Top 20 SNL Sketches of the Century (So Far)

we know it's bad out there and we are all struggling yeah some people are even having a hard time paying rent oh my god hey everyone i'm rebecca and welcome to watch mojo today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 snl sketches of the century so far kanye west you need a mint for your kanye breath and but and and when i'm done with you there's gonna be no kanye's left y'all got any cheese [Music] for this list we're looking at the funniest and most influential saturday night live sketches that aired between 2000 and 2020. what's your favorite snl sketch be sure to let us know in the comments all right let's get to it number 20. natalie raps natalie portman is one of the most accomplished actresses of this century she generally isn't associated with comedy however or hip-hop for that matter when she hosted in 2006 audiences were pleasantly surprised that portman can not only be hilarious but she's kind of a boss an interview takes a shocking turn when the usually graceful portman breaks out in an angry rap about her life [Music] although portman seems like an unlikely person to go on a musical rampage she sells every profanity-laced lyric making this digital short especially priceless the wrap proved so popular that it inspired a sequel complete with andy samberg's viking i'm a mother now it's really changed my perspective and do you find it difficult juggling kids in a career you can juggle these nuts now that portman's a mother she's even more hardcore just don't mention the prequels number 19. sean spicer press conference we look to snl for political commentary and part of what keeps us coming back are the spot on impressions melissa mccarthy as sean spicer is one of the strangest casting decisions but also one of the most brilliant i'm not here to be your buddy i'm here to swallow gum and i'm here to take nade during his time as white house press secretary spicer wasn't exactly known for his calm demeanor or getting all the facts straight in a transformative performance that helped her win an emmy mccarthy captures spicer's spicy attitude to comedic perfection the first time you see her it may take a second to realize that it's mccarthy playing spicer now however mccarthy's hot-headed performance is intertwined with spicer's legacy while spicer's white house stint was brief mccarthy's impersonation guaranteed that we wouldn't forget his eccentric tendencies when it comes to these decisions the constitution gives our president lots of power and steve bannon is the key advisor number 18 diner lobster sometimes the best snl sketches are the ones that initially showed little promise all right everyone the time has come we've got an order here for one lobster diner lobster was rejected when john mulaney and colin jose wrote it in 2010 but mullany dug up the old sketch when he hosted in 2018. it starts off simply enough as pete davidson orders a lobster even though diners don't exactly have the best reputation for seafood who am i and why am i condemned to boil a life despite everyone's warnings davidson insists on having lobster which turns out to be keenan thompson channeling jean valjean this musical sketch is just starting to get weird as then the lobster's devastated daughter pleads for his life and a barricade of lobster traps enters the scene this diner has incredible set design we're not sure how we got from lobster to les miserables just like davidson however we can't hide our laughter number 17 the californians stewart's dad the californians evolved into a recurring sketch parodying valley speak and soap opera cliches above all else it's a sketch series about california highways hey i'm gonna go ahead and leave what's the best way out of here i can't deal with this right now just take manzanita down to olympic make a ride over by the vons pavilions take that all the way down to robertson even when stewart's long-lost father played by mick jagger pays an unexpected visit it doesn't take long for several california streets to force their way into the conversation for years i was a lost soul then one day i decided to take a right on hillhurst and then i left onto griffith park boulevard a truly great comedian can make reading the phone book funny but this sketch somehow makes driving directions hilarious as per usual the exaggerated accents turn even the most straightforward lines into comedic gold does anyone know how to get from wilshire to the pch number 16 liza minnelli tries to turn off a lamp how long does it take you to turn off a lamp a few seconds at most probably yet this sketch squeezes four minutes of non-stop laughs out of the most basic premise imaginable is there a little knob on here that you turn and everything goes black as the title suggests the sketches about liza minnelli played to over-the-top perfection by kristen wiig trying to turn off a lamp liza can't simply flip a switch however this run-of-the-mill task becomes a jazzy not to mention tipsy routine right out of a cabaret i can't get one yeah i can't get twice you kick it three times and the lamp goes out when the part is dark all the while jonah hill just sits in a chair with his cigar even though he could easily get up and turn off the lamp himself between wig's dedicated impression and physical comedy gifts we can't help but get a kick out of every ridiculous moment is that a foot chopper once twice [Music] three well a fossy neck done number fifteen meet your second wife now this one pushes some boundaries when we see an older man dating a significantly younger woman most of the time we don't think that much about the actual amount of years separating them i understand your lovely wife samantha is in the audience today yay brian she seems great for now but when you consider how young the woman would have been when the man is already an adult the relationship in this light can seem a little off-putting to say the least hannah is currently an 8th grade student at wellington middle school but one day years in the future she will be your second wife in this uproarious sketch three men are given a chance to meet their future second wives on a twisted game show how many years old are you stacy the oldest is in the eighth grade while the youngest is still a fetus making matters even more uncomfortable their current wives are all in the audience tina fey and amy poehler an always reliable comedic duo play the show's chipper hosts this is ridiculous i am not leaving elaine you're right you won't sadly elaine will pass away in a tragic kayaking accident what sorry elaine we don't make the future we just know it number 14 a song from snl i wish it was christmas today like charlie brown's christmas tree the appeal of this song lies in its simplicity the lyrics and melody are nothing extravagant even the performance has a phoned in quality to it with horatio sans doing the heavy lifting while jimmy fallon occasionally plays the keyboard i don't care what your daddy says christmas time is dear chris katan and tracy morgan really don't contribute much to the song itself but the sketch would feel incomplete without them as simple as it is the song's catchy nature and irresistible charm struck a chord with audiences so much so that the quartet returned for an encore this would not be their last performance whether it's memorial day or easter the tune speaks to the kid in all of us that just wants it to be christmas all i know is making its way to the usa [Music] [Applause] number 13 election night when donald trump pulled off a surprise presidential victory in 2016 a lot of americans didn't know how to react after such an unpredictable election cycle snl and guest host dave chappelle gave audiences exactly what they needed a good laugh watching the election coverage a group of democrats is optimistic that hillary clinton has it in the bag the only one who's skeptical is chappelle but he doesn't want to burst their bubble yeah well of course he won kentucky i mean that's where all the racists are all of them are in kentucky he lets the news do that the sketch is made even more hilarious by a cameo from chris rock who sees eye to eye with chappelle for a lot of households around the country this sketch captured the mood to a tea with a spoonful of comedy to make the results go down god this is the most shameful thing america has ever done [Laughter] number 12 close encounter kate mckinnon has been an snl mvp throughout the past decade and her castmates could barely contain their laughter in this sketch uh i came to and saw a beautiful being made of like a beautiful calming light yeah same here mckinnon cecily strong and ryan gosling play three people abducted by aliens i started peeing and one of the grey aliens slapped the wall and pointed the bowl so i got the hen i kind of ducked walked over a bull peter yes i i see whereas strong and gosling look back on the experience as profound and enlightening mckinnon's abduction was more like a really intrusive medical examination these fancy cats are seeing god meanwhile i'm starting phase two which is me sitting on a stool while 40 grey aliens take turns gently batting my knockers although we never actually see what happened listening to mckinnon recount her ordeal while casually smoking a cigarette is arguably even funnier what's especially priceless is how matter-of-factly mckinnon delivers her jaw-dropping dialogue one gray alien by a door just kind of peeking out i think he was the lookout even after getting fondled by aliens and landing on a long john silvers without wearing pants she treats the whole night more like a wild bender than first contact number 11 the lavas with barbara and dave at this point during the soak my lover and i usually crave spiced meat [Music] that's lava with an uh whenever you step into a hotel hot tub there's always a possibility that you're gonna end up soaking with some interesting strangers for jimmy fallon's dave he finds himself sitting across from roger and virginia clarvin played by will ferrell and rachel dratch the lavas sport thick accents and untameable hair matters get increasingly awkward as the two recount their lovemaking escapades and drew barrymore's barbara hernandez drops by the sketch was such a riot that the cast most visibly fallon struggled to maintain a straight face throughout the character breaking only makes the sketch more memorable and given how bizarre the dialogue is we're surprised the cast made it as far as they did without cracking up my back is it your back what i thought the water might help well it doesn't help get the hell off me number 10 black jeopardy with tom hanks sean connery may be m.i.a but black jeopardy has become one of the most popular recurring snl sketches of the past few years as humorous as drake and eddie murphy's appearances were the game show's most memorable contestant thus far would have to be doug played by tom hanks doug you sure you're ready to play blackjack they told me a fella can win some money so let's win me some money get her done from the second the camera pans two dug in a make america great again hat the audience can tell they're in store for a wicked sketch instead of going for the obvious trump jokes the sketch continually subverts expectations as doug fits in surprisingly well on the black jeopardy set if i can laugh and pray in 90 minutes that is money well spent oh you know what sir i really appreciate you saying that i like that just when it looks like the sketch is going to slide by without any awkward moments however doug is given the category lives that matter well it was good while it laughed and done number nine the day beyonce turned black at super bowl 50 beyonce performed her new quote unapologetically black single formation although the track was met with a claim for its celebration of african-american culture its political subtext also attracted a fair deal of controversy what about single ladies she was black in that what about jumping jumping he was black in that too what about the pink panther movie okay yeah she was whiting that snl poked fun at just how overblown this controversy was in a sketch where white people around the world suddenly realized gasp beyonce is black beyonce had never made her pride in her identity a secret but here when she releases a song more explicitly about her race white folks react a little strongly which plays out like a suspenseful horror movie honey what are you listening to the new beyonce song i really like it oh god you're black too oh and if you're not a huge beyonce fan expect to hear from the agency soon i like most of her music most get out of my store she's the queen bee number eight i just had sex the lonely island delivered some of their best satirical material during andy sandberg's final years on snl [Music] while it's tempting to single out jack sparrow or three-way the golden rule i just had sex is truly something boastfully awesome this digital short finds akon and members of the lonely island standing on a roof announcing to the world they're exploits it was the best when i had the sex my penis felt great and i called my parents right after i was done as excited as they are their sexual partners blake lively and jessica alba aren't all that impressed the same can be said about the other many listeners who are forced to hear about the guy's activities but the enthusiasm proves infectious though and by the time the song nears its end everyone is singing along number seven sarah palin and hillary clinton address the nation snl has given us some immortal impressions of political figures over the years but tina fey as sarah palin easily takes the popular vote from the debut sketch faye fully embodied palin from her looks to her distinctive voice the only thing better than faye as palin is pairing her with amy poehler as hillary clinton as they address the nation the historic sketch explores how radically different these two are you know hillary and i don't agree on anything the only three things they seem to have in common is that they're both female politicians both opposed sexism and both were in reach of the white house of course palin got much closer in 2008 much to clinton's annoyance just look at how far we've come hillary clinton who came so close to the white house and me sarah palin who is even closer the comedians reunited in another palin sketch with polar channeling katie couric this time number six celebrity jeopardy kathy lee tom hanks sean connery burt reynolds while snl introduced celebrity jeopardy in the 90s this recurring sketch has remained a perennial favorite well into the 21st century arguably the funniest sketch was in 2009 when will ferrell returned to host the celebrity lineup includes kristen wiig as kathie lee gifford tom hanks as a bumbling version of himself and of course daryl hammond as sean connery negative 69 okay that wasn't your score well 69 is how i scored with your mother last night oh and norm mcdonald also pops up as burt reynolds where did he come from that's the real million dollar question everything about the sketch from the nonsensical categories to gifford's uncontrollable drinking to connery's savage insults to hanks's committed incompetence captures celebrity jeopardy at its finest tom hanks you uh you managed to give yourself a pretty nasty welt there let's see what you wrote and you broke your pony tying it all together is farrell's alex trebek who miraculously maintains a straight face throughout the insanity number five lazy sunday although it wasn't the first digital short lazy sunday was the first to explode into a viral phenomenon it also helped put andy samberg and his fellow lonely island members on the map accompanied by chris parnell sandberg takes to the streets to rap about two things baked goods and the chronicles of narnia after seeing lazy sunday just once people could not get the song out of their heads guaranteeing they'd re-watch the video a dozen more times at a time when snl was going through a rough patch lazy sunday breathed new life into the long-running sketch comedy series with infectious lyrics just the right amount of silliness and a digital format that would appeal to the blossoming youtube generation we love it number four career day adam driver may be best known for portraying the brooding kylo ren but the star wars actor has demonstrated surprisingly strong comedic chops on snl driver went undercover at starkiller base in another sketch but he completely transformed himself in this instant classic with the physical appearance of albert einstein and devilish persona of daniel plainview an unrecognizable driver plays abraham h parnassus an oil man who visits his son's school on career day for 82 years i've been an oil man a baron some have called me now what does an oil baron do the answer crush your enemies his class presentation quickly escalates into a shakespearean speech as parnassus describes how he crushed his enemies and overcame a premature birth so they placed me in a cast iron pot inside of a pizza oven until i was ripe enough to walk as goofy as driver looks and acts he actually manages to bring a genuinely menacing quality to the stone-faced parnassus which makes the sketch all the more hysterical number three haunted elevator featuring david s pumpkins on a haunted house elevator ride a couple comes across many of the usual scary suspects but they're thrown for a loop upon encountering tom hanks's david s pumpkins and his dancing skeletons how's it hanging i'm david pumpkins the couple doesn't understand why pumpkins is present and the audience is equally baffled by the sketch's intent when this hit the airwaves a lot of people weren't sure what to make of it i know but like who are you i'm gonna be pumpkins man okay yeah yeah and david pumpkins is his own thing and the skeletons are part of it was this a work of brilliance or a work of random madness in retrospect it's a little bit of both it's also developed into an iconic sketch that we look forward to revisiting every halloween or basically whenever we need a good laugh [Music] what's my name david s pumpkins any questions the scariest thing to the mind is the unknown something similar can be said about comedy number two in a box the digital shorts found their groove with lazy sunday but this music video is arguably the most iconic entry in this series what's more it officially solidified justin timberlake as one of the greatest snl hosts ever timberlake sandberg and four other songwriters would win an emmy for scribing the tune which is funny in and of itself of course the song totally deserved to win the gold for its sensual yet goofy lyrics and outrageous setup we can't say if the song will get you in the holiday spirit or the mood we can guarantee however that it will make you laugh hard and repeatedly the looks on maya rudolph and kristen wiig's faces whenever they look inside the boxes say it all i'm just gonna lay it out right now number one is by no means a big shocker but it is a classic so let's look at some honorable mentions and then we will name our top snl sketch of the century so far star wars undercover boss starkiller base even on snl adam driver never misses a beat as kylo ren ran into kylo ren in the bathroom he told me to give you this after the rain comes the rainbow sorry i killed your son burn your enthusiasm fun fact apparently bernie sanders and larry david are distant cousins oh my god mr bernie sanders oh i'm your biggest fan man i'm telling you i'm feeling the burn what do you mean you don't think so shake my hand what up with that this one will never get old [Music] what's up with that grouch joker parody all we have are positive thoughts why do you think you're always in such a bad mood is it me are things getting worse out there national anthem maya rudolph is a national treasure do what [Applause] before we continue be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos you have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications number one more cowbell fellas it was sounding great but i could have used a little more cowbell during the early 2000s christopher walken starred in two classic sketches colonel angus and even more famous more cowbell i can't believe bruce dixon digs our sound easy guys i put my pants on just like the rest of you one leg at a time except once my pants are on i make gold records [Laughter] this is one of the most quotable snl sketches ever but what exactly makes it so memorable three things in particular stand out the line more cowbell is already funny but watkins offbeat delivery takes it up to 11. will ferrell who co-wrote the sketch brings his wild energy to the cowbell player and his tight shirt earns bonus laughs finally the idea of centering a whole sketch around a cowbell is so bizarre it's impossible not to smile now whenever we listen to don't fear the reaper all we hear is more cowbell guess what i got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell that's actually one of the sketches that i think is improved by the fact that no one can keep a straight face so what is your favorite saturday night live sketch so far this century be sure to let us know in the comments or come tell me on twitter or instagram rebecca brayton or on my youtube channel see ya you

Channel: WatchMojo.com

Views: 764,449

Keywords: snl sketches of the century, snl skits of the century, best snl sketches, best snl skits, snl skits, snl sketches, snl 21st century, snl sketches of the last decade, modern snl sketches, modern snl skits, more cowbell, lazy sunday, dick in a box, david s. pumpkins, career day, celebrity jeopardy, sarah palin, i just had sex, day beyoncé turned black, hillary clinton, saturday night live, snl, TV, comedy, watchmojo, watch mojo, top 10, list, mojo

Id: O8mudIkQubs

Length: 24min 20sec (1460 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 06 2020