit that requires no explanation or set up beyond Don Pardo’s announcement of exactly what it is. “Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals” is a gem because it is miraculously dumb, has a perfect catch phrase in “Say hi to your mother for me” that sounds like something Mark Wahlberg would say even if he never actually said it, and at under 2 minutes gets out before it gets old, ending with nothing but Samberg mugging at the camera. It works both better and worse by “not” being a pre-tape, as the reaction shots of the different animals leave a perfect awkward silence as you can hear the audience in real time trying to process what they’re watching. This is best enjoyed with the “Backstage” sequel in which the real Mark “I produce ‘Entourage’” Wahlberg (who was genuinely annoyed by the sketch!) ends up playing along with a now-terrified Samberg. —BW
48. December to Remember
Spoofing commercials is hardly ground-breaking, but what sticks out about this Lexus parody was how well and closely (from the music, to the cinematography, graphics, narration and dialogue) it mirrored the original campaign, which when you think about it, as SNL made us, is actually very odd. And watching how the red-bow’d SUV in the driveway tears apart the nuclear family of three, with Timothée Chalamet as the innocent son, is one hysterical twist after the other. —CO
47. Colonel Angus
Some names…they just sound funny. Add an honorific to some and man…they really sound funny. This is the basic conceit for a sketch featuring Rachel Dratch, Chris Parnell, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and host Christopher Walken, who once again proves why his voice is one of the most iconic in the history of showbiz. The set-up is simple: A Southern belle and her mother wait dutifully on the porch of their plantation for the return of a soldier following the American Civil War. And the name of that soldier? You guessed it, Colonel Angus. Now say that in a Deep South accent. Sounds like something else doesn’t it? As Walken arrives as the Colonel, he and the cast continue to draw attention to the name’s similarity to a certain sexual act. The fact they ultimately don’t connect the dots only makes the punny bit that much more hilarious and with Parnell and Walken discussing “The Incident at Big Beaver,” the sketch may have waded into bluer waters than “SNL” ever had before. —HR
46. Meatballs
Fans of Sarah Sherman’s comedy during her pre-“SNL” years can tell you, when she got cast, we were all waiting for the moment she’d make the show not just weird again, but a whole new kind of sick. After all, her stage name is Sarah Squirm. Starting as a featured player in 2021, she didn’t get the chance to stand out much, but was finally given a platform later in the season with “Meatballs.” Co-written with Dan Bulla, the pre-taped sketch is absolutely absurd in all the best ways. It begins with Chris Redd’s character starting to get nervous about the green ribbon his romantic interest (Sherman) always wears around her neck. As she takes it off, a little meatball man played by host Oscar Isaac is seen hanging like a tumor and singing a syncopated ditty. It’s disconcerting to say the least, made all the more uncomfortable as Sherman’s character nonchalantly removes more of her clothes to reveal a number of meatball people all over her body (including a vomiting one, also played by Sherman), all singing and playing instruments like some Cronenbergian family band. But the real topper of the whole piece is the extended verse from musical guest Charli XCX, whose armpit-bound meatball person even gets their own keytar. —HR
45. Welcome to Hell
“Saturday Night Live” actually did a pretty good job with the extremely not funny #MeToo movement. From their “Next: For Men” ad for men feeling the heat to the “Careful” dinner discussion among friends, the show tapped into the particular anxieties and issues around this life-changing cultural movement. The best of them, however, has to be the “Welcome to Hell” pre-taped music video, which showcased how the joys of being a woman were now something everyone’s eyes were open to. “It’s button-under-the-desk Bad,” is a song lyric that tragically applies to this day. The song is catchy and made a salient political point that so many women felt rang true to their experience. It’s dark funny, but it’s still funny. —ES
44. Short Shorts for the USA
Will Ferrell’s willingness to go all in in using his body to sell a joke will never not be funny, and his work in a Fourth of July speedo (legend has it that it was originally short shorts, which split open during rehearsal) is timeless. That having been said, the context of the sketch airing less than two weeks after 9/11 is what makes this an all-timer. Ferrell’s absurdity touched a third rail, not only forcing Americans to laugh at how far our declarations of patriotism had gone, but gently poking to see if there were indeed limits to what was deemed acceptable while draped in the flag. —CO
43. Traffic Altercation
Basing an entire sketch on physical comedy is actually more of a risk to take on “SNL” than some might think. Play it too big, you might end up just looking silly and losing sight of whatever joke you’re trying to get across. Too small and the humor might not read for the audience or the cameras. But with “Traffic Altercation,” Mikey Day and host Quinta Brunson find the perfect balance of heightened energy as two angry drivers desperate to communicate their frustrations. As each mime insults at one another, their motions continue to grow more and more ridiculous, with Chloe Fineman and Ego Nwodim also jumping in at different points to offer their own emotive abuse. What really makes this sketch sing though is how it perfectly captures the real-life tension that seems to exist in today’s society and the decorum we’ve lost that keeps us from tearing into one another. —HR
42. Dunkin Donuts
If you’re going to do a sketch rooted in what’s expected — like, say, a host inextricably tied to the city of Boston paired with a national restaurant chain equally tethered to the home of the Celtics — then you gotta get every detail right. “Dunkin Donuts” does exactly that. Casey Affleck’s “actual customer” embodies Boston stereotypes without stooping to their simplest form, creating a character who’s hostile without knowing he’s hostile, competitive on a compulsory level, and so scraggly you can smell him through the screen. He drops an F-bomb in his first line. He holds his cigarette outside the door so he can’t be accused of smoking inside. He knows the name of the manager because he spends so much time at this particular Dunkin Donuts. Toss in an iconic line or two — “I’m like the Mayor of Dunkin” — and a perfectly calibrated accent (the way Affleck says “cruller” and “Mark” are like music to my ears), and you’ve got a sketch that will live in viewers’ memories as long as Boston itself. —BT
41. Punk Band Reunion at the Wedding
It’s kind of a slow windup for a mediocre punk song, but the pleasure of having Dave Grohl (in a grey ponytail wig, no less) on the drums makes up for it in “Punk Band Reunion.” Ashton Kutcher, Grohl, Fred Armisen, and Bill Hader all reunite at Armisen’s daughter’s wedding to ride one more time — but mostly to tip over table settings, crush the wedding cake, and break poor Kenan Thompson’s tray of champagne glasses. The best part of the sketch isn’t its sly picture of Gen X’s slow fade into conformity, but Jason Sudeikis as the groom’s father who is unironically into the performance. —SS
40. You’re a Rat Bastard, Charlie Brown
When David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glenn Ross” debuted in 1984, few predicted that it would inspire two of the best SNL sketches of the 21st century. The legendary “Glengarry Glen Christmas” was more explicitly inspired by the real estate drama, but Al Pacino’s participation in a 2012 Broadway revival of the play also sparked “You’re a Rat Bastard, Charlie Brown.” The theatre parody was built around a single joke: What if a family musical like “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” was filled with explicit dialogue and starred Al Pacino? Turns out, that hypothetical is more than funny enough to carry three and a half minutes of television. Bill Hader’s Pacino (playing Charlie Brown) chews scenery with everyone from Linus (played by Larry David, who is actually played by Martin Short) to a version of Schroeder played by Taran Killam’s Michael Keaton impression. The endless slew of F-bombs are observed by an audience of stunned schoolchildren, who are almost certainly traumatized for life. —CZ
39. What’s That Name
John Mulaney and Colin Jost originally wrote “What’s That Name” in 2010 for an episode hosted by Paul Rudd and though the set-up and delivery are pretty much the same, something just hit different when Mulaney revived the sketch for his second time hosting. While Mulaney and Cecily Strong definitely make a meal out of playing contestants forced to remember the names of women they’ve interacted with many times, it’s Bill Hader’s megalomaniacal Vince Blight who upends the traditional game host mold to create an agent of chaos you can’t help but be charmed by. Michael Longfellow would later take the reins from Hader for an “Election Edition” of the sketch that aired this season when Mulaney hosted for his sixth time, but the commitment everyone takes to the bit, as well as how each performer plays off one another makes this version the one to watch. —HR
38. Glengarry Glen Christmas: Elf Motivation
Don’t change your contact lenses — that is Seth Meyers acting in a sketch, a relatively rare occurrence for the “Weekend Update” staple. Alec Baldwin is arguably on the Mt. Rushmore of “SNL” hosts, and if we’re counting all kinds of guest spots, his run as Donald Trump makes the case. In 2005, Baldwin perfectly parodied his “Glengarry Glen Ross” character in a Santa’s workshop scene. How perfect you ask? Baldwin was so in character that his one screwup in the sketch was a reversion back to actual the “Glengarry” script: A) Always B) Be C) Closing Cobbling. —TM
37. Bridesmaid Speech
To hear writers Jimmy Fowlie and Ceara O’Sullivan tell it, the foundation for their viral sketch was just it being a funny idea for host Ariana Grande to sing badly. While they are right on that front, part of the genius is their parody of “Espresso,” a song that already has a comedic sensibility baked in. Also, any time the female cast members sing together is a win, but both Andrew Dismukes, as the spurned groom, and Marcello Hernández as the man, the myth, the legend, Domingo, adorably run away with the sketch. —MJ
36. Dream Home Cousins
Jake Gyllenhaal may have been the star of the April 9, 2022 “SNL,” but James Austin Johnson, Kate McKinnon, her 27-year-old cat Charles-David, and the “Saturday Night Live” graphics team were the real stars of the “Dream Home Cousins” sketch, a parody of the “Property Brothers,” Drew and Jonathan Scott. Much like the peepers and tuggers who want to see Bea make her dirt, “Dream Home Cousins” is a must-watch for the legions of HGTV fans — or really, for anyone who has every hate-watched a “House Hunters” episode. —TM
35. Christmas Robe
Give it up for the holidays’ hardest workers: Moms. This pre-taped music video stars a perfect Kristen Wiig as an overworked mom on Christmas morning — she made sure her family got a ton of presents, and they made sure mom got….an on-sale robe. Sadly, it’s all too real, especially the perfect detail of a lack of stocking presents. The catchy number had some real cultural commentary behind it, easily making it one of the best. “Moms like presents, too.” —ES
34. Iran So Far
It was rare for The Lonely Island to wade into geo-political conversations with their Digital Shorts, instead choosing to further dialogues around dicks in boxes and laser cats, but this 2007 music video made in homage to Iran’s dictatorial president at the time, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, shows that maybe they should have. Speaking at Columbia University in New York, Ahmadinejad claimed, “We in Iran, we don’t have homosexuals, like in your country,” amongst many other incendiary remarks, essentially baiting “SNL” to make fun of him. Andy Samberg and Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine do so with aplomb, crafting a sultry and salacious love song that mixes the visuals of Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” music video and sampling from tunes by Aphex Twins and A Flock of Seagulls. The result is both a satisfying diss to a cruel leader who loved the spotlight and a catchy ear-worm one can’t help but hum despite it’s odd implications. Also, the images of Fred Armisen as Ahadinejad wearing leather and chains, as well as a silky red dress, always manage to bring a smile. —HR
33. MacGruber: Sensitivity Training
MacGruber was such a repeatably joyful sketch in part because of its simple formula: Will Forte’s hyper-masculine MacGyver stand-in has seconds to divert an explosion, but inevitably gets caught up in a long-winded conversation that derails the plan. The premise was consistently funny — and translated quite well to long-form storytelling in both a movie and a Peacock limited series — but was never better than in the “Sensitivity Training” sketch. MacGruber fails to prevent several explosions, first because he wastes time telling a wildly racist joke, and later because he is more focused on spouting platitudes that he learned in his company-mandated sensitivity trainings. The sketch brilliantly flips the machismo of action movies on its head, illustrating how performative sensitivity isn’t that much better than blatant prejudice — and ends with a brilliant button as Forte admits “I’m a racist” as he fails to find a politically correct way to describe a yellow pen before his time runs out. —CZ
32. (Do It On My) Twin Bed
For a good, long period in the 2010s, women dominated the “SNL” cast, with standouts like Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, and Cecily Strong getting much of the airtime and accolades for their work on the show. In this time, a welcome staple saw the female cast join forces for girl group singalong music videos that gave them all airtime and opportunities for laughs. The sketch that kicked this tradition off was 2013’s “(Do It On My) Twin Bed,” which saw McKinnon, Bryant, Strong, Vanessa Bayer, No?l Wells, and Nasim Pedrad extoll that universal experience of bringing a date back home for the holidays and attempting to get busy in your childhood bedroom. The success of the sketch led to many sequels over the years, all of which were pretty good (“First Got Horny 2 You” is a classic). But the original, with its sharp lyrics about monkey sheets and a cat watching you bone, reigns supreme as the most enduring of them all. —WC
31. The Shooting aka Dear Sister
The Lonely Island digital short “The Shooting,” or aka “Dear Sister,” was a direct spoof of “The O.C.” Season 2 finale (which aired two years prior) even using the same Imogen Heap “Hide and Seek” track. But with that music cue, mixed with slo-motion and the absurdity of the repetition, the spoof morphed into a formalist art film. Maybe what is most significant about the short was how it blew up to have a life of its own on YouTube, which was still in its infancy, pointing to the digital after-live life for SNL in the streaming era to come. —CO
30. Lisa from Temecula
Finally at the forefront, after some big cast departures leading into the season, Ego Nwodim displays character work that is as well done as the steak on her plate in the uproarious sketch. Regardless of all the breaking that was going one, be it the wine glasses falling to the floor, or host Pedro Pascal and fellow cast member Bowen Yang’s faces cracking, Nwodim was completely locked into embodying Lisa, a woman who just wanted them to cook her meat the right way. —MJ
29. A Thanksgiving Miracle
How does a divided country hold it together in tough times? Sometimes the answer is a British singer, as it was with this 2015 sketch. A family gathers for Thanksgiving and tiptoes around topics like race and gender, but the thing that keeps bringing them back together is Adele’s “Hello.” The digital short excels because of its production, switching to Adele’s signature black-and-white whenever the song plays and tasking its actors (including host Matthew McConaughey) with total commitment to imitating the singer — down to the hair, nails, and coat. Will this still work? Has anyone tried? —PK
28. Star Wars Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base
In January 2016, “Star Wars” was still a hot commodity. “The Force Awakens” was busy breaking box office records, and Adam Driver was busy shedding the label of “that weird guy from ‘Girls.’” Together, they buoyed “SNL’s” first episode of a doomed year in an “Undercover Boss” riff that benefitted from the film franchise’s nostalgic popularity and Driver’s knowingly self-serious performance. “I’m looking forward to having some real talk with some real folks,” Kylo Ren — cos-playing as “Matt,” a radar technician — deadpans direct-to-camera, without so much as a smile. That the Star Killer staff isn’t fooled by Kylo’s blonde wig is a clever shortcut to quickly provoking the moody commander, and his dour countenance steadily deepens throughout his “undercover” work, force-choking a colleague who calls Kylo a “punk bitch” before whipping his lightsaber against the wall in toddler-like frustration. Did “Star Wars Undercover Boss” single-handedly ruin Kylo Ren as a convincing villain? No, “The Rise of Skywalker” did much more damage — but the silly memory of this simple sketch certainly lingered. —BT
27. Sean Spicer Press Conference
The (first) Trump years of “Saturday Night Live” were infamously rocky, as the series constantly trod out Alec Baldwin’s never-particularly-great impersonation of the political-interloper-turned-president like a show pony and alternated between shallow surface level hits at easy targets and cringeworthy liberal claptivism (remember Hillary Clinton “Hallelujah?”) One of the show’s more successful dips into political commentary at the time came from another celebrity stunt casting: in 2017, during the first few months of the presidency, Melissa McCarthy came on board to play Press Secretary Sean Spicer in a sketch parodying his contentious relationship with White House Press Corps. McCarthy gives a great performance, playing up the press secretary’s more boorish traits as a gum-guzzling loudmouth that mangles words and twists facts like pretzels. But the best part of the sketch is more the context outside of it: while Spicer himself simply called the performance “cute and fun” in interviews, Trump was reportedly uncomfortable with his secretary being played by a woman. Did McCarthy’s impersonation help lead to Spicer’s quick resignation? Maybe, maybe not, but it was fun to watch knowing that it truly got under the president’s skin. —WC
26. Diner Lobster
“Saturday Night Live” has done multiple versions of this conceit now, but nothing beats the original when Pete Davidson goes where no man has gone before: ordering the lobster at a diner. “The whole seafood section is there as a joke,” Chris Redd cracks about the menu. This particularly silly segment becomes a musical extravaganza, with seafood-stuffed parodies of the musical “Les Miserables”: Thank you, John Mulaney, for finally getting this one — complete with Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson as lobsters — to air. —ES
25. The Iceberg on the Sinking of the Titanic
The dumb amount of doors this inculpable hunk of ice has opened. With “Weekend Update” being a part of the show from the beginning, it was only natural for “SNL” to have to get even more creative with the guests hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che bring on, leading into this object era spurred upon by cast member Bowen Yang. What keeps the idea fresh is the refusal to play ball, fighting tooth and nail to focus on their new EDM album instead of what everyone wants to talk to them about: felling the Ship of Dreams. —MJ
24. Farewell Mr. Bunting
One of the most endearing dynamics on “SNL” in the last few years is that of Sarah Sherman and Weekend Update co-host Colin Jost, largely for juxtaposition of the former’s kooky, chaotic persona (whether playing herself or characters) and the latter’s genial straightforwardness. At the same, their humor may be more intertwined than one imagines, as evidenced by the violent, gross-out sketch “Farewell, Mr. Bunting,” co-written by Jost and Mikey Day in 2016. A twisted homage to “Dead Poets Society,” the sketch begins in reference to one of the final scenes of the film, where all the students take to their desks and recite poetry in support of their recently fired teacher. Only problem is, Pete Davidson’s character is either way too tall to be standing on desks or the ceiling fan in that classroom is way too low. As his goofy face is soon detached from the rest of his body and tossed around the room like a hot potato, blood spraying in all directions, the class is left traumatized and Mr. Bunting’s dismissal suddenly starts to feel slightly warranted. While many sketches may go for a laugh-a-minute energy, “Farewell, Mr. Bunting” is all about subverting dramatic tension to hilarious comic ends. Jost and Day would later repeat the joke for “A Christmas Carol” sketch featuring Sherman, but there’s nothing like the gory original. —HR
23. Super Showcase Spokesmodels
The prizes that never were for an unlucky gameshow contestant (Vanessa Bayer) aren’t nearly as fun as the wild voices that Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph put on as the sketch’s titular show models, which also aren’t nearly as funny as watching Wiig, Rudolph, and host Bill Hader all break during the process of unwrapping a frozen chicken. The bones of “Super Showcase Spokesmodels” are solid enough that it’s easy for the audience to get the absurd touches the show is going for, and leave those aside for the cast members’ joy in getting caught up in the absurdity — and on a golf cart. —SS
22. Natalie Raps
One of the original Digital Shorts to go viral, “Natalie Raps” captures a moment of time back in 2006 when a prim white woman doing a gangsta rap was the very height of comedy. Not that the sketch has necessarily aged poorly; it’s just an extreme reflection of both the peak Lonely Island era and a specific period in Natalie Portman’s career — when she was still a twentysomething pixie-cut ingenue and not a 40-year-old Oscar winner — playing on her generally innocent persona at the time by having the Harvard grad cosplay a weed-smoking, crazed criminal who flips off her adoring young fans. It’s a simple premise that nonetheless has endured thanks to solid songwriting and a committed performance from the actress; as it turns out, Portman had bars. And unlike most “SNL” sketches that go viral and get a sequel, “Natalie Raps” actually managed to stay fresh in its decade later follow-up. Say something about the motherfucking prequels, bitch? —WC
21. Chad Horror Movie
There is something genuinely horrifying about certain men’s insulation from ever experiencing a consequence. But that feeling only comes after a string of jokes as a “Scream” style killer (John Mulaney) calls Chad (Pete Davidson) and encounters Wile E. Coyote-levels of frustration in the face of his victim’s dead-eyed answers to sinister questions. From scoring some free pizza (shame about the pizza guy) to watching some MTV videos in the middle of Mulaney’s impassioned speech explaining his need for vengeance, the sketch’s would-be mastermind can’t stop everything from coming up Chad. It’s Davidson’s immediate and incurious delivery of each “OK,” though, that really sells the redirection the sketch is doing to turn horror tropes back on themselves. —SS
20. Washington’s Dream
It’s not a surprise that comedians usually make the best “SNL” hosts, bringing their own unique sensibilities to the show in a way that disrupts the cast chemistry in positive, episode-changing directions. One of the great host discoveries of the last few years was comedian Nate Bargatze, an up-and-coming stand-up who received a gigantic boost in visibility with two great episodes in 2023 and 2024. A “clean comedian” whose deadpan and observational approach is already strongly tuned to “SNL,” Bargatze can fit in well with the Not-Ready-for-Primetime Players. But in both episodes he brought the house down with two viral sketches where he plays George Washington, extolling his dreams for the future of the United States…a future in which the country uses unpopular measurement systems for length and temperature. The first sketch features some supporting work from the regular cast (Kenan Thompson particularly excels as a black soldier whose questions about race in Washington’s dream country go ignored), but it’s essentially a monologue for Bargatze, and his simple, stoic performance makes the easy joke hit brilliantly. —WC
19. The Day Beyoncé Turned Black
No one does horror like “SNL,” exemplified by this digital short that expertly pokes fun at white Americans (including liberals) who conveniently ignored Beyoncé’s race for years. “Formation” marked a turning point in the artist’s career, or at least in how she was perceived — because as the sketch notes, she was never not Black (except, as Kenan Thompson admits, in the “Pink Panther” movie). White people lose their minds in every corner of the sketch (special shoutout to Beck Bennett screaming “BOTH?!?” from under his desk) while it simultaneously highlights Thompson, Sasheer Zamata, Jay Pharoah, Michael Che, and Leslie Jones (as of this article’s publication, Taylor Swift is in fact still white). —PK
18. Haunted Elevator (ft. David S. Pumpkins)
The lifecycle of a popular “Saturday Night Live” sketch typically goes something like this: it premieres. It goes viral on social media because people think it’s funny. The show references it and makes a sequel. Those sequels also go viral. People get tired and begin complaining about the sketch. Soon, it’s hard to remember the thing ever feeling fresh or funny in the first place. “David Pumpkins” got hit with this hard, as the oddball 2016 sketch about a weird, not-quite scary Halloween mascot trying and failing to scare a couple on a haunted elevator ride got diluted and old from references, animated Halloween specials, overplay, and an inevitable 2022 follow-up sketch. Still, there’s a reason Pumpkins has become an unofficial Halloween mascot for the show: as played by a rubbery Tom Hanks, the character and the confusion over what his whole “deal” is makes for the exact kind of bizarro anti-comedy that “SNL” excels at whenever the show indulges in it. Other Pumpkins’ appearances try to fill in the gaps of the character, to diminishing effect: it’s the original sketch’s commitment to making Pumpkins an enigma representing nothing that makes it a classic. —WC
17. Protective Mom
Little is lost in translation in this rare bilingual sketch that made featured player Marcello Hernández one to watch. Representing immigrant moms everywhere, who appreciate the paper bag their son’s girlfriend brought home more than the vegan sliders inside, host Pascal does an incredible job of selling jokes that the audience may not fully understand, but can feel in their spirit. —MJ
16. Wells for Boys
A Fisher-Price playset for the sensitive little boy, this commercial for a backyard well is an all-timer for host Emma Stone. It hits on something very real, as the best “SNL” commercials do: “Some kids like to play. Others sort of wait for adulthood.” As the boy’s protective mother, Stone gets a perfect freakout that has been in heavy rotation on social media since the sketch originally aired in 2017. Don’t get it? No problem: “That’s because it’s not for you! Because you have everything. And this one thing is for him.” Preach. —ES
15. Totino’s
Looking for a snack to satisfy your hungry guys during the BIG GAME? As this sketch knows, there’s only one snack that goes above and beyond. What starts as classic cheesy commercial anchored by Vanessa Bayer’s unhinged grin takes a gloriously sapphic turn thanks to the one and only Kristen Stewart. “Sabine” was supposed to help with the Totino’s, but she changed everything for this married woman trying to feed her hungry guys. The sketch splits into the Hungry Guys? waiting on their snack and the two women enacting a full French romance — complete with Totino’s! Totino’s: For hungry guys and girl. —PK
14. Katie Couric Interviews Sarah Palin
Listen, if a sketch is going to stretch longer than 4-5 minutes, it better either be a) tight as a G.D. drum anyway, or b) so overflowing with jokes, you’ll forgive the bloat. Option B applies to Tina Fey’s second appearance as Sarah Palin in a cold open that lampoons the former Republican Vice-Presidential nominee’s infamous interview with Katie Couric (played in the sketch by Amy Poehler). From the escalating repetitions of Fey’s goofy hand gestures and Poehler’s stunned blinking to the deft blend of outrageous jokes (“Katie, I’d like to use one of my lifelines”) and an almost verbatim recitation of Palin’s actual, absurd answer to a question on the economy, the sketch is well-paced, thought-out, and, of course, beautifully executed by its two stars. I couldn’t say the same about most star-studded “SNL” cold opens that recreate the week’s most infamous news events, but this one earns its time. —BT
13. Debbie Downer: Disney World
I’m typically anti-breaking as the point of the sketch, but this “Debbie Downer” hit with Rachel Dratch — and host Lindsay Lohan — is a rare exception. Dratch’s Debbie is such a classic, and in this installment it’s an added delight to watch everyone in the sketch eventually lose it. Special shout out to Lohan specifically who attempts to keep herself under control watching all these pros absolutely fall apart one by one. —ES
12. The Actress
After first appearing on “Saturday Night Live” in 2010, Emma Stone quickly became a staple host of the series, reaching the show’s famed Five-Timers Club by 2023. Her popularity with the people at Studio 8H isn’t surprising: she’s a natural for sketch comedy, the kind of host who blends in so seamlessly with the regulars you can imagine an alternate universe where she’s an all-time great cast member. No other moment in her hosting career can really compare, though, to her 2019 pre-filmed sketch “The Actress,” in which she plays a method actor who applies her exacting method acting technique to an unlikely role: the wife who gets cheated on in a gay porn film. Stone’s genius is that she knows how to play it straight: the slight mid-Atlantic accent she puts on is hilarious, but the investment she puts into this woman’s quest to achieve artistic greatness can make you shed a tear. —WC
11. Meet Your Second Wife
Just a game show classic. The conceit — married men are ambushed by the young ladies who will ultimately grow up and become there second wives — is immediately clear, and it only becomes funnier each time a child walks onto the stage. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are hilarious as the hosts, and unlike many of “SNL’s” excellent, goofy game show parodies, this one also has some prescient social commentary. —ES
10. Close Encounter
A sketch that would launch a number of sequels, the original “Close Encounter” features some of Kate McKinnon’s best character work, as proven by the rest of cast’s inability to keep a straight face the longer she chain smokes and continues to detail her sexually explicit experience with an alien race. Compared to the other abductees being interviewed by the NSA (Cecily Strong and host Ryan Gosling), who have nothing but wonderful things to say about these beautiful beings, the only touching memory McKinnon’s Miss Rafferty retains is that of a bunch of little grey creatures slapping her knockers. It’s the perfect kooky character for McKinnon’s skills and even she can’t help but laugh at herself as the intricacies of her abduction continue to be revealed. —HR
9. Stefon on Halloween’s Hottest Tips
Years later, we remember Bill Hader’s Stefon for his specific hairstyle, signature outfit, physical mannerisms and fits of giggles — but week-to-week, the main draw of a Stefon segment was not knowing what the hell he’d say next. This segment has everything; a crazy club name spoken with jarring inflection, puns (“Nick Nolte and Gabbana”), vague threats (“or is it piss?”), a well-timed wink, sinister growling, and Sidney Applebaum. Hader breaks multiple times — which by then was expected due to changes in his written material between dress rehearsal and the live show — and also enjoyed by the audience, who give a mighty cheer when Stefon first enters. —PK
8. Lazy Sunday
Though technically not the first “SNL” digital short (that would be “Lettuce”), “Lazy Sunday” went viral before there was even a word for it, redefining what “SNL” sketches could be and the audience they could reach. With music by Jorma Taccone, the video features Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell journeying to the Upper West Side for Magnolia cupcakes and to watch “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” (which had released in theaters one week prior). The premise is pure “SNL” chemistry; a timely hook, catchy wordplay, intense white boy rap that makes so many digital shorts eminently hilarious and watchable — but with a homemade 2005 aesthetic that defines a very specific microgeneration of internet videos. It’s also genuinely absurd in the way that “SNL” always pioneered, but which was about to explode into mainstream comedy and the internet in a way that would change pop culture forever — talk about a dream world of magic. —PK
7. Mom Jeans
Listen up, Gen Z: Back in the early 2000s, the go-to hot style was low-ride, skinny jeans. Which made “Saturday Night Live’s” classic Mom Jeans sketch with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch and Maya Rudolph so iconic with their high-rise, wide leg disasters. Sure, it’s a little less funny now that every college student you know is basically wearing a version of them, but the laughs still hit: “This Mother’s Day, don’t give her that bottle of perfume. Give her something that says: I’m not a woman anymore, I’m a mom.” —ES
6. The Lawrence Welk Show: Introducing the Maharelle Sisters
Let’s get this out of the way first: No, I Brian Welk, am not related to Lawrence Welk. The people who ask me that are generally revealing their age, as “The Lawrence Welk Show” was the epitome of ‘50s kitsch and tame, bouncy jazz music for old people, to the point that people under 40 have almost never heard of him (a friend once texted me the sketch and asked why SNL thought to name a character after me and I had to explain this was a real person). When this sketch introduces “The Lawrence Welk Show” as “mildly enjoyable,” that’s probably being generous. So the whole operation speaks to Kristen Wiig’s deep cut affinity for weird, campy schlock, not unlike her duo Garth and Kat with Fred Armisen or all the Target lady performances. For as many times as SNL wound up doing The Maharelle Sisters (a parody of the real life Lennon Sisters), there’s basically one joke here, but man does it kill in this very first one. Shout out to Armisen for his inscrutable Eastern European staccato accent as Welk, and to Anne Hathaway as the ideal lead of this sister act. But of course Wiig’s grating voice and deformed smile are the star as “Dooneese,” whose giant forehead, dog tooth, and baby doll hands do just half the job in making this unholy creation such a memorable character. —BW
5. I’m On a Boat
Words cannot overstate what “I’m On A Boat” did to the terminally online Millennial consciousness in 2009. There are millions of now-adult Americans — people with respectable jobs and partners and children — who cannot set foot on a maritime vessel without these four words, in this order and melody, escaping their lips. And while the generational cringe is ours to bear, the original video has barely aged as it magnificently parodied itself from day one. Every lyric is as absurd and memorable as when it debuted (R.I.P. Kinko’s, but what a brilliant turn of phrase), the garish gloating all tied together by the boys replacing Jorma Taccone with T-Pain for their seafaring excursion. I mean… wouldn’t you? —PK
4. Papyrus
“Papyrus” feels like one of those niche sketches that only people who have seen the documentary “Helvetica” would actually find funny. And yet it went viral and got a sequel, and if you really want to get nerdy, check out all the YouTube comments of people who correctly point out that the closing title card is not in Papyrus font but is actually the other most dreaded of fonts…Comic Sans. Julio Torres’ writing is masterful, a parody of conspiracy movies and pet obsessions that people have, but also…seriously James Cameron, what the hell? It’s hard not to watch this and not suddenly become infuriated about fonts. This is a sketch that only could’ve been done literally eight years after “Avatar” actually came out, and it only works because Ryan Gosling no less gives such a committed, intense, serious performance (see also: “Santa Baby”). Gosling screaming, “Well whatever they did, it wasn’t ENOUGH” can’t be topped. —BW
3. D**k in a Box
The first of Lonely Island’s collaborations with Justin Timberlake resulted in an instantly iconic song that proved the viral success of “Lazy Sunday” wasn’t a one-off. Like the best “SNL” jokes it’s deceptively simple. Lonely Island would become known for their hyper-specific parodies of different kinds of music and videos; this R&B sendup is an early example of their genius. A special shout out must be noted for their entire looks — it’s no wonder Andy Samberg and Timberlake brought back these specific alter-egos for more (the also-outstanding “Motherlover” and “Three-Way (The Golden Rule)”). —ES
2. Black Jeopardy
A blend of the old and the new, “Saturday Night Live” takes the tried and true sketch format of an unconventional round of “Jeopardy” and puts a topical spin on it, throwing a MAGA hat on America’s Dad to show that we all hold certain fringe truths, like distrust of the iPhone thumbprint scan. Though on the surface, a skewering of the concept of a divided America beyond repair nearly a week before the 2016 election is fruitful enough, there is a meta quality to the sketch as well, considering elements like an internet conspiracy at the time that posited that Hanks himself is actually Black. —MJ
1. Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton Address the Nation
The laughs have probably gotten more rueful and bitter upon rewatches, but this brilliant cold open from 2008 remains the high water mark for the show’s political coverage — not only was it a discourse-driver, but it introduced Tina Fey’s iconic spin on lookalike Sarah Palin to a country that needed it, which cemented her version of the candidate in viewers’ minds. (This is the birthplace of “I can see Russia from my house,” among others.) Special attention must be paid to Amy Poehler’s Hillary Clinton and her battle cry of rage finally breaking through. The six-minute sketch is very funny, but also has something real to say about the coverage disparities with women in politics. I think weekly about the skit’s closing line, from Clinton: “I invite the media to grow a pair. And if you can’t, I will lend you mind.” —ES
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