Saturday Night Live—NBC’s live sketch show created by Lorne Michaels that premieres on, you guessed it, Saturday nights—is currently in its 44th season. Some of the best and brightest comedians from Will Ferrell to Andy Samberg to Kate McKinnon have gotten big because of their time on SNL. The show’s longevity is partially due to the fact that the cast and crew are always on rotation, with new voices joining the group every few years. Although the show is still going strong, there have been so not-so-stellar sketches that fall flat.
We’re not here to talk about those, however.
Sometimes, the writers hit it out of the park and score a home run on the comedy scale. Sometimes, a sketch makes me laugh so hard my sides hurt. Today, I’d like to share my five favorite SNL sketches—five pieces of art so genius they deserve all the recognition in the world—ranked from funny to laugh-out-loud hilarious. These are all from the past few years and are available to be watched on YouTube. Enjoy!
5. Teacher Fell Down (featuring Jonah Hill) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6UkvhvqkDg
Kate McKinnon plays a teacher that takes a tumble and refuses to stand up. She tries to teach from the ground and…well…it doesn’t go as planned.
Notable Quote: “The world’s gone topsy-turvy and so have we.”
4. Dry Fridays (featuring Kristen Stewart) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K79n-yRmTR0
This sketch is about a group of U Conn students at a “Dry Friday” event they’re forced to attend after getting caught drinking on campus. Most of the stories they swap are fairly typical drunken endeavors, but Courtney (Kristen Bell) has some interesting ones…
Notable Quote: “Go ahead and pop that beanie back on.”
3. Career Day (featuring Adam Driver) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7HD2xG92-0
This sketch centers around an oil baron, Abraham H. Parnassus (Adam Driver), coming by his son’s Mordecai’s classroom to give a speech about his career. The sheer ridiculousness of it (and the fact that Pete Davidson can’t stop laughing) is why it’s one of the funniest sketches imho.
Notable Quote: “You are weak like H.R. Pickens!”
2. The Shooting AKA Dear Sister (featuring Shia LaBeouf) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmd1qMN5Yo0
This SNL digital short was a parody of the O.C. Season 2 finale and potentially the birth of the “Mmm Watcha Say” meme. It’s whacky and weird (like all the digital shorts) and it still makes me laugh to this day. The first time I saw it I had no idea what was happening…and I still don’t.
Notable Quote: “Dear sister, by the time you read this, I’ll be dead. This is how I think it’s gonna happen…”
1. And the winner is…Diner Lobster (featuring John Mulaney) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj-D0jc17D0
This sketch was originally written when Mulaney was a writer on the show and was revived when he hosted for the first time. It’s a musical theatre bonanza when Pete Davidson’s character orders a lobster in a diner (which you should never do).
Notable Quote: “Form the barricade!”
What’s your favorite SNL sketch? Tweet @HerCampusUNCW with your answer!