‘Saturday Night Live’: The top ten sketches of the fall season are…
There were so many exits on “Saturday Night Live” this spring, we were legitimately worried that the show was not going to have the same sort of punch that it once had. “Boring” or “not the same” are descriptions used to talk about the show, since every generation seems to think that it was WAY funnier when they were younger than it is today.
But, we hope that the ten sketches below, which are our personal picks for the best of the season so far, prove to you that the show may just be as funny as it’s ever been this year. The comedy is different, but there are consistently great performances; there will never be a time when every sketch is a win, but so long as we have highlights like these, we are fine with a few duds along the way.
10. “New Cast Member or Arcade Fire,” Tina Fey – Such a fun, silly way to kind-of get to know some of the new people on the show, but the entire sketch was actually made courtesy of Kenan Thompson and Lorne Michaels, who in a cameo appearance stole the entire sketch and took every ounce of ego that Kenan once had.
9. “Last Call,” John Goodman – The sort of absurd final sketch of the night that typically doesn’t work at all, but this series of late-night bar hookups has been great dating back to last season. Goodman and Kate McKinnon’s chemistry and commitment to the physical part of this is what really made it pop.
8. “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” Jimmy Fallon – Fallon and Cecily Strong took what was a simple premise (the aftermath of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”), and turned it into what may be the most surprisingly sweet sketch of the entire season. This was one of two sketches this fall that gave us a different reaction beyond humor, but it worked better than Lady Gaga as an old woman did (as it was rather sad).
7. “Jebidiah Atkinson,” Lady Gaga – Such an absurd character created by Taran Killam that is part snarky reviewer, and part Civil War guy. It’s people like this who make us grateful that Twitter was not around during the 1800s. Atkinson has already returned to “Weekend Update” once, but the original one is still the best.
6. “Celebrity Family Feud,” Jimmy Fallon – A great assortment of impressions, from Justin Timberlake doing Fallon to a solid take on Ashton Kutcher. Not all of them were necessarily spot-on, but it was just the creative energy of all these people in one room that made this worthwhile.
5. “My Girl,” Kerry Washington – “The Fox” was an internet sensation throughout the fall, so it’s only appropriate that the writers and the cast came up with a great way of spoofing it. This video really doesn’t reach its full potential until the very end, when you realize that Jay Pharoah’s character is really a complete loser who not only loves butts, but also doesn’t even pay for his phone.
4. “We Did Stop,” Miley Cyrus – The government shutdown was a big story for both the real world and for “SNL” all season long, but nothing was more biting than this completely ridiculous take on it coupled with Miley’s hit “We Can’t Stop.” Her performance, coupled with Taran Killam’s willingness to actually do everything called on here, made this both very funny and very disturbing at the same time.
3. “Worst Lady on An Airplane,” Josh Hutcherson – When “SNL” lost Kristen Wiig, everyone went into a panic. But, we would say that in between Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, and the MVP of the past few weeks in Aidy Bryant, this show has never been better when it comes to an assortment of funny women. Aidy’s creation here is both completely true, and the best “Weekend Update” creation this year.
2. “(Do It On My) Twin Bed,” Jimmy Fallon – The best song that “SNL” came up to this fall was one that was very recent, but also very funny. It’s amazing that the show has not really touched before on the subject of going back home for the holidays, and did so in a way that produced so many great laughs. Fallon’s appearance with the ladies, coupled with the childhood photos, made this classic.
1. “Girls spoof,” Tina Fey – These top two sketches were both so good that we could have really swapped them out for weeks; but, the reason that we’ve got this brilliant take on Lena Dunham’s show #1 is because they captured almost every little part of this show perfectly, added something new (Blerta), and gave a great perspective about how self-involved all of these people are. Plus, we could watch it beyond just Christmas.
What was your favorite “SNL” sketch of the fall? Share your thoughts below.
SNLFan
December 29, 2013 @ 7:52 pm
While I did love the Fallon/Strong song, I’d have picked the Gaga as an old, forgotten has been skit for this slot. I loved that skit. Yeah, it made me sad, but it also had some great laughs in it. It was a more complex humor, which I greatly appreciated, and Gaga was so sweet in it.