After 50 years, Ars staffers pick their favorite Saturday Night Live sketches

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genesis

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  • #81
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    Cap'nAwesome

    Cap'nAwesome

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  • #82
    jwrose342 said:
    Yeah, its sad that some have been erased. One of my favorites I haven't seen since the 90s. The John Malkovich episode had a skit parodying Malkovich's recent version of "Of Mice and Men". Michael Eisner comes on first saying that the character of Curly tested poorly with test audiences so they replaced him with another Lenny, played by Chris Farley. The skit ends with Farley playing himself being killed, so I think it was considered in poor taste after he died a few years later- but it is such a funny skit and Farley is so good in it that I'm sad its gone.
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    Every few years I go hunting for the skit 'Houses of Shame' but I haven't found it yet. It had Martin Short, Christopher Guest and Jim Belushi as prisoners on a cell block and culminated in Guest delivering the line to Martin Short "Will you wear my ring and be my bitch?" My teenage self thought that was the funniest line I had ever heard.
     
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    orwelldesign

    orwelldesign

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  • #96
    Ben G said:
    I’m not much of a Will Ferrell fan, but I really do enjoy the Celebrity Jeopardy skits where he’s playing the straight man.

    I certainly do agree with Lorne Michaels’ theory that eveyone’s choice for “Best SNL cast” is usually just the cast which was on while they were in High School.
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    I mean, that tends to be true for everything. What we like when we are 13-16 is usually what we like best, forever, because those things, then, had outsized impact on our lives.

    I mean, is TMBG's Flood actually the greatest album ever? No, probably not. Probably not even in the top 50, of "ever." But it's my favorite album of all time. That's probably because of how formative it was to my growing up -- nothing to do with the particulars; it could have just as easily been any of dozens or even hundreds of contemporaneous albums.
     
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    orwelldesign

    orwelldesign

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  • #97
    Maltz said:
    SNL's 50th Anniversary: Celebrating 20 years of great comedy
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    Ooooof.

    That reminds me of something I did once that was really shitty. I mean, it's the same joke, but it was really shitty. Sorry, (first wife) I know we laughed about it after the divorce and before your untimely demise, but it still was crummy.

    (On our 8th anniversary, I bought her a card that said "Thanks for 3 years of happy marriage." Man that was fucked up.)
     
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    orwelldesign

    orwelldesign

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  • #98
    IrishMonkee said:
    Pretty much all the Celebrity Jeopardy and the More Cowbell would be my picks. To be fair tho, I didn't watch a lot of SNL when In Living Color was on along with The Kids in the Hall and The State... that SeaMonkey skit with the pet rock still killz me.
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    KitH was supremely underrated. Man that was a fantastic show. "All we've learned is that one in ten doesn't really seem to mind" still cracks me up. (For those who missed it, they're playing as aliens talking about their frustration with doing all these anal probes for no apparent reason.) Hints of Office Space as well -- "why are we doing this completely arbitrary thing that doesn't make any sense"

    KitH was the first remotely queer friendly TV I can remember seeing. Being bi in the 90s was terrifying -- no role models, no public acceptance, and seemingly no understanding from anywhere. That show saved my life.
     
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    Keith Tanner

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  • #102
    I have long suspected that appreciation for SNL is geographically linked. Not because of an "east coast" sense of humor, but because SNL starts at 11:30 PM Eastern and runs until 1 AM. Not a time when you're necessarily at your most critical or highbrow.

    Watching it from 9:30 PM Pacific to 11, it's just not the same.

    Oh, and it's Celebrity Hot Tub for the win. Good god.
     
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    fractl

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  • #103
    I remember watching The Coneheads when I was a kid, great stuff. I know Kevin Spacey turned out to, apparently, be a creep, but his audition for Han Solo while doing a Christopher Walken impression was great (I think he also did Walter Matthau auditioning for Obi-wan). Alas, the only clip I can find on YouTube is such low quality, it’s hardly worth watching.

    The musical pieces were usually memorable. Dick-in-a-box was mentioned, but there was also the Chronic…what!…cles of Narnia that was great. “Mr. Pibb and Red Vines = Crazy delicious”


    View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sRhTeaa_B98
     
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    Steve austin

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  • #105
    I had heard the rule as “the show was funniest when you were in college”, and I was in college when the show started - so to me the funniest was the original cast (Not Ready for Prime Time Players) and it’s gotten (much) less funny since. (I originally phrased that as more extreme, but I’ll cut the more recent casts and younger folk some slack.) Yes, some funny things since, but a much smaller hit rate (admittedly, I haven’t watched live that much in decades, but I generally find most sketches disappointing when I do). I also agree with the comment that they tend to drag things out way too long - some things that might be amusing in a 1 or 2 minute sketch aren’t when extended to 5 Or more.

    I think some (but not all) of the sketches called out here are good. I’d add (from the olden days)

    Super Bass-o-matic
    Aykroyd as Julia Child
    Shimmer floor wax ad
    Samurai delicatessen
     
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    password123

    password123

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  • #111
    orwelldesign said:
    KitH was supremely underrated. Man that was a fantastic show. "All we've learned is that one in ten doesn't really seem to mind" still cracks me up. (For those who missed it, they're playing as aliens talking about their frustration with doing all these anal probes for no apparent reason.) Hints of Office Space as well -- "why are we doing this completely arbitrary thing that doesn't make any sense"

    KitH was the first remotely queer friendly TV I can remember seeing. Being bi in the 90s was terrifying -- no role models, no public acceptance, and seemingly no understanding from anywhere. That show saved my life.
    Click to expand...
    Hat's off to KitH, one of the funniest shows of all time... according to me anyways. I remember that line, delivered perfectly ; -) The guy on the alien probe table had to smile slightly at the right time, and not bust up laughing, no clue how he pulled that off.
     
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    Jeff3F

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  • #118
    So many. Some don’t hold up entirely but ones I didn’t see yet:

    Neil Diamond Storytellers—this one is hard to find prob due to clearing the music and/or offending Neil Diamond

    Sofa King!

    Tony Ruins Puppet class (this has both South Park and Family Guy folks together which is also neat)

    The All-Drug Olympics

    There are more of course. You bet your finger there are!

    Special mention goes to “Superman’s funeral” and Robert Smigel as the Penguin (‘this is how I cry!’)

    Also, some episodes were gold mines. While William Shatner lashing out at Star Trek fans is a classic (“you there! Have you ever kissed a girl? I didn’t think so!”), I also liked the Star Trek Restaurant one later that show. Don’t make me regret my free food for the crew policy!
     
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