Saturday Night Live TV show sketches

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Since the humble beginnings of Saturday Night Live, the show has been something of an anti-television show, turning the medium on its head with endless fake commercials and parodies of TV shows themselves. The most common style of their recurring sketches has been the talk show format, but anything from cop shows to children's shows has been fair game for the ever-changing cast.

Sketches with TV show themes are listed here chronologically. Some TV show sketches do not appear here, because they fit into one of the other categories listed below.

Character Lists: Alphabetical and Chronological

Character Categories:

Contents

[edit] Minute Mystery with Mike Mendoza

Mike Mendoza (Dan Aykroyd) is a crime scene photographer who gives the audience a list of clues and 60 seconds to solve a mystery.

[edit] The Mr. Bill Show

Mr. Bill is the clay figurine star of a series of short subjects shown from 1976 to 1980 on Saturday Night Live (SNL). The "Mr. Bill Show" was a parody of children's shows.

Mr. Bill got its start when Walter Williams sent SNL a Super-8 reel featuring the character in response to the show's request for home movies. Williams became a full-time writer for the show in 1978, writing over twenty skits based on Mr. Bill.

Each Mr. Bill episode would start innocently enough, but would quickly turn dangerous for Mr. Bill. Along with his dog, Spot, he would suffer various indignities inflicted by Mr. Hands, a man seen only as a pair of arms. Sometimes the abuse would ostensibly come from the mean Sluggo, another clay figure character. The violence would inevitably escalate, generally ending with Mr. Bill being crushed or dismembered while squealing, "Ohhhh noooooooooooooo...."

The character's popularity spawned the 1986 live-action movie Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures; however, the film did poorly at the box office.

[edit] Trivia

  • The part of Mr. Hands was originally played by Vance DeGeneres. [1]
  • The trademark phrase of "Oh no!" is almost always misquoted by people as "Oh no, Mr. Bill!", which doesn't make any sense as the quote is from Mr. Bill himself.

[edit] Beyond SNL

  • In the 1990s, Williams created a series of Mr. Bill-like advertising spots for Pizza Hut, featuring "Pizza Head" in the usual Mr. Bill role and a pizza cutter named "Steve" in the Sluggo role.
  • In 2004, Mr. Bill was part of a campaign aimed at teaching people, especially children, about the loss of Louisiana's coastal marshes and swamps. According to CNN, one segment predicted the effects of a hurricane on New Orleans about a year and a half before Katrina.

[edit] External links

[edit] Consumer Probe

Toy maker Irwin Mainway (Dan Aykroyd) would appear on this talk show and hopelessly defend his company's extremely dangerous products such as "Bag O' Glass", "Mr. Skin Grafter" and "Pretty Peggy's Ear Piercing Kit". A sketch frequently aired by SNL on their Halloween retrospective special had Mainway defending Halloween costumes such as a military outfit that included an actual working rifle, an entirely black and non-reflective uniform called "Invisible Pedestrian" (which had a warning on the package that read "NOT FOR BLIND KIDS"), an airtight plastic bag that was to affixed over the head with a rubber band called "Johnny Space Commander Mask," and an oil-soaked costume called "Johnny Human Torch", which came complete with an oversized lighter.

[edit] E. Buzz Miller and Christie Christina

Sleazy public access host E. Buzz Miller (Dan Aykroyd) made crude and lascivious remarks about otherwise commonplace subjects (such as fine art or exercise) to which his ditzy co-host Miss Christie Christina (Laraine Newman) would giggle and make obtuse responses.

[edit] Leonard Pinth-Garnell

Leonard Pinth-Garnell was a recurring character played by Dan Aykroyd on the NBC late-night television show Saturday Night Live. Pinth-Garnell, always clad in a tuxedo and black tie, would lugubriously introduce a short performance of "Bad Conceptual Theater," "Bad Playhouse," "Bad Cinema," "Bad Opera," "Bad Ballet," "Bad Red Chinese Ballet," or "Bad Cabaret for Children," and then exult in its sheer awfulness. Aykroyd played the character nine times from 1977 through 1979, and returned for a single appearance on November 3, 2001, introducing "Bad Conceptual Theater." (The show was hosted at least one time by Laraine Newman as Lady Pinth-Garnell)

Pinth-Garnell was loosely based on the longtime PBS Masterpiece Theater host Alistair Cooke.

[edit] Memorable quotes

  • "Stunningly bad!"
  • "Monumentally ill-advised!"
  • "Perfectly awful!"
  • "Couldn't be worse!"
  • "Exquisitely awful!"
  • "Astonishingly ill-chosen!"
  • "Really bit the big one!"
  • "Unrelentingly bad!"
  • "There... That wasn't so good now, was it?"

[edit] Episodes Featuring Leonard Pinth-Garnell

[edit] The Ex-Police

Joe and his ex-partner Bob (Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray) are two cops that were kicked off the force (apparently for being intrusive bigots) that harass the people that live in their apartment building for not living up to their arch-conservative standards (a man and a woman living together without being married, an allegedly lesbian couple, etc.) with disastrous results.

[edit] The Franken and Davis Show

SNL writing partners Al Franken and Tom Davis host their own fictitious variety program, on which they would appear onstage as a double act similar to Rowan and Martin, with Davis generally as the straight man and Franken as his self-obsessed, dimwitted sidekick. They would also perform skits within the context of their "show". The sketch was often a late-addition to the show as a time filler if the broadcast was running short.

Aside from "The Franken and Davis Show", the two have made several appearances—either separately or as team—in many SNL sketches throughout the years. They also appear together in the film Trading Places as a pair of drunken baggage handlers. Al Franken later hosted his own talk show on which Tom Davis has made numerous appearances. Franken is probably best known for his character Stuart Smalley, and for his on-air proposal at the end of the 1970s that the 1980s be known as "The Al Franken Decade."

[edit] Woman to Woman

A talk show sendup where feminist Connie Carson (Gilda Radner) speaks with professional women about their careers.

[edit] Telepsychic

Telepsychic was a recurring sketch featuring Dan Aykroyd as Ray, a pseudopsychic with his own TV show. For the character, Aykroyd wore a blonde wig and tinted sunglasses, and sat behind a desk with five telephones on it. By calling 555-1231, 555-1232, 555-1233, 555-1234, or 555-1235 callers (voices of other members of the cast) asked for advice about personal issues. His flippant delivery, and outrageous suggestions while answering phones are indicative that he was nothing but a fraud. In response to a series of questions that involved time spans, his answer for each was, "Ohhhh...about a month."

There were two Telepsychic sketches, which opened the show both times.

[edit] Episodes Featuring Telepsychic

[edit] Heavy Sarcasm

[edit] The Bel-Airabs

The Bel-Airabs was a sketch from the 1979—1980 season. It was a spoof of The Beverly Hillbillies, instead featuring paranoid Arabs. Only two sketches appeared, on December 8, 1979 (host: Howard Hesseman) and February 9, 1980 (host: Chevy Chase). As all of the cast members left the show at the end of that season, it was not continued.

It appears to have been an offshoot of Gilda Radner's "Granny" character, which had appeared in a sketch called "The Shah's Final Days" during the previous season.

[edit] Cast

[edit] References

[edit] What's It All About

[edit] Mister Robinson's Neighborhood

Mister Robinson's Neighborhood was a recurring sketch on the comedy television series Saturday Night Live.

The sketch parodied children's show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, a PBS staple where new information about the world was presented by Fred Rogers in a quiet, methodical, highly elocuted manner. In the sketch, Eddie Murphy's character "Mister Robinson" speaks in a similarly stilted manner, but lives in a considerably grittier venue, with slumlords hunting him down for rent and police after him for stealing groceries and defrauding children of toy money.

Rogers took no offense to the parody, finding it amusing and affectionate; he even took the opportunity of a promotional appearance on NBC to seek out Murphy in his SNL dressing room and tell him such.

Incidentally, the first installment of "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood" where Mr. Robinson gets a package from a drug dealer named "Mr. Speedy" [played by Gilbert Gottfried], was overshadowed by the "Who Shot Charles Rocket" recurring gag that ran through the episode and the controversy over Rocket saying, "I'd like to know who the fuck did it" during the goodnights. The book, "Saturday Night Live: The First 20 Years" has a still shot from the episode of Eddie Murphy as Mr. Robinson pointing to a sign that reads, "Bitch"(http://snl.jt.org/detail.php?i=1812).

[edit] Fernando's Hideaway

Billy Crystal playing Fernando Lamas who would interview various celebrities. Always during the interview he would say, "You look mahvelous." and frequently the sketch would end with, "It's better to look good than to feel good."

[edit] The Limits of the Imagination

The Limits of the Imagination was a short-lived sketch featured on the 1985-1986 season. It featured Randy Quaid as "The Floating Head", a Rod Serling-like character who would introduce a creepy, Twilight Zone-esque story with a weak ending (or no ending at all).

[edit] Episodes featuring Limits of the Imagination

  • Madonna/Simple Minds: Madonna plays a female motorist who is being followed by a crazy man living in the trunk of her car.
  • John Lithgow/Mister Mister: Joan Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Nora Dunn, and Terry Sweeney play restaurant patrons who are trapped at an "all-you-can-eat" buffet.
  • Dudley Moore/Al Green: Dudley Moore plays a bad comedian who sells his soul to the devil (played by Jon Lovitz) in order to be popular.
  • Ron Reagan Jr./The Nelsons: Ron Reagan Jr. plays a man who is treated like a stranger by his wife (Joan Cusack), son (Robert Downey Jr), and friends (John Lovitz, Damon Wayans, and Dan Vitale).
  • Jerry Hall/Stevie Ray Vaughn: Jerry Hall plays "Maggie the Cat" from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, who traps and seduces a gay man (played by castmember Terry Sweeney) in her hotel room.
  • Catherine Oxenberg and Paul Simon/Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Paul Simon lives out his personal hell--listening to Muzak versions of his greatest hits.

[edit] The Pat Stevens Show

[edit] The Further Adventures of Biff and Salena

The various mundane events in the lives of a seemingly mentally disabled couple (Jon Lovitz and Joan Cusack).

[edit] Actors on Film

[edit] Church Chat

Main article: The Church Lady

Church Chat was a Christian-based, distinctly local-TV celebrity interview program, hosted by "The Church Lady" (named "Enid Strict"), a character created and performed by Dana Carvey as a spoof of on-air, holier-than-thou Christian televangelists.

The SNL character was immediately recognizable and even spawned some catch phrases, such as "Well, isn't that special?", and "Could it be...SATAN?!", but she was never incorporated into a feature length film. On the set of "Church Chat," with its rectory desk and bogus cellophane stained-glass, other cast members of SNL would appear as celebrities of the day, and sometimes, so would celebrities of the day. Church Lady would seemingly praise or soothe her guests during their time of crisis, only to blindside them with judgmental admonishments and damnation. She would always wear a high-collared purple dress, a sweater, and old fashioned glasses.

[edit] Instant Coffee with Bill Smith

[edit] Miss Connie's Fable Nook

[edit] Pumping Up with Hans & Franz

Main article: Hans and Franz

Hans and Franz were two muscle-bound jocks played by Kevin Nealon and Dana Carvey mimicking Arnold Schwarzenegger right down to the padding for fake muscles, gray sweatsuits, weight belts, and Austrian accents. They were the hosts of "Pumping Up with Hans & Franz", where they proceed to denigrate others for not being strong, and then strike bodybuilder poses. They always introduced themselves saying, (Carvey) "I am Hans." (Nealon) "...And I am Franz" (together) "...And we are here to pump [handclap] you up." In one episode, Schwarzenegger actually appears and admonishes them for being girly men.

Hanz and Franz appear in the EPCOT Center presentation Cranium Command as they make the heart beat.

[edit] Learning to Feel

[edit] Wayne's World

Main article: Wayne's World

Wayne's World was one of the most popular recurring sketches on Saturday Night Live, centering around a cable access show hosted by Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) and his sidekick, Garth Algar (Dana Carvey). The "show" featured their various exploits, including their obsession with hard rock bands and "babes", as well as juvenile antics, such as the "Extreme Close-Up". The sketch was eventually adapted to a film, Wayne's World which was followed by a sequel, Wayne's World 2.

[edit] Cooking with the Anal Retentive Chef

This series of sketches featured Phil Hartman as Eugene, a fastidious chef who could not bear to be in the presence of anything cluttered or dirty. After peeling some vegetables he advised throwing the peels away by wrapping them in plastic, then putting the plastic bag in a paper bag that was then to be sealed with duct tape. Gene never completed any of his recipes; he always became too distracted by the effects of his psychological complex, and ran out of time. The majority of these sketches featured the Eugene character as a chef, however, he also played an anal retentive sportsman and home improvement expert. The sketch was presented as a PBS program sponsored by the Chubb Group.

[edit] Episodes featuring the Anal Retentive Chef

[edit] Tales of Ribaldry

Tales of Ribaldry was a series of sketches starring Jon Lovitz as Victorian era dandy Evelyn Quince, presenting supposedly "racy, randy, ribald!" tales, presented initially as "bodice rippers" which, to the host's clear and vocal dismay, develop into rather straightforward, "not very ribald at all!" sexual encounters between consenting adults.

Saturday Night Live later featured a one-time sketch called "Tales of Irony" which used a similar premise. Jason Alexander played the host who would become clearly agitated when the scenes developed into quite bland pieces with very little irony at all.

[edit] Episodes featuring Tales of Ribaldry

[edit] Sprockets

Main article: Sprockets (television)

Sprockets was a series of sketches staring Mike Myers as Dieter, the stereotypical German minimalist host of the fictitious West German television show. Effeminate or asexual, he would be dressed in tight black leotards with round wire rimmed glasses and slicked back hair.

[edit] Lank Thompson

Mike Myers played Lank Thompson in three different sketches in the early 90s. Thompson was a very handsome man who marketed a line of videos to help men look and act more handsomely. The three videos were "Lank Thompson: I'm a Handsome Man," "Lank Thompson: I'm a Handsome Actor" and "Lank Thompson: I'm a Handsome Black Man."

[edit] Simon

Simon is a sketch about a young British boy played by Mike Myers who likes to draw, and has his own BBC television program, Simon. The sketches always begin by showing the BBC logo with a faux British announcer back-announcing some ridiculously insipid sounding programming on right before it. The show borrows its theme song from a British children's television series called Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings, though, aside from the concept of a young boy who draws, the premises are completely dissimilar. Simon broadcasts his program from his bathtub, in which he appears to be either nude or shirtless. On the show, Simon displays his drawings (pronounced drawerings in an exaggerated British accent), which he bends over to pick up, whereupon he scolds the audience, by yelling his catch phrase, "Don't look at my bum!"

His drawings often depict scenes that are disturbing or morbidly violent, presented with a naive and childlike innocence. From the context of his show, it can be inferred that Simon has an extremely skewed outlook on life due to his upbringing: his mother is deceased (or, as he refers to it, "with the angels"), and his father is somewhat of a reprobate who associates with nefarious figures and leaves Simon unattended for long periods of time while he gambles. Simon is seemingly oblivious to his abnormal nature, maintaining a jovial temperament, and a typically juvenile sense of humor. Simon also suffers from gigantism (an obvious explanation for having a body of a full-grown man). He sometimes has guests on his show, who appear in the bathtub with Simon, and also show their drawings (which are as equally disturbing as Simon's). Simon typically ends his show when he determines that he has been in the tub too long, as indicated by his "prune hands".

[edit] The Dark Side with Nat X

In the early 1990s, Chris Rock portrayed "Nat X," a militant talk show host with a huge Afro hairstyle. He once remarked that he had only a 15-minute show because, as he explained, if he had any more,"The Man" would regard it as welfare. Much of Rock's original stand-up comedy bits were incorporated into Nat X's dialogue.

Nat X was cruel to all of his guests, and perhaps the most memorable episode featured host Kevin Bacon as Vanilla Ice. Nat told Ice that he could not dance, and even persuaded his other guest, Colin Powell, to dance with him in order to show Ice how to do it.

Spike Lee made a surprise appearance as himself on another episode, donning an "X" cap that was made popular by his film Malcolm X. Not knowing this at first, Nat explained to him that he had been seeing these caps all over town but had personally not seen a dime in profits.

Chris Farley often appeared as "Sandman," a clown armed with a broom who swept guests away when Nat had had enough of them. Sandman was modeled after Howard "Sandman" Simms from Showtime at the Apollo, who performed the same function on that show's famed "Amateur Night" episodes, when substandard performers fell short of audience approval.

[edit] Famous quotes from "The Dark Side with Nat X"

  • "...The same Man who made White-Out to cover up black marks!"
  • "...The same Man who made the black jelly beans the worst tasting jelly beans in the bag!"
  • "Why only 15 minutes? Because if it were any longer, The Man would consider it welfare!"
  • Nat X being introduced: "And now, the man so black, he urinates oil."
  • "And now, the man so black, he goes to funerals naked."

[edit] Episodes featuring Nat X

[edit] Daily Affirmation with Stuart Smalley

Main article: Stuart Smalley

[edit] Coffee Talk with Linda Richman

Main article: Coffee Talk

Mike Myers played Linda Richman, a stereotypical Jewish middle-aged woman (based on Myers's own mother-in-law) with an exaggerated New York Jewish accent, who sported big hair, which she constantly adjusted; dark glasses; long, painted fake nails; and gold jewelry. She frequently went into pseudo-Yiddish rants, using terms like "verklempt" and "shpilkes in [my] geneckteckessoink", and had an obsession with Barbra Streisand. One episode featured a surprise appearance by Streisand. The other stars of the episode were Rosanne Barr and Madonna.

[edit] Theatre Stories

Theatre Stories was an SNL skit parodying English actors. It is described by the announcer as produced by the "British-American Theatre Alliance", and centered around several English Shakespearean actors recounting acting experiences and anecdotes. However, one of the most memorable performances was Dana Carvey as embittered former American child star Mickey Rooney, complaining about how the film industry largely turned their back on him, and reminiscing on better times. Mike Myers played the host, Kenneth Reese-Evans, an English actor who discovered one day that he could not control the volume of his voice (a joke Myers later used in the first Austin Powers movie). Other characters included Steve Martin as an elderly British actor nicknamed "Nobby", because his real name was incredibly long.

Quotes:

  • Kenneth: "That reminds me of a story that's in no way related. I was working with John Gielgud in a production of Troilus and Cressida, when I discovered I had no control OVER THE VOLUME OF MY VOICE!"
  • Mickey: "I was the number one star... in the world, you hear me? Bang! <kissing noise> In the wooorld."
  • Nobby: "What a fascinating story you ghastly American! <imitating Mickey> Bang!"
    Mickey: I'm just glad I like women."
    Nobby: "What are you getting at?"
    Kenneth: Yes, why don't you go off somewhere and have an American 'hot... dog'?"

[edit] Sassy's Sassiest Boys

Phil Hartman played Russell Clark, editor of Sassy Magazine, who interviewed young, male celebrities of the day, and incessantly repeated the term "Sassy!", or variations of it ("The French have a word for it: Sassé!") after each guest's response. Guests included Joey Lawrence (played by Mike Myers) whose sole response to everything was the expression, "Woah!" (his character's catchphrase on the sitcom, Blossom).

[edit] The Denise Show

The Denise Show revolved around Adam Sandler's character (Brian), who broke up with his girlfriend Denise (played by Shannen Doherty), and has yet to accept that the relationship is over. He would feature guests who had seen Denise, and take phone calls. Calls with his father (played by Phil Hartman) would result in shouting matches about how disappointed he was with his son, with Brian eventually hanging up on him. The show appeared to come to an end when, later in the season, Denise's friend (played by Nicole Kidman) appeared on the show and became Brian's new girlfriend. However, in a later broadcast, the show was restarted when Brian broke up with Denise's friend as they did not share the same interests, which mainly included stalking Denise.

It was revealed on the show's final episode that Brian had previously hosted "The Linda Show" as a teenager in the late 1970s. Though Brian claimed it was entirely different from "The Denise Show," it was in fact exactly the same, but with a different ex-girlfriend. Linda (played by Nancy Kerrigan), who had moved to Florida after breaking up with Brian, makes a surprise appearance on "The Denise Show," as she is in town visiting her aunt for two weeks. The couple reunites, with Brian saying that "The Denise Show" would go on a two-week hiatus and probably be followed upon its return by an all-new version of "The Linda Show."

[edit] Good Morning Brooklyn

Good Morning Brooklyn is a morning talk show hosted by Brooklynites who spoke in Italian American vernacular using heavy New York accents. Its hosts were James Barone (Jay Mohr) and Angela Tucci (played first by Sarah Jessica Parker, then by Courtney Cox). The two often got into shouting matches, yelling "Shut up!", "No, you shut up!" back and forth until they cut to a "Please Stand By" graphic. Barone frequently used the expression, "Fugheddaboudit!"

Also featured were traffic and weather reporter Anthony (pronounced Ant'ny, played by Michael McKean), who gave vague and uninformative reports (such as, "It's hot as a bastard!"), and field reporter Molly Fahey (Molly Shannon), who, when asked if her name was Italian, admits, "No, but it's Catholic", which James replies is "good enough".

Adam Sandler played Angelo, a guest whose entrance was always accompanied by his yelling at an off-screen antagonist, ("No, you move your car!" or "No, you suck my ass!"). In one sketch, Angelo hosted a segment called "Beatin' of the Week," in which someone would receive a beating for making derogatory remarks about Italians. Chris Farley played a hot dog vendor who was discovered by Fahey, and was the unfortunate recipient of said beating for his comment that "IROC" was an acronym for "Italian Retard Out Cruising".

The character James Barone later appeared in an unrelated sketch about a Civil War documentary, in which uninformed high school dropouts commented on the American Civil War.

[edit] Scottish Soccer Hooligan Weekly

[edit] Perspectives with Lionel Osbourne

In this mid-to-late 1990s series of sketches, Lionel Osbourne (played by Tim Meadows) hosts a television show primarily dealing with African-American issues. However, the show is only broadcast to fulfill WNBC-TV's public service commitment, and airs very early on Sunday morning. Osbourne is generally clueless to the accomplishments of the guests on his show, regularly asking them stupid questions. Also, Osbourne pauses after nearly every dialogue sequence with his guest to announce the time and to re-identify the show, which would always follow the format: "It's (time) in the A.M. and you're watching Perspectives. I'm your host, Lionel Osbourne. With me today is (guest)." In one sketch, Osbourne interviewed Dr. Emory Coleman (played by David Alan Grier), host of the television show Viewpoint - which was identical to Perspectives, but with Coleman as host and Osbourne as the guest. The sketch repeatedly cut back and forth between Perspectives and Viewpoint, causing even the hosts to become confused as to which show they were on.

[edit] The Joe Pesci Show

This sketch starred Jim Breuer as Pesci, the host of his own late-night talk show. The heard-but-not-seen cameraman was meant to be Pesci's brother.

Pesci's personality on the show does not so much resemble the real Joe Pesci as it does Tommy DeVito, his character from Goodfellas. While interviewing his guests, each guest would invariably, inadvertently say something that Pesci took as an insult. He would then produce a baseball bat, and proceed to beat the guest senseless.

There were a few guests who were notable exceptions to this fate. On one episode hosted by Jim Carrey, Carrey played legendary actor James Stewart, while regular cast member Mark McKinney played Carrey. Pesci and Stewart teamed up to beat up Carrey, with Stewart going on to beat up Pesci himself. Pesci also spares actors who, like him, are of Italian ancestry and who came to prominence in films about the Sicilian Mafia. Kevin Spacey appeared as Al Pacino on one episode, in which the two of them team up against Rodney Dangerfield. Alec Baldwin, John Goodman and Colin Quinn made appearances as Robert De Niro, though he is reduced to monosyllabic responses to Pesci's prompts: his lines are usually "I heard things," and "Li'l bit." The real Pesci and De Niro surprisingly appeared on one episode, criticizing Breuer for playing caricatures of their film characters. Breuer's weak defense of himself insults Pesci, who asks DeNiro if they were just insulted, to which De Niro responds, "Li'l bit." The two of them then proceed to beat up Breuer and Quinn.

[edit] The Quiet Storm

[edit] Shopping At Home Network

Will Ferrell imitates Don West, the loud, bombastic, former late-night collectibles show host on the Shop At Home Network who now serves as a professional wrestling announcer.

[edit] Celebrity Jeopardy!

Main article: Celebrity Jeopardy! (SNL)

[edit] Goth Talk

Main article: Goth Talk

Goth Talk was a late-night Tampa Bay cable access show recorded in the basement of two goth high school students, Azrael Abyss (Chris Kattan) and Circe Nightshade (Molly Shannon).

[edit] Leon Phelps, the Ladies Man

Tim Meadows portrayed Leon Phelps, aka "The Ladies Man," in this popular series of sketches. Phelps (who is stuck in a 1970s mentality and speaks with a lisp) hosts a television show ("The Ladies Man") where he takes calls and delivers sexual advice. However, Phelps's advice is always over the top, and generally out of line. Whenever he takes a call from a female caller, Phelps says, "Ooooh! It's a lady!"

This sketch became one of a handful of SNL sketches to spawn its own feature film.

Main article on the 2000 film: The Ladies Man (2000 film)

[edit] Delicious Dish

[edit] Issues with Jeffrey Kaufman

[edit] Morning Latte

This sketch features Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri playing two morning talk show hosts. Ferrell plays Tom Wilkins, a typical vapid and smiling male TV personality, and Oteri plays his scatterbrained female co-host, Cass Van Rye. The two are depicted as being extremely chipper, and tend to be overenthusiastic about each other's mundane life stories, and about their less-than-stellar guests. This is more than likely due to the large amounts of latte they consume during the course of a show.

The two begin the show by recounting recent events in their personal lives, (in the same vein as shows like Live with Regis and Kelly, which SNL itself has parodied after Oteri and Ferrell left the show), which are almost certainly never as exciting as their reactions to them. Cass usually tells a story about her and her husband Eli, in which she never fails to include the detail about her inability to conceive children. Tom then tells a story about a recent event involving him and his wife Gail. Cass almost immediately forgets the details of his story, prompting her to ask questions to which he has already stated the answers. There is also usually a producer off to the side who throws out random comments, which Cass inadvertently forgets over the course of the show. The producer eventually gets fed up with her absentmindedness and loses his temper, shouting obscenities (such as, "YOU STUPID BITCH!") at her. The two hosts become stunned at the reaction, until he informs them that he was "just kidding", to which they respond with incessant laughter.

They also have guests on the show, yet no matter how boring or insipid they are, the two remain extremely enthralled throughout the interview.

Morning Latte at the SNL Archive

[edit] Tiger Beat's Ultra Super Duper Dreamy Love Show

In this teenage-centered talk show, four excited teens would dish gossip and worship male celebrities. The show is hosted by Susie Jessica Dibbins, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar if she would ever host. Ana Gasteyer plays Gladys Stubbs, Cheri Oteri plays Sissy Germaine Daphne. The sketch's last appearance featured guest appearances from Buffy the Vampire Slayer stars David Boreanaz and Seth Green.


[edit] Pretty Living

[edit] Hello Dolly

[edit] The How Do You Say? Ah Yes, Show

This sketch was furnished as a talk show featuring Chris Kattan as Antonio Banderas, the show's host. Kattan portrayed Banderas as a naïve chauvinist whose only interest was to attempt to charm any female guest into sleeping with him, using his well-documented sex appeal and shaky-at-best mastery of the English language (as evidenced in the show's title). In the show, Banderas was always backed up by his three-man mariachi band, who aside from performing the musical duties on the show, constantly begged Banderas not to unbutton or remove his shirt, for it would be "too sexy".

[edit] Pimp Chat

[edit] Uncle Jemima

Uncle Jemima with his Pure Mash Liquor
Enlarge
Uncle Jemima with his Pure Mash Liquor

Uncle Jemima (played by Tracy Morgan), is the creator of "Uncle Jemima's Pure Mash Liquor" in this commercial parody. He is also the husband of Aunt Jemima, "the pancake lady", and the commercial is clearly intended to be a jab at old-time racial stereotypes perpetuated by products like Aunt Jemima. Uncle Jemima comments that while his wife says "sellin' booze is degradin' to our people", "I always say that black folk ain't exactly swellin' up with pride on account of you flippin' flapjacks".

Uncle Jemima's Pure Mash Liquor has a 95% alcohol content per volume, which means, as he states, "you get fucked up for less money!" The sketch was a combination of live-action and animation in the style of the Disney movie Song of the South, featuring cartoon birds and butterflies (which no one can see but Uncle Jemima himself). It is implied that the Disney-esque animations were figments of his imagination brought on by the consumption of his mash liquor. Uncle Jemima's motto is that his pure mash liquor is "more fun than pancakes!"

[edit] Episodes Featuring Uncle Jemima

[edit] External links

[edit] Veronica & Co.

[edit] Jarret's Room

Jarret's Room was a recurring sketch from 2000 to 2004. It's presented as a webcast opened up on a Macintosh computer as if by the viewer. The webcast is hosted by two stoner Hampshire College students, the jovial cool guy Jarret (Jimmy Fallon) and the chubby, well-baked Gobi (Horatio Sanz). In the Lucy Liu/Jay-Z episode, it is revealed that the only person who watches the show is an Icelandic teenager, Jeorg (played by Ashton Kutcher, but Kutcher didn't play Jeorg until he first hosted in Season 28). It frequently featured Seth Meyers as DJ Jonathan Feinstein starting in season 27 (Seann William Scott/Sum-41) and ending in season 29 (Lindsay Lohan/Usher).

The sketch benefitted greatly from the formula of Mike Myers's Wayne's World: Jarret, the always enthusiastic and childlike host (similar to Wayne), is offset by his awkward co-host; the format is all DIY and low-budget; and the guests are all friends of the host or co-host. However, in Jarrett's Room, the humor was more drug-influenced (particularly focusing on marijuana), rather than influenced on rock and roll and pop culture the way Wayne's World is.

In the Kirsten Dunst/Eminem episode, the actress played a co-ed who hosts a similar web-cam show to Jarret, also with a co-host, played by Amy Poehler. Because of these similarities, Jarret accused her of plagiarism.

In the Al Gore/Phish episode, Al Gore played a professor who reprimanded Jarrett and Gobi for being slackers while musical guest Phish appeared as themselves, also being reprimanded by the professor, who claims that they were once students of his, he asks if they where still playing their music and tells them to "get a job, you dirty hippies".

In the Matthew McConaughey/Dixie Chicks episode, the actor reprised his Dazed and Confused role of David Wooderson, who remains at Hampshire College.

[edit] Episodes Featuring Jarret's Room

[edit] References

[edit] Wake Up Wakefield!

Wake Up Wakefield! is the name of the morning announcement program for Wakefield Middle School fictionally set in San Jose, California, and broadcast from the school's A/V department, and hosted by two of its students, Megan (Maya Rudolph) and Sheldon (Rachel Dratch). The show begins with a voice over by Megan, featuring the words "Wake Up Wakefield" written on a chalkboard. Megan is a typical (if somewhat vacuous) middle school girl who has a crush on another student named Randy Goldman (Jimmy Fallon), which is borderline obsession (she wears a shirt with his likeness on it, and admits that she camps outside his house when he's sleeping). Sheldon is an awkward male nerd who always wears a polo shirt with a tie (apparently, in attempt to look like an anchorman for the program) and always addresses the audience, "Hey." Sheldon is Megan's best friend, and it is implied that he has a crush on her.

The show serves to address current events at the school, but usually sidelines into a platform for Megan to talk about her love of Randy Goldman. Megan and Sheldon are joined on the show by "Jazz x 10", a jazz group made up of Sheldon's friends from band class. Horatio Sanz often appears as Mr. Banglian, a teacher who inadvertently stumbles onto the show, and then when he realizes they're recording, proceeds to make an "important" announcement. Mr. Banglian often attempts to relate to the students by dancing, using hip hop slang, and adding an extraneous "-izz" infix to words (e.g. "hizzouse").

In one sketch, Ray Romano plays Sheldon's geeky father in a dead end job. In another, Jennifer Garner plays a geeky teen with a massive crush on Sheldon. They proceed to kiss, then Sheldon has to go because of band practice.

Sheldon always signs off with his trademark salute (similar to Doc Severinsen's on The Tonight Show).

[edit] America Undercover

An HBO show, similar to Fox's COPS series, where a white trash couple (played by Amy Poehler and Chris Kattan) fist fight and police (or other authority figures) are called in to break them up.

[edit] The Ferey Muhtar Talk Show

The Ferey Muthar Talk Show was a very short-lived sketch on SNL, appearing only twice (season 27 on the episode hosted by Ian McKellen and again on the season 28 episode hosted by Nia Vardalos). It was a talk show from Turkey, with Horatio Sanz as the host and Darrell Hammond as his sidekick.

[edit] Top O' the morning

Top o' the morning, starring Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon, was about an Irish morning talk show that takes place at a bar with hosts William Fitzpatrick and Patrick Fitzwilliam. Guests to the sketch included Dan Aykroyd as Willam's father Patrick Fitzpatrick, and Sen. John McCain as Frank McCourt. A recurring bit is the punching wall where William will say something to Patrick to make him punch the wall.

Example: William Fitzpatrick: So, Patrick.. your sister sure is stubborn, is she not? Patrick Fitzwilliam: And what do you mean by that? William Fitzpatrick: I had to ask her to take off her knickers four times before she did it! Patrick Fitzwilliam: (angry) That's my sister!! (Punches a hole in the wall) William Fitzpatrick: (impressed) Good. Well done.

[edit] Two A-Holes

Two A-Holes, starring Jason Sudeikis and Kristin Wiig as the eponymous characters whose behavior and mannerisms irritate a third party. Unlike most other recurring sketches, the full title of the sketch is announced by Don Pardo. The two characters' names are never given, and they only refer to one another as "babe".

[edit] Episodes Featuring Two A-Holes

[edit] Club Traxx

Kenan Thompson plays DJ Dynasty Handbag and he hosts a tv show dedicated to House Music on the fictional MTV channel MTV4, The Alternative to the Alternative. His co-host was Rachel Dratch as Tiara, but after Dratch left the show she was replaced with Andy Samberg as T-Shane. The sketch consits of DJ Dynasty Handbag introducing the hottest artist on the House music scene. The sketch has various cast members playing fictional artist singing samples of their songs, and after their performance they go to the couch to talk to DJ Dynasty and Tiara, who always manages to bore DJ Dynasty Handbag which he loudly points out to her as an insult.

[edit] Pranksters

Pranksters is a recurring sketch starring Seth Meyers as the host of a weekly television show which shows home videos of people pulling practical jokes on relatives and friends. The show begins with Seth introducing a hidden video of a prank sent in by a viewer, with several unnecessary sound effects added. The first video is generally harmless, a younger brother hiding a fake rat in his older sister's jewelry box for example. Subsequent videos are usually more alarming, as evidenced by guest host Christopher Walken's video of him "pranking" a coworker who always parks in his spot. The prank involved sneaking behind the coworker in the parking lot and clubbing him several times with a tire iron, ultimately leaving him unconscious.

While Seth Meyers usually found these videos reprehensible, the off camera sound effects guy usually did not, adding inappropriate noises whenever possible. Other highlights include: Christopher Walken accusing Seth Meyers of being a Stiffly Stifferson, adding that he likes to take Stiffly Stiffersons to his basement and "prank them for hours".

[edit] Episodes featuring Pranksters

[edit] Spy Glass

This sketch is a UK-based version of Access Hollywood where Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler play reporters dish gossip about celebrities inside and outside their hometown. American reporters Pat O'Brien (Jimmy Fallon) and Gene Shalit (Horatio Sanz) would make guest appearances.

Episodes:

A sketch on the May 1, 2004 dress rehearsal featured Lindsay Lohan as a teen beat correspondent, but was cut before broadcast.


[edit] Appalachian Emergency Room

Appalachian Emergency Room is a recurring sketch on that debuted on January 10, 2004 (an episode hosted by Jennifer Aniston) and draws on redneck stereotypes.

[edit] Recurring characters

  • The emergency room receptionist (Seth Meyers in a blond mullet wig) has appeared in every sketch so far. He simply sits at the desk and plays the straight man to the other characters. He is also portrayed as relatively articulate and intelligent. On the Matt Dillon/Arctic Monkeys episode, the receptionist's name is revealed to be Nerod.
  • Willie Tater (Fred Armisen) only appeared in two installments of Appalachian Emergency Room: on the Liam Neeson/Modest Mouse episode he comes in with an ice pack on his crotch, explaining that his penis slipped into a deep fryer while he was making breakfast; and on the Lindsay Lohan/Coldplay episode he has an ice pack on his face after playing "Star Wars" with his brother, using curling irons as light sabers.
  • Mrs. Denmont (Maya Rudolph) and her son Jake (Kenan Thompson) have appeared in the majority of the sketches. The first time Rudolph's character was shown was in the Ben Affleck/N.E.R.D episode in Season 29. In that episode, she was not called Mrs. Denmont, her son was a white boy with a mullet instead of Kenan Thompson's Jake character, and she came in with a tampon machine stuck to her hand (revealing that she got it stuck while trying to fish out the tampon when the machine ate her quarter). It wasn't until the episode hosted by Snoop Dogg (also in season 29) that Maya Rudolph's character be paired up with Kenan's Jake character and that she be known as Mrs. Denmont. Strangely enough, in the Matt Dillon/Arctic Monkeys episode, Rudolph and Thompson play the same characters, but their names are changed.
  • Netty Bo Dance (Amy Poehler) and Percy Bo Dance (Darrell Hammond), elderly tenants of a trailer park, appear in every sketch so far. Percy always explains an injury he sustained from his druggie son (played by Neil Young in the Jack Black/Neil Young episode, but was never shown before that episode and hasn't been shown since). Netty Bo Dance has a very slow, humorous shuffle-walk, and frequently declares that she will keep the hospital gown as a dress.
  • Tyler (Chris Parnell) is perhaps the most well-known character from the Appalachian Emergency Room. Every sketch, Tyler walks in and the receptionist asks, "What is it this time, Tyler?" Tyler proceeds to explain how some implausible object has wedged its way into his anus (although in the Jack Black/Neil Young episode, Tyler actually has a gift-wrapped watermelon stuck to his penis). In the Ben Affleck/N.E.R.D episode, Tyler explains that it is a canister of Axe Body Spray, and that if he moves in a certain way, he "can still make it spray."

[edit] Episodes featuring Appalachian Emergency Room

  • January 10, 2004: host Jennifer Aniston as Taytay Phillips, a pregnant woman brought in after she fell on a toilet seat.
  • March 13, 2004: host Ben Affleck as Rusty Kofich, a trucker whose ferret bit him in the crotch while he fed his ferrets naked
  • May 8, 2004: host Snoop Dogg as Booker Fricky, a man who injured his arm while going down a pool slide
  • November 13, 2004: host Liam Neeson as Marlon Weaver, a trucker who got seven hypodermic needles in his back after he and his fellow trucker (played by Rob Riggle) crashed their truck
  • May 21, 2005: host Lindsay Lohan as Jerakylnn Dubet, a high-school dropout searching for employment
  • December 17, 2005: host Jack Black as Sandy Joey Jefferson (a man dressed as Joseph as part of a live Nativity exhibit), Neil Young as Percy and Netty Bodance's oft-mentioned druggie son, and Johnny Knoxville as himself (who comes in with a 2x4 nailed to his "ABC" or "ass-ball connection)
  • March 11, 2006: host Matt Dillon as Perdy Spotly, as a fast-talking con man who chats with the receptionist while his wife steals a car in the parking lot.

[edit] External link

[edit] ¡Show Biz Grande Explosion!

¡Show Biz Grande Explosion! is a recurring sketch featuring Fred Armisen as Fericito and Horatio Sanz as Manuel Pantalones, who are Latin-American entertainers and comedians.

¡Show Biz Grande Explosion! was launched as a vehicle for Armisen's Fericito character, a nightclub comedian from Venezuela, which had appeared three times on Saturday Night Live already and was quite popular. The sketch is presented as being an English language show airing on the Univisión network, and is a parody of Latin American variety shows such as Sabado Gigante. This is the only sketch Fericito has appeared in, although he has also been in monologues and on Weekend Update.

[edit] Format

Mañuel introduces Fericito and the bit. Fericito plays his timbales and asks the audience, "Did you feel it?" Fericito then goes into a monologue with jokes. At the end of each joke, he says "¡Ay Dios Mio!" and makes an exaggerated sad face. If someone becomes offended by a joke he makes, Fericito says, "I’m jus' kidding!" while shrugging. Often Manuel or the guest of the night is the butt of these jokes.

After his monologue, Fericito interviews a special guest. Often the guest is an outsider to Latin culture who does not understand the nature or format of Fericito's jokes, or the guest him- or herself will try to crack a joke, which Fericto and Mañuel do not find funny.

[edit] Episodes featuring ¡Show Biz Grande Explosion!

[edit] References

[edit] The Prince Show

See entry: The Prince Show on Saturday Night Live musical sketches.

[edit] Deep House Dish

Deep House Dish is a recurring Saturday Night Live sketch that showcases house music acts. It is hosted by DJ Dynasty Handbag (Kenan Thompson) and Tiara Zee (Rachel Dratch). DJ Dynasty Handbag constantly berates Tiara for being so boring, even though from outward appearances she seems to be brain-damaged from heavy drug use. It's also known for its catchphrase "Ooo wee Tiara!" As of December 2006, Tiara's position of co-host has been replaced by T'Shane (Andy Samberg).

[edit] Episodes featuring Deep House Dish

[edit] The Zimmermans

The Zimmermans were a married couple portrayed by Chris Kattan and Cheri Oteri. As Jim and Laura Zimmerman, they would often meet other couples in various settings. Normal dialogue between the Zimmermans would often change course suddenly, as the couple work one another into a sexual frenzy which typically ends just as abruptly. Each sketch typically ends with one or both members of the other couple finally adopting behavior similar to the Zimmermans after extensive baiting, at which point the Zimmermans become shocked and appalled by the other's display.

[edit] Episodes featuring The Zimmermans

[edit] See also

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