NationStates Jolt Archive

OK, this board needs a good discussion over the greatest sketch comedy show of all time. "Saturday Night Live."

Discuss anything from your favorite era, sketch, cast member, or how you think the show has declined in the past decade.

To start this off, I'll list favorite sketches of mine. They are from multiple eras.

Jeopardy (I'll take the rapist for 200.)

Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood: Classic parody of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. My all time favorite sketch on SNL is the one where he gets the picnic basket on his doorstep. "Hey boys and girls. Here's a riddle. What is not exactly white not exactly black and has my eyes? It's our word of the day. *points to blackboard with word BASTARD on it* Can you use this word in a sentence boys and girls? A cab driver can. Do you know where babies come from? When a man loves a woman very much they lay down and the man gives the woman $20."

Ebony and Ivory (You're as blind as a bat and I have sight.)

Consumer Report (Mainway Toys for Christmas and Halloween. All time favorite is Johnny Human Torch, Bag-O-Glass, and Invisible Pedestrian)

E Buzz Miller's Art Classics (You have to see it. It's hilarious)

Landshark

Chevy Chase's weekly fall

Buhweet Sings (and Buhweet gets shot is funny too)

Greek Restaurant (a parody of Chicago's Billy Goat Tavern, a great burger place also famous for the fact their founder put the billy goat curse on the Cubs. They yell Cheeburger when you order a cheeseburger. Funny to see a parody of a Chicago establishment.)

Superfans (DA BEARS!!! Who will win, Ditka or a Hurricane?)

Waynesworld (SHWING!!!!)

Hans and Franz (We are going to pump you up)

Weekend Update (depends on the era, but my favorite was with Jane Curtain and Bill Murray)

Rosanrosanadanda (part of early weekend update)

Point-counterpoint (part of early weekend update. Jane you ignorant slut)

King Tut (Steve Martin is great)

Coneheads (the idea for this sketch came when Dan Ackroyd was high)

Matt Foley Motivational Speaker (I live in a van down by the river)

THere are so many more sketches

OK, this board needs a good discussion over the greatest sketch comedy show of all time. "Saturday Night Live."
Better than Flying Circus?

Where's cowbell!?

HAHAHAHA! I love SNL, but sadly was born too late to see it's glory days.
They seriously need to improve, I have laughed much less at them the last few years (or maybe that's partially me growing older, since now at almost 14 I only laugh when someone trips on my wheelchair;) ). They're definitely in a slump. I maintain hope though.

BTW, is it just me or have they been doing fewer episodes per season?:confused:

SNL was one of the greats. Sadly, sometime shortly after the Waynes World time, they did a nose dive, and haven't been interesting since.

Where's cowbell!?
Nowhere because it isn't funny.

If you think all the crap they have had when Will Ferrell was there was funny, I pity you for you obviously missed the best times of SNL. The Chris Farley, David Spade, Adam Sandler era. Then there was the early years. Coneheads was hilarious. Dana Carvey and Darrell Hammond were both a couple of the best players SNL has had.

Right on with Mr. Robinson's neighbourhood. Let's not forget the Eddie Murphy's portayal of Buckwheat. OTAY!!!!!
Adam Sandler's opera man was great. And his Chanukkah Song.
Best news guys: Well I always liked Norm MacDonald. And what's his name, doh can't remmeber, had his own late night talk show. He was great too.

Nowhere because it isn't funny.

If you think all the crap they have had when Will Ferrell was there was funny, I pity you for you obviously missed the best times of SNL. The Chris Farley, David Spade, Adam Sandler era. Then there was the early years. Coneheads was hilarious. Dana Carvey and Darrell Hammond were both a couple of the best players SNL has had.
And then there were the real early years. The original cast was so funny. One of the great parts that was dropped was right before a commercial, when the camera would focus on someone in the audience and they would be captioned with something silly.

Then there were the 'commercials' for Gravel and the Bass-O-matic. Pretty funny stuff.

Nowhere because it isn't funny.You GOTTA have that cowbell!

Celebrity Jepordy Japan Us relations (http://www.devilducky.com/media/31120/) has to be my favorite one of the jepordy parodies.

SNL is too corporate these days they have NO BALLS and are afraid of experimenting with humor in FEAR they will loose their demograp(HICS), so screw em if they are afraid to take comedy to an unseen area. Till then ill stick with Mad TV a vast inprovement of SNL.

Rich

It is Sunday Morning!

Better than Flying Circus?


maybe should be greatest american sketch show.


SNL had some great years it's a shame the only thing worth watching on SNL anymore is the news thing and I don't even know if that is worth watching anymore ( I stopped watching after Wil Ferrel left)

one of my personal favorites were the Wild and Crazy Guys. also the Land Shark

Best years were the 70s-early 80s. Granted I wasn't alive till '82 but I watched a lot of nick at nite as a kid.

Let's also not forget Mr. Robinsons Neighborhood.

my favorite character was Rosanne Rosannadana

my all time favorite sketch is a difficult question I loved the whole "land shark" thing although it's one of those things that gets funnier over time, the first time you watch it, it's not so funny, but after they did it a few times it was hilarious (although I don't know if it's funny now because it's funny or because it's nostalgic for me)

I really liked Dan Akroyd and Steve Martin as "two wild and crazy guys", that is still funny.

When I was in highschool I liked the "Spartan Cheerleaders" sketch

there hasn't been anything good on there in a while, I suppose the most recent thing that was uberhilarious was the sketch with Christopher Walken and the census taker.


The Census

Census-Taker.....Tim Meadows
Mr. Leonard.....Christopher Walken


Census-Taker: Mr. Leonard? I'm with the U.S. Census Bureau. We sent you a Census form, but you failed to return it to us.

Mr. Leonard: My mail is piled up like crazy.

Census-Taker: Yeah. Well, I just need to fill out this Census form with you. Uh.. how many people live in this residence?

Mr. Leonard:Oh, boy.. good question. I'm bad with numbers.. Maybe 80.

Census-Taker: 80 people live in this apartment?

Mr. Leonard: Seems high, doesn't it? Not 80. How about 4? I don't know.. I'm so bad at guestimating..

Census-Taker: Well, just take your time, and count.

Mr. Leonard: Okay.. there's me.. my wife.. our plants.. we have some candy bars..

Census-Taker: Well, you know, we don't count candy bars or plants..

Mr. Leonard: Well, then, there's just the two of us. Boy, I really overshot with the 80!

Census-Taker: Listen, don't worry about it. I'm gonna put you down as the Primary Resident, okay? Now, are you currently employed?

Mr. Leonard: Yeah.. part of the time.

Census-Taker: Well, you work part-time. How many days of the week?

Mr. Leonard: Every day.. but just part of the day. From 9 to 5.

Census-Taker: So, you work a full day?

Mr. Leonard: I wouldn't say that. There are huge chunks of time.. at night.. where I'm just asleep. For hours. It's ridiculous.

Census-Taker: No, it's not that ridiculous. Mr. Leonard, do you own or rent this apartment?

Mr. Leonard: Sure. You have to ask one of the other 79 people.

Census-Taker: You mean your wife?

Mr. Leonard: Yeah.

Census-Taker: Well, can I talk to her, then?

Mr. Leonard: She won't answer you. She's a bobcat.

Census-Taker: You got a bobcat in there?

Mr. Leonard: Well, I have a permit. [ reaches into apartment and pulls out a sheet of paper ] Here you go.

Census-Taker: [ examines paper ] This is a permit to run a nail salon.

Mr. Leonard: Wrong one! Wrong one! [ pulls another sheet of paper out of his apartment ]

Census-Taker: [ examines paper ] This is a permit to do street performances.

Mr. Leonard: Yeah. My wife's a big part of the act.

Census-Taker: [ shaking head ] You know what? Fine. [ changing subject ] Mr. Leonard, are you a citizen of the United States?

Mr. Leonard: I have dual-citizenship with the United States and Florida.

Census-Taker: Florida is a part of the United States.

Mr. Leonard: Don't push your politics on me, pal. All's I know is when I turned 50, I was issued a Florida passport. [ hands him the "passport" ] Here you go.

Census-Taker: [ examining "passport" ] Alright.. this is a novelty birthday card. And it says, "You're over the hill. Here's a passport to Florida." This is not a real passport.

Mr. Leonard: I don't know.. you know? Whenever I go to Florida, I show it at the border, and they always let me in!

Census-Taker: Listen, Mr. Leonard. A real passport wouldn't have a picture of a sexy nurse on it. This is a joke card.

Mr. Leonard: Well.. it's a hell of a forgery!

Census-Taker: [ exasperated ] Okay, let's just proceed as if this were going really well. Now, how long have you lived at this address?

Mr. Leonard: Oh, man! There you go with the numbers again!

Census-Taker: Just take your time.

Mr. Leonard: Well, what do most people say?

Census-Taker: That's not important!

Mr. Leonard: I feel an enormous amount of pressure to get this right. I want to win that car!

Census-Taker: [ shaking his head ] There's no car, Mr. Leonard! How long have you lived here?

Mr. Leonard: Alright, when I moved in, it was the Spring, and Clinton was President.. I'd just gotten out of jail.. I'd say an hour.

Census-Taker: Alright, let me go over this again, then. You are a convicted criminal, living alone in an apartment with a bobcat. And you work 56 hours a week as a street performer.

Mr. Leonard: When you say it like that, my life sounds pretty damn good!

Census-Taker: You know what? I've talked to a lot of people all over this country.. and your life is pretty damn good. You wanna get a beer?

Mr. Leonard: You know, I'd love to, but.. [ points into apartment ] ..you know.. the ol' ball and chain..

Census-Taker: Alright. Take care.

Mr. Leonard: Have a good one. [ returns into the apartment to find his bobcat/wife growling at him ] Again?! We just did it!


sorry for the long post but I had to post it.

OK, this board needs a good discussion over the greatest sketch comedy show of all time. "Saturday Night Live."

You misspelled "Kids in the Hall". :p

I do like SNL, always have, but it's had its dry periods. Kids was consistent. Maybe you meant SCTV? ;)

God I love Canadians.

I've seen reruns of shows where there was lots of blood.

That's hilarious. :D

Sadly, we don't see those anymore. :(

My currently favorite is Debbie Downer. Absolutely Hi Larious. :D (plus, Dratch is hot. :fluffle: :D )

You misspelled "Kids in the Hall". :p

I do like SNL, always have, but it's had its dry periods. Kids was consistent. Maybe you meant SCTV? ;)

God I love Canadians.
"Kids in the Hall" was great because it was also created by Lorne Michaels, the creator and Executive Producer of SNL.

SNL hasn't been really good in 5 years, but during its prime it was better than Flying Circus (not a shot at Flying Circus, I love that too and have all the videos.)

SNL launched many careers.

I think the last great year was 1995, then most of that cast left and the cast that replaced it wasn't as good, but they were still somewhat funny. I'd say the 2000-2001 season was the last funny one. SNL may recover though. It sucked in the mid 80s after Eddie Murphy left and recovered to become hilarious once more in the late 80s and early 90s.

More good skits

Liars Anonymous

Sprockets

Churchlady (Well isn't that special)

The Ladie's Man

Czeck Brothers (We're 2 wild and crazy guys)

Any Presidential debate (SNL has a special talent at doing those)

Miss Litella (GIlda Radner as the deaf news anchor. I love how she always called Jane Curtain a bitch.)

Total Bastard Airlines (bu bye)

Santa Wrap (Belushi as the hobo santa is awesome)

Schweaty Balls is hilarious too (I love it when Alec Baldwin hosts)

"Cheeburger, Cheeburger, Cheeburger, Pepsi."

"No Coke, Pepsi"

Tarzan, Tonto and Frankenstein singing Christmas songs.

They haven't really been any good since the crew with Phil Hartman.

The best were the people that made it famous! Hmmmm The Samurai skits, "Jan you ignorant Slot!".....

Hey! If you were a hot dog, and you were starving, would you eat yourself?

I thought you said this was about a comedy show? Not a depressing soap-opera talk show.

SNL hasn't been funny in years...Will Farrel was the last of the good ones...

I think the last great year was 1995, then most of that cast left and the cast that replaced it wasn't as good, but they were still somewhat funny. I'd say the 2000-2001 season was the last funny one. SNL may recover though. It sucked in the mid 80s after Eddie Murphy left and recovered to become hilarious once more in the late 80s and early 90s.

That's true ... any show that can survive Gilbert Gottfried definately has merit.

It's gone way downhill since Will Farrell and Ana Gasteyer left, but the era around 1999 to 2002 was actually pretty good. I've seen some of the older shows, and the funniest seem to be in the Phil Hartman era, although anything with Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray, or Steve Martin in it is usually a classic.

My favorite skit was Will Farrel's Janet Reno Dancefest skit where the real Janet Reno comes crashing through a wall to break up the party. A close second was the "Days of our Lives" treatment of the 2000 election debacle.

maybe should be greatest american sketch show.

*CoughWhoseLineIsItAnywaycough*


Sorry just clearing my throat;)

Too bad it sucks now.

"Cheeburger, Cheeburger, Cheeburger, Pepsi."

"No Coke, Pepsi"
If you ever are in Chicago, go to Billygoat Tavern. Belushi wrote that sketch to poke fun of the Billygoat Tavern. (The founder of the restaurant, Sam Sianis, is also famous for putting a curse on the Chicago Cubs in 1945.)

It's gone way downhill since Will Farrell and Ana Gasteyer left, but the era around 1999 to 2002 was actually pretty good. I've seen some of the older shows, and the funniest seem to be in the Phil Hartman era, although anything with Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray, or Steve Martin in it is usually a classic.

My favorite skit was Will Farrel's Janet Reno Dancefest skit where the real Janet Reno comes crashing through a wall to break up the party. A close second was the "Days of our Lives" treatment of the 2000 election debacle.
It was so hilarious during the fall of 2000 during the election. I remember a Weekend Update where they pointed out how Bush and Gore tried to outdo eachother in surrounding themselves with flags.

The Janet Reno thing was a classic too.

If you ever are in Chicago, go to Billygoat Tavern. Belushi wrote that sketch to poke fun of the Billygoat Tavern. (The founder of the restaurant, Sam Sianis, is also famous for putting a curse on the Chicago Cubs in 1945.)
I will. That's probably why it was so funny. I, Rosanne Rosanna Danna was so funny because she was copied after a local news figure in New York. I visited a friend in Queens one time and we made a point of watching her.

*CoughWhoseLineIsItAnywaycough*


Sorry just clearing my throat;)
*CoughHasToBeTheBritishVersionThoughCough*

must be catching... :rolleyes:

Better than Flying Circus?

Great in the sense of being very very large. Add up all the years it's been on the air and all the cast members it has had and it is truly great in terms of sheer size.

As for quality, it is designed to be consistently mediocre. Whenever a single cast member gets too popular they get kicked off. Lorne Greene (one of the shows creators) calls the cast the "Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time Players."

That said my favorite sketches have been the fake news with Norm McDonald and now the fake news with Tina Fey. I know Tina Fey has co-anchors, but the quality doesn't seem to differ with them. However after Norm and before Tina they had Colin Quinn and he sucked. Not only are all his jokes predicated on ignorance, but he has no ability to tell a joke. He's like a walking parody of comedians who tell that joke about the airplane black box.

Great in the sense of being very very large. Add up all the years it's been on the air and all the cast members it has had and it is truly great in terms of sheer size.

As for quality, it is designed to be consistently mediocre. Whenever a single cast member gets too popular they get kicked off. Lorne Greene (one of the shows creators) calls the cast the "Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time Players."

That said my favorite sketches have been the fake news with Norm McDonald and now the fake news with Tina Fey. I know Tina Fey has co-anchors, but the quality doesn't seem to differ with them. However after Norm and before Tina they had Colin Quinn and he sucked. Not only are all his jokes predicated on ignorance, but he has no ability to tell a joke. He's like a walking parody of comedians who tell that joke about the airplane black box.
If you like the "Weekend Update" segment, you have to see the older ones. I mean the ones with Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtain, and Dan Ackroyd. Bill and Jane were the main anchors while Gilda played a couple of different characters like Rosanne Rosanandana. Dan was the station manager and took part in Point-Counterpoint where he always said "Jane you ignorant slut."

Oh BTW. Goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow.

If you like the "Weekend Update" segment, you have to see the older ones. I mean the ones with Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtain, and Dan Ackroyd. Bill and Jane were the main anchors while Gilda played a couple of different characters like Rosanne Rosanandana. Dan was the station manager and took part in Point-Counterpoint where he always said "Jane you ignorant slut."

Oh BTW. Goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow.
In fact, the Point-Counterpoint was based on a segment that Shana Alexander and James Kilpatrick did on '60 Minutes' at the time. While Kilpatrick never did call Alexander an ignorant slut, you could see that he was thinking it from time to time.

Wasn't Chevy Chase the main anchor during those Weekend Udates? "I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not" was the trademark intro that I remember.

Chevy was the anchor during the 1st season of the show. They also had Gilbert Morris doe the news for the hard of hearing where he would loudly repeat the top story at the end of the broadcast.

Chevy was the anchor during the 1st season of the show. They also had Gilbert Morris doe the news for the hard of hearing where he would loudly repeat the top story at the end of the broadcast.
Only the first season? I sure thought it was more years than that. That was thirty years ago, so I'll give my memory a pass on that one.