Live From New York, It’s St. Patrick’s Day on ‘SNL’!
Ah, St. Patrick’s Day. The most acceptable time of the year to wear green, drink whiskey, and watch Saturday Night Live skewer the Irish.
The late-night comedy series has a long history of honoring the unofficial holiday of daytime drinking. In 1995, former U.S. senator Al Franken donned a green angora sweater as his Stuart Smalley character and plied a drunk Chris Farley with self-help advice. Two years later, guest host Sting portrayed a foul-mouthed leprechaun spouting limericks with a questionable theme. In 2004, Irish actor Liam Neeson portrayed an abusive, drunk family man whose hovel receives a face-lift in the home improvement send-up “You Call This a House, Do Ya?”
But that’s not all! Julia Louis-Dreyfus performed an Irish jig, Rob Lowe took a paddling from Dana Carvey’s Church Lady, and former SNL cast members Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, and Colin Quinn also took part in the St. Paddy’s Day action.
So grab a pint and enjoy a few of SNL’s best St. Patrick’s Day skits!
“The Brendan Boyle Show”
Season 22, Episode 15
Guest host Sting is an equal-opportunity offender in this 1997 sketch.
“Daily Affirmations: St. Patrick’s Day”
Season 20, Episode 15
Stuart Smalley (Al Franken) has his work cut out for him with drunk Mike the cameraman (Chris Farley).
“Irish Songs”
Season 15, Episode 15
Mike Myers, Kevin Nealon, Jan Hooks, and Jon Lovitz belt out fictional Irish classics such as “The Incoherent Song” and “Nobody Gets Drunker Than the Irish.”
“St. Patrick’s Day Song”
Season 19, Episode 15
Adam Sandler imitates Irish rocker Bono in this 1994 ode to St. Patrick’s Day.
“The Irish Radio Hour”
Season 8, Episode 10
Siobhan Cahill (Mary Gross ) hosts a radio show complete with Irish singers and a dancing Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
“Church Chat: Rob Lowe”
Season 15, Episode 15
Full disclosure: This skit is only tangentially related to St. Patrick’s Day, but worth watching just to see Rob Lowe, at the height of his sex scandal, get a spanking from the Church Lady.
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