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Ruling the American television space for a good four decades and counting has been the Saturday Night Live show. The late night comedy sketch show airs on NBC and continues to hold a strong grip among viewers even today.
The format of every weekend episode is fairly the same– It is hosted by a celebrity guest who starts with a monologue at the beginning, and then they continue to perform the sketches with the rest of the cast.
SNL’s creation was essentially a variety show, initially designed as a replacement for The Tonight Show reruns. However, due to its live nature, the show has frequently stirred controversy.
We Rank The 12 Best SNL Skits Of All Time
Agree or not, SNL’s impact on its viewers has been extreme, mainly due to the show’s and its comedy sketches’ satirical humor.
Additionally, aspects such as political satire, celebrity impersonations, and others contributed to its gaining a cult-favorite status worldwide.
Well, with so many episodes that Saturday Night Live has aired, it isn’t easy to rank the 12 best ones. However, for our list, we have considered both popularity and memorability as factors in the ranking matrix.
So without much further ado, here are the 12 best SNL skits of all time ranked.
#12. Simon: Summer Drawings (Season 16-19)
A parody skit of the popular children’s show Simon In The Land Of Chalk Drawings, it featured Mike Myers and Dana Carvey. The host of this episode created a ROFL situation by meeting viewers from inside a bathtub.
Coming to the plot, it revolves around Simon, who simply enjoys drawing. However, the fact that the entire skit’s action stems from conversations inside a bathtub has made it quite unforgettable.
#11. Derek Jeter’s Taco Hole (Season 27)
Starring Derek Jeter as the host, the skit had performances by Jimmy Fallon, Rachel Dratch, and Will Ferrell.
All in all, the sketch reached its high point when Derek threw baseballs towards the audience with his riveting monologue. One mustn’t forget the ‘taco-hole’ stint, a weird commercial where the sportsman became one of the Yankees’ brothers who only did spoken word.
#10. Papyrus (Season 43)
Ryan Gosling on SNL? That’s exactly what an episode of Season 43 brought to the viewers. The Barbie actor plays Steven, who is stuck with only one curious question: Why do the Avatar movies use Papyrus font in their titles?
Within no time, the skit became highly popular and was applauded for its unique theme choice. In fact, even the creator of the Papyrus font, Chris Costello, was stunned by the spoof!
#9. Natalie Raps (Season 31)
Back in 2006, the world witnessed Natalie Portman deliver an aggressive rap on-stage at SNL. She played herself, albeit as a no-holds version of her real self, while poking satire at actresses who try to lose their innocent personas for the sake of work.
Her rap song grabbed extra attention, since it contained mentions of illegal activities like drug use by actresses. Natalie’s skit helped kickstart a new form of comedy showcased on SNL.
#8. Cobras & Panthers (Season 22)
A SNL skit with a Downey Jr connection? Yep, that’s correct! The Iron Man actor, as the host, joined the stage with Norm Macdonald, and the two of them then made fun of musical conventions.
Of course, while Norm does not move a muscle or shake a leg throughout the skit, the two bright minds end up questioning how everyone knows the words to the songs they sang. This episode truly stands out as memorable for its maddening action!
#7. Buckwheat Dead and America Mourns (Season 8)
An interesting mock news special parody hosted by Joe Piscopo as Ted Koppel, the skit begins with Eddie Murphy, a.k.a. Buckwheat, being killed. As the latter is shown being taken to the hospital, Koppel continues to show the footage of the incident repeatedly to the doctors and victims.
The skit reaches its climax where Buckwheat is declared dead and the news is contrasted with a message from the sponsor of the faux news outlet reading– “Buckwheat Dead: America Mourns. Life goes on, and Texxon is there. Because Buckwheat would have wanted it that way”.
#6. Washington’s Dream (Season 49)
Nate Bargatze takes up the hosting duties for this episode of SNL’s season 49. He adopts a parody of George Washington while expressing his ideal vision for the future of the Americas.
However, comedy steps in when George declares that his future vision for the country involves the citizens forgetting logical explanations, such as the metric system, spelling ‘Jeff’ with a G, and being clueless about the ingredients inside a hot dog.
#5. Olympia Café (Season 3)
John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray play the servers of the ‘Olympia Cafe’ in this iconic SNL skit, where they only serve cheeseburgers, chips and Pepsi to the customers from the menu.
Humor trickles in at the point where the servers are shown bluntly refusing to take any other order such as breakfast items. In fact, they reject providing an option for available beverages, anything beyond Pepsi.
#4. NPR’s Delicious Dish: Schweddy Balls (Season 24)
The plot of this interesting skit revolved around an interview of Pete Schweddy (played by Alec Baldwin), the creator of the humble Schweddy Balls dessert, conducted by NPR. The otherwise innocent-sounding dessert leads the way for a hilarious interaction ahead.
Anna Gasteyer and Molly Shanon host this particular episode of SNL that ends up blurring the lines between a food product and something more risqué.
#3. Great British Bake-Off (Season 42)
This skit directly parodied the popular competitive cooking show The Great British Bake Off. The sketch portrayed two disruptive contestants destroying the otherwise peaceful and polite appeal of the show with their chaotic selves.
It featured D’Arcy Carden as a baker, Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith as judges, and Marshawn Lynch as another fellow contestant.
#2. Matt Foley: Van Down By The River (Season 18)
Another classic entry to the list, this particular episode saw motivational speaker Matt Folley (played by Chris Farley) being hired to chat with two teenagers, discussing their irresponsible behavior.
A spoof on the disastrous consequences of mentoring teenagers, Farley shows the true reality of the young generation with such a fixated mindset.
#1. More Cowbell (Season 25)
One of the best-kept episodes in the history of SNL, this skit portrays a fictional version of the band Blue Oyster Cult. They are shown struggling with the correct amount of cowbell being added to their latest track in the making.
This skit became popular across the decades. It starred Chris Kattan, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell and Chris Parnell.
Disagree with us on this list of best Saturday Night Live episodes? Let us know!