The 25 best ‘SNL’ sketches of the past 25 years
Saturday Night Live is celebrating its five decades with SNL50: The Anniversary Special, a three-hour event airing Sunday that brings together former cast members, beloved guest hosts, and current stars. As NBC’s sketch-comedy series takes a stroll down memory lane all the way back to its debut year of 1975, Gold Derby is fine-tuning our approach and reliving all of its most talked-about, influential, and downright hilarious moments that aired between 2001 and today. (Sadly, that means no “Cowbell,” which debuted in 2000.)
Here are the 25 best SNL sketches of the past 25 years.
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1. Debbie Downer: Disney World
May 1, 2004 | Season 29
Guest host Lindsay Lohan had no idea what she was getting herself into when she agreed to sit opposite Rachel Dratch in a simple sketch about a family eating breakfast at Disney World. But whenever Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz appeared together in the same scene, giggles were almost guaranteed to occur. Before long, everyone was cracking up uncontrollably at Dratch’s sourpuss character named Debbie Downer, whose deadpan line readings included such unforgettable gems as, “By the way, it’s official: I can’t have children.” Twenty-five years later, you can now take Debbie home with you in the form of a Funko Pop collectable.
2. Beavis and Butt-head
April 13, 2024 | Season 49
When Heidi Gardner turned around in her chair and saw guest host Ryan Gosling and Mikey Day dressed up as Beavis and Butt-head, the modern-day cast of Saturday Night Live experienced their own Debbie Downer-style laugh-fest, 20 years later. What made this gag work so well was that the two men, Dean and Jeff, had no idea they supposedly looked like the classic animated characters, and were complete strangers to each other. Gardner later said of the sketch to Gold Derby, “I will love to talk about it forever.”
3. Haunted Elevator
Oct. 22, 2016 | Season 42
Beck Bennett and Kate McKinnon arrived at a theme park’s haunted elevator attraction and were caught off-guard by a man wearing a suit covered in orange pumpkins. David S. Pumpkins (Tom Hanks) expected everyone to know who he was, but of course, they didn’t. “How’s it hanging? I’m David Pumpkins, and I’m gonna scare the hell out of youuu,” he stated spookily as his skeletal cohorts, Mikey Day and Bobby Moynihan, started dancing wildly. David S. Pumpkins Halloween costumes started selling out immediately in stores, proving the popularly of the character.
4. Martin Short Five-Timers Club Cold Open
Dec. 21, 2024 | Season 50
Occasionally, but not always, when someone joins the five-timers club, they are inducted by a few select members in the show’s swanky lounge set. Martin Short‘s induction during the landmark 50th season was like no other, as 10 A-listers — Melissa McCarthy, Paul Rudd, Tom Hanks, Tina Fey, John Mulaney, Alec Baldwin, Jimmy Fallon (not in the club), Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson, and Kristen Wiig — popped up to help the show’s newest five-timer settle in. It was truly a special moment decades in the making.
5. Black Jeopardy with Tom Hanks
Oct. 22, 2016 | Season 42
Another Tom Hanks scene in the top five? Yes, he’s that good. “Welcome to Black Jeopardy, the only TV game show where the audience is in church clothes,” said Darnell Hayes (Kenan Thompson) as he opened the show. Contestants Keeley (Sasheer Zamata) and Shanice (Leslie Jones) competed against Doug (Hanks), who was wearing a red MAGA hat, but soon everyone realized they had more in common with each other than they initially assumed.
6. Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton Address the Nation
Sept. 13, 2008 | Season 34
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler opened up the 34th season with “a nonpartisan message” for viewers who were overwhelmed with the then-2008 presidential election between John McCain and Barack Obama. It was Fey’s first of many appearances as the Alaska governor, with whom she shared a striking resemblance, and she went on to win a guest actress Emmy for her impersonation the following year.
7. Lazy Sunday
Dec. 17, 2005 | Season 31
“Lazy Sunday” was Lonely Island‘s first of many viral videos on the show, and followed Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell throughout the city as they rapped about mundane things like buying Magnolia cupcakes and binge-watching The Chronicles of Narnia. Lonely Island consisted of the comedy trio of Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone.
8. Brett Kavanaugh Hearing Cold Open
Sept. 29, 2018 | Season 44
SNL is always at its best when lampooning the politics of the day, and it hit the nail on the head when it came to the Senate confirmation hearings for aspiring Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (Matt Damon). The judge became hilariously unglued on the stand as he took questions from several politicians, and the sketch left everyone at home wondering why Damon doesn’t take on more comedic roles.
9. Subway Churro
Feb. 26, 2022 | Season 47
When a man (Andrew Dismukes) decided to buy a churro from a random woman on a subway platform, everyone else including John Mulaney, Chris Redd, and Kenan Thompson broke out into song, as audiences bore witness to an impromptu Broadway show with all the bells and whistles underneath New York City.
10. (Do It on My) Twin Bed
Dec. 21, 2013 | Season 39\
In the post-Lonely Island era, the show’s pretaped music videos didn’t gain as much attention online — that is, until this Christmas earworm that got stuck in everyone’s heads. “Just because we’re back in our Mom and Dad’s house [for the holidays], doesn’t mean we can’t still get a little nasty,” said the female cast members as they giggled about getting busy on their childhood twin beds.
11. Surprise Party
April 5, 2008 | Season 33
This was the infamous sketch that introduced the world to Kristen Wiig’s popular SNL character. She was known for getting excited at the tiniest of things, especially surprise parties, and rasping, “Ohhhh myyyy goddddd,” to herself over and over again. Each scene ended with Sue crashing through a wall or a window as her excitement meter hit its peak. It’s the stuff of endless internet gifs.
12. Bronx Beat: Maureen DiCicco
Sept. 25, 2010 | Season 36
“We’re back, people!” The popular talk show featuring Bronx natives with thick accents made its triumphant return when Amy Poehler (as Betty Caruso) hosted the 36th season premiere. She brought Maya Rudolph (as Jodi Deitz) and Katy Perry (as Maureen DiCicco) along with her as the three ladies shared their complaints about their lives in true Bronx Beat fashion.
13. Rap Roundtable
Dec. 12, 2020 | Season 46
Ego Nwodim‘s character moderated a panel on the history of hip-hop featuring the real-life Questlove and Punkie Johnson‘s version of Queen Latifah, but all anyone could pay attention to were the rap duo of Smoke Chedda Tha A$$ Getta (Timothée Chalamet) and Guap Lord (Pete Davidson), two white boys who repeatedly shouted “Ye!”
14. Totino’s
Feb. 6, 2016 | Season 41
In a spoof of the popular Totino’s ads, Vanessa Bayer tried to feed snacks to her “hungry guys” (Larry David, Kyle Mooney, Jon Rudnitsky, Jay Pharoah, Pete Davidson, and Beck Bennett) during the Super Bowl, only to realize that the TV was off and they were in some sort of a weird trance as they shouted things like “fumble!” in unison. It was very Black Mirror, and very funny.
15. Weekend Update: Stefon on Halloween’s Hottest Tips
Oct. 20, 2012 | Season 38
Weekend Update’s “city correspondent” Stefon (an always giggly Bill Hader) joined Seth Meyers at the desk yet again to help provide some Halloween tips to tourists. While holding his hands to his face, Stefon declared, “New York’s hottest club is Jelly Bones. Located on the Lower Upper Side, this random home invasion is the creation of legally drunk clothing designer Nick Nolte & Gabbana.” Hmm, why has Stefon never had a spin-off movie?
16. Mom Jeans
May 10, 2003 | Season 28
Does anything perfectly encapsulate the Tina Fey era of the show better than “Mom Jeans”? This fake TV commercial chronicled the lives of several mothers as they showed off their brand new denims (complete with a nine-inch zipper and a casual front plate) that are exclusively designed to fit their mom-bods.
17. Weekend Update: Garth and Kat Sing Christmas Songs
Dec. 19, 2009 | Season 35
Garth and Kat were a fan-fave Weekend Update duo, but did you ever see their dress rehearsal version of their first-ever appearance for the 2009 Christmas show? “Tonight we have a very special treat,” Seth Meyers proclaimed as he introduced the wacky characters played by Fred Armisen and Kristen Wiig. The gag? They sang completely unprepared tunes, improv-style, as they tried to predict what the other person would say next.
18. Papyrus
Sept. 30, 2017 | Season 43
In this well-produced video, viewers learned all about Steven (Ryan Gosling), who went crazy after he realized the font used in Avatar was actually Papyrus. “I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, it haunts me,” he declared. Saturday Night Live actually produced a sequel video to this cult hit in 2024, but it was sadly cut for time. (Spoiler alert: Steven was still upset all these years later.
19. HBO Mario Kart Trailer
Feb. 4, 2023 | Season 48
After The Last of Us became a hit, HBO decided to adapt another video game into a “prestige dystopian drama,” so along came Mario Kart. In the faux trailer, a group of people including Mario (Pedro Pascal) and Princess Peach (Chloe Fineman) tried to drive to Rainbow Road in a Mad Max-type world where everything was out to get them.
20. What Up With That: At Home
April 25, 2020 | Season 45
Saturday Night Live produced several “at home” editions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this version of the classic “What Up With That” sketch was one of the bright spots of that dismal quarantine. Diondre Cole (Kenan Thompson) Zoomed in with his crew as they welcomed special guests like Charles Barkley, DJ Khaled, and Lindsey Buckingham (Bill Hader), plus aired a performance from the wine-guzzling Quarantina (Cecily Strong).
21. SNL40: Celebrity Jeopardy
Feb. 15, 2015 | Season 40
For the 40th anniversary special, SNL brought back an old favorite from the 1990s: Celebrity Jeopardy, hosted as always by Alex Trebek (Will Ferrell). This sketch featured the ultimate panel of aloof celebs — Sean Connery (Darrell Hammond), Justin Bieber (Kate McKinnon), Tony Bennett (Alec Baldwin), Burt Reynolds (Norm Macdonald), and Matthew McConaughey (Jim Carrey) — all of whom had no idea what was going on around them.
22. Disney Housewives
March 3, 2012 | Season 37
If you love seeing your favorite Housewives going at each other in Atlanta and Beverly Hills, The Real Housewives of Disney should be right up your alley. The animated cast included Belle (Abby Elliott), Snow White (Vanessa Bayer), Jasmine (Nasim Pedrad), Rapunzel (Lindsay Lohan), and Cinderella (Kristen Wiig) in several drunken situations in which you’d never seen them before.
23. Woomba
March 12, 2005 | Season 30
This parody commercial is all about women discovering “the next generation of freshness” in the form of Woomba, a fully automated robotic feminine hygiene product. It resembled a pink Roomba, the self-cleaning vacuum for floors, but this product was solely used for a woman’s delicate areas. “It’s a robot and it cleans my business, my lady business,” smiled Tina Fey.
24. The Love-ahs with Barbara and Dave
Oct. 13, 2001 | Season 27
Self-proclaimed “love-ahs” Roger and Virginia Klarvin (Will Ferrell and Rachel Dratch) fully embraced their free spirited natures as they tried to woo Dave (Jimmy Fallon) and Barbara (Drew Barrymore) in a hotel hot tub. “Let the screams of our love-making reverberate off the roof of the Welshly Arms and into the night sky,” Roger cooed shortly after the cast members started breaking character in fits of laughter.
25. SNL Digital Short: United Way
March 24, 2007 | Season 32
When NFL star Peyton Manning hosted SNL, he tried to teach a few valuable lessons to youth group children during his public service announcement for The United Way. Unfortunately, the football player’s mean-spirited behavior revealed that he was a terrible influence on the younger generation. “Get your head out of your ass,” he told them. “You Suck! Do you want to lose?”
Are we missing any of your favorite SNL sketches from the past 25 years? Sound off in the comments section below and join the discussion in our TV forums.
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