The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 30, 1995, and May 18, 1996, the twenty-first season of SNL.
A Will Ferrell and David Koechner and Nancy Walls sketch. Debuted September 30, 1995.
A Cheri Oteri sketch. Debuted September 30, 1995.
A Cheri Oteri sketch. Debuted October 21, 1995.
A Molly Shannon sketch. Debuted October 28, 1995.
A Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri sketch. Debuted November 11, 1995.
A Norm Macdonald sketch. Debuted November 11, 1995.
The British Fops, or Lucien Callow (Mark McKinney) and Fagan (David Koechner) appeared in several episodes during the SNL 1995-1996 seasons. The characters first appeared on Weekend Update as the presidents of the Norm Macdonald fanclub, but later appeared in several other sketches, namely monologues. The Fops would appear in late Restoration period clothing, and used a silly take on the period's language, mannerisms, and culture, not sparing the subsequent perversion also known for the time. Debuted November 11, 1995.
Joe Blow was played by Colin Quinn. A blue collar worker by trade, Blow came onto Weekend Update as a New York public service to deliver local news from Brooklyn, New York. Most of his "news" included family problems and neighborhood gossip. Joe Blow regularly concluded his commentary by asking anchor Norm Macdonald if he would join him for "a beer", which Macdonald (who clearly did not want to socialize with him) would avoid by making up an excuse, or putting it off until a later date. Debuted November 18, 1995.
Gary Macdonald was the fictitious younger brother of anchor Norm Macdonald. Played by David Koechner, he was supposed to be the funnier of the two Macdonald brothers, but would be overcome by fear and freeze on camera and end nearly everything he said with "no". Because of this, his commentary consisted of choppy, nervously delivered lines such as, "Hey, Janet Reno. Hey, how does that song go, '(Dude) Looks Like A Lady,' no." Debuted December 2, 1995.
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. The sketch would usually begin with Italian accordion music and Breuer cheerfully saying "Hey! I am Joe Pesci! I got my own show, my cameraman, and all my friends!" Debuted December 2, 1995.
Pesci's personality on the show does not so much resemble the real Joe Pesci as it does Tommy DeVito or Nicky Santoro, his characters from Goodfellas and Casino respectively. 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. The first sketch featured Anthony Edwards as Macaulay Culkin, Pesci's co-star in Home Alone. Pesci hit him on the head with a paint can as he was angered by the fact people laughed at Macaulay Culkin doing it to Pesci. 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. One episode featuring then Mayor Rudy Giuliani was about to get beaten when his security detail grabs Pesci, then Giuliani grabs a Stickball stick and proceeded to beat the crap out of Pesci. Pesci also spares actors who, like him, are of Italian ancestry and who came to prominence in films about the Sicilian Mafia. However, while Italian-Americans were often spared physical assault, Pesci may make disparaging remarks, such as when he had his My Cousin Vinny costar Marisa Tomei, Pesci mentions her Academy Award and comments that it must have been quid pro quo ("Whos Joe did you DiMaggio to win that?"), prompting an angry Tomei to state she won it fair and square and storm off the set. Kevin Spacey appeared as Al Pacino on one episode, in which the two of them team up against Rodney Dangerfield (portrayed by Darrell Hammond). 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 some things" (a line from Oscar winner "Raging Bull", the first movie to star both De Niro and Pesci), and "Li'l bit" (a shortened version of a line from Goodfellas (where De Niro accuses another mobster of being a "little bit out of line" for insulting Pesci's character), another film starring the two actors). The real Pesci and De Niro surprisingly appeared on one episode, criticizing Breuer for playing caricatures of their film characters. Quinn suddenly says he is not DeNiro, but "Colin Quinn from Remote Control." Breuer's and Quinn's weak defense of themselves insults Pesci, who asks De Niro 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.
A cel-shaded rendering of an episode of The Joe Pesci Show appears in a scene of the movie Waking Life where the television is scanning through several channels.
A 1990s sitcom about a bald-headed, foul mouthed gangsta rapper played by Tim Meadows who usually appeared wearing only a Speedo or leather pants. He first appeared in a sketch with Teri Hatcher about a sitcom called "The Princess and the Homeboy". Debuted December 2, 1995.
Visiting from the Bronx Zoo, Lenny the Lion (Colin Quinn in a lion suit) would come onto Weekend Update to talk about the plight of the animals, all of which had parallel problems to real life issues going on in The Bronx. Lenny would always end his rant with the line "Fur is murder". Debuted December 9, 1995.
A Will Ferrell and Tim Meadows and David Alan Grier sketch. Debuted December 9, 1995.
A David Koechner sketch. Debuted January 13, 1996.
A Will Ferrell and David Koechner and Mark McKinney and Tim Meadows sketch. Debuted January 20, 1996.
A Tim Meadows sketch. Debuted February 10, 1996.
A Chris Kattan sketch. Debuted March 16, 1996.
The Roxbury Guys was a 1990s sketch about two brothers named Doug and Steve Butabi (although their names and relationship to one another were never revealed until the subsequent release of the film) who always got dressed up in rayon suits to go clubbing, where they would attempt to pick up women. They were played by Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell respectively. Their trademark was bobbing their heads in unison to the song "What Is Love" by Haddaway, which always played throughout the duration of each sketch. They were extremely unfortunate with the women at the clubs, often gyrating against them in an attempt to get them to dance, but always causing a negative reaction. The sketches often featured a third member of the group, similar to the others in appearance and actions, performed by that week's host (such as Tom Hanks, Martin Short, Jim Carrey, Alec Baldwin, and Sylvester Stallone); this character was usually credited as "Barhop". The final running of the sketch during the September 26, 1998 episode featured another team of two club-hopping brothers: Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd reprise their early-SNL roles as the "Wild and Crazy Guys". Debuted March 23, 1996.
A Phil Hartman sketch. Debuted March 23, 1996.
Goat Boy was a half human-half goat hybrid SNL character who hosted the fake MTV show, Hey, Remember the 80s. He was played by Jim Breuer. At the outset, Goat Boy was a typical veejay/talk show host who would announce 80s video clips and introduce guests from the era. During the sketches, he would start braying and kicking and would be subdued by scientists standing by with electric prods. Debuted May 11, 1996.
A Colin Quinn sketch. Debuted May 11, 1996.