There are few sayings that have lasted as long as the seven infamous that have echoed down the halls of Studio 8H. A catch phrase may be remembered for years, but none compare to this one. It has lasted for over four decades and will last for many more to come. Face it; “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night” is apart of television history.
On Sunday, February 15th, NBC honored Loren Micheals and the cast of the famous sketch show “Saturday Night Live” on it’s 40th year anniversary. Back in 1975, the only live television that had ever been heard of was the local news. SNL broke the rules of television by putting a bunch of actors on a blank stage to act hilarious skits each with wacky and zany characters.
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While not every sketch was a winner, the show itself thrived off famous actors who just were beginning their careers. Some sketches however have been reproduced over the years and still, to this day, make audiences fall over in tears with laughter. Let’s take a look back Saturday Night Live's top 10 sketches...
10. The Weekend Update.
The Weekend Update began in 1975 with Chevy Chase manning the helm as Anchor. Basically the sketch was a fake news program making fun of everything that had happened in the past week. Since Chase, 13 men and women have taken over the podium to read the fake news including; Norm McDonald, Tina Fey, Amy Pohler and Seth Myers.
The reason this sketch made people lose their minds however wasn’t the anchors, but rather the guest speakers who came on as fillers. From Gilda Radner’s Roseanne Roseannadanna to more recent characters like 1860’s Newspaper Critic Jebidiah Atkinson, these characters made us bust out of our seats with tears in our eyes. There’s one character who I’m leaving out, but we’ll get to him later.
9. SNL Digital Shorts.
Over the last decade, SNL decided to get a little more modern with their sketches and added in pre-recorded skits to save some time. Probably the best known sketches were Andy Samberg’s crew, “The Lonely Island” singing songs like I’m On A Boat, I Just had Sex and Jizzed in My Pants. All funny and all rememberable.
Others sketches included Justin Timberlake’s My D*@K in a Box, Samberg’s Wonderful Day and more recent ones like The Group Hopper. Either way, each sketch brought a new and hilarious idea that had never been done before in the history of SNL or television.
8. Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood.
In what could only be described as the dark ages of SNL, Eddie Murphy shined in many skits, but possibly none were as memorable as Mr. Robinson. Based of the Emmy award series “Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood," Murphy created a ghetto version of the fun loving old geezer, complete with sneakers and cardigan.
Mr. Robinson would teach us just like Mr. Rogers, but more adult content rather then fun-loving, kiddie things. From words of the day like Skumbucket to Sleeping with the Landlord’s wife, Mr. Robinson always had the audience in stitches and wanting more outrageous and stereotypical events to happen.
7. Stefon Sketches.
Ok, this might be breaking the rules a little bit, but Stefon was on more then just The Weekend Update. What do you get with Bill Hader’s impersonations and a list of horrible night clubs? Comedic genius. Hader portrayed this over-the-top gay club kid who basically told you where not to go while visiting the great city of New York.
The character was specifically made for Hader to break character on live television and on more then one occasion, he did. Stefon was another bright spot during the recent down years on SNL. He was funny, charming and his crush on Seth Myers was ridiculously entertaining. Not to mention he possibly got the greatest sendoff of any SNL character.
6. The Chippendale Auditions.
This sketch had to make the top 10 since it has possibly one of the funniest SNL cast members in it. Starring Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley, the two pair up and put on possibly the funniest performance of a lifetime.
The two compete against each other for a final spot in the famous Chippendale Dancers crew. While Swazye's abs and mullet were a huge fan favorite, Farley stole the show with showing off his self proclaimed “sexy body." This sketch is so famous, you’ll probably see a pair of pledges dress as these two and do the dance around Halloween. Plus, I don’t know whats funnier, Swayze’s Mullet or Farley’s butt crack.
5. The Barry Gibb Talk Show.
It doesn't matter if you love him, hate him or think he’s just a dream doll, one thing is certain; Justin Timberlake can host a great SNL episode. Pairing up with real life best friend Jimmy Fallon, the two created a political talk show with Bee Gees, Barry and Robin Gibb, as the hosts. Needless to say the two were more into screaming at their guest then allowing them to speak.
Anytime a guest would try to speak their mind, Fallon’s Barry would get offended and began threatening them with the top ways to murder his guest. Timberlake’s Robyn however, stole the show with always answering Fallon with a monotone “no, I don’t." From singing to screaming, the Barry Gibb talk show is one sketch true SNL fans still can’t breath after watching.
4. Olympia Cafe.
A more classic sketch that stills makes fans laugh, the Olympia Cafe was possibly the most simple, yet zany, sketch of the 1980’s. Starring John Belushi, Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd. The three Greek brothers ran a famous diner in New York diner who served only one thing: Cheeseburgers.
The comedy trio in fact only said that one word. No matter what the customer ordered, just that one word. The audience couldn't help but laugh at the over the top Greek accents and dumb founded look on the customers faces. It was simple yet hilarious comedy that still is remembered today.
3. Celebrity Jeopardy.
Stupid celebrities, ridiculous categories and charming dialogue almost pushed the sketch to top of the list. With Will Ferrel starring as Alex Trebek, Celebrity Jeopardy was a hit with the audience due to simplicity of the skit letting the celebrities relentlessly make fun of the Mustachio Host.
With characters like Norm McDonald’s Burt Reynolds and Darryl Hammond’s Sean Connery leading the helm, the revolving celebrities had the audience clinging on to their seats for dear life when this sketch appeared. Not to mention the fact that Connery was sleeping with Trebek’s mom. It made it 1000 times funnier.
2. Wayne's World.
When a movie franchise does just as well as a skit, it definitely will make a top 10 list. Starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, the duo play a pair of two metal head Chicago kids with a public access show in their parent’s basement. Talking about everything from music to “schwing” worthy babes, Wayne and Garth had audiences begging for more each week.
While Myers and Carvey succeed with other skits like Deiker and the Church Lady, none compared two Wayne’s world with laughs and out loud applause for jokes. No wonder why as a movie franchise it succeeded better then any other SNL spinoff.
1. Matt Foley Motivational Speaker.
Chris Farley was a comedic genius who used his weight as a kickstand for comedy. Throw on some glasses, three sizes too small of pants, and jack him up on caffeine, you have the greatest comedy sketch of all time. Matt Foley motivational speaker tops the list due to its psychical and over the top performance by Farley.
With a temper like Lewis Black and out of the box life advice, Matt Foley was the epitome of the perfect SNL skit. Add in Farley’s scratchy voice and ability to the injure himself, and his cast mates couldn’t contain their laughter. This sketch take the cake because when you can make your cast mates break, you know it’s funny. Plus he always reminded us where we’d end up if we kept miss behaving.
