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For more than three decades the folks over at Saturday Night Live have been working their tails off by ensuring that their minuscule and typical one or two-week deadline to concoct a hilarious show of various and often ad-libbed comedic sketches results in a parody that is beloved by the masses. Of course, when thinking about Saturday Night Live, we all remember that there have been good years and bad years. Generally speaking, the good years are best remembered for the famous cast members that made the delivery so iconic that you couldn’t help but chuckle. The bad years often are replete with miscues and poor delivery, most often occurring when previous starring cast members left the show in pursuit of their careers. Today, we choose to remember the good times at SNL – and in par with this notion, we will also relive a few of the most memorable sketches to ever be created for live performances on Saturday Night Live.
“Celebrity Jeopardy”: This easily one of the most memorable sketches from SNL ever. The episode starred Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, Tobey Maguire and Jimmy Fallon. Easily, Hammond was the most memorable as Sean Connery, and Ferrell as Alex Trebek. When a drunken and malodorous Connery won’t play along, charities are deprived of key funds due to celebrity idiocy and bickering.
“Schweddy Balls”: The best play on words ever. Host Alec Baldwin along with cast members Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer delivers a comedic bit that revolves around two boring and dull radios talk show hosts that are interviewing a meat packing plant owner about his new product: “Schweddy Balls.” The play on words made this sketch pretty damn funny and memorable.
“More Cowbell”: We have already talked about this scene in prior blog posts. However, when recanting the top sketches from SNL, this episode that starred Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz and Christopher Walken is easily the most hilarious one of the bunch. When the band, Blue Oyster Cult, struggles with a cowbell player while cutting “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” Bruce Dickinson (played by Walken) helps the band come to terms with the fact that the prominent cowbell heard in the actual record is a staple to the song.
“Buckwheat Sings”: Go back in time to the reign of Eddie Murphy on SNL and you will have the number two sketch ever. When Buckwheat decides to cut a pro record called Buh-Weet Sings, the vocal fathoming by Murphy is simply timeless, particularly in his version of “Looking for Love,” which is mumbled and barely comprehensible, but certainly laugh-out-loud funny.
“Chippendales Auditions”: Our top nod for the day goes to the timeless sketch that was made possible only by Chris Farley, who starred in it alongside of host, Patrick Swayze, and cast members, Kevin Nealon and Mike Myers. When a tubby and rotund Farley tries to outdo the ripped and chiseled Swayze for a spot at a premier male cabaret lineup, what ensues is simply one of the funniest, most awkward and uncomfortable sketches ever.