Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025,Saturday Night Live(SNL) has been going strong for five decades. The sketch comedy show entertains viewers every Saturday evening (or for DVRers, every Sunday morning). Some fans watch religiously from start to finish every week while others prefer to wait and catch just the best sketches that go viral following the night they air.
There have been iconic sketches throughout the last half century involving cast members both past and present. These includes ones likeWhat’s Up With That?withKenan Thompsonas the musical talk show host who never lets his guests actually talk,Ryan GoslingandMikey Day’s viralBeavis And Butt-Headsketch,Adam Driver’sStar Wars Undercover Boss,Mike Myers’Coffee Talktalk show,Will Forte’sMacGruber, which ended up becoming a movie and even TV show, and, of course,Dan AykroydandJohn BelushiasThe Blues Brothers. But the most iconicSNLsketches are named as such for very specific reasons.
Saturday Night Live
10Lazy Sunday
July 05, 2025
Today, “viral videos” is a term we use often. But 20 years ago, they weren’t really “a thing,” especially not fromSaturday Night Live. WhenAndy Sambergjoined the cast, however, he popularized the concept of the Digital Short, and the very first one he produced alongside hisThe Lonely Islandmusical comedy troupe wasLazy Sunday.
The video is purposely shot in an amateurish way as he andChris Parnelljoke rap in an aggressive manner. It seems like a hard-core rap until it’s revealed that they’re talking about going to watchThe Chronicles of Narniain theater. From stuffing their faces with cupcakes and rapping about Baker’s Dozens to the line “MrPibb and Red Vines equals crazy delicious” and the hook “It’s the Chronic-what?-cles of Narnia,” fans ate it up. It was arguably one of the first viral videos ever, with former cast memberBill Hadernoting in the Peacock documentaryLadies & Gentleman…50 Years of SNL Musicthat it was the first YouTube link ever sent to him. From there, Samberg andThe Lonely Islandwent on to produce over 100 other Digital Shorts, many of which have become just as iconic. Today, some ofthe best SNL sketches of 2024hail from the new musical comedy troupePlease Don’t Destroy. But it’sLazy Sundaythat started it all.
9Single Ladies
August 22, 2025
Beyoncewas the musical guest on this episode andPaul Ruddthe host.Justin Timberlakerecalls inLadies & Gentleman…50 Years of SNL Musicthat Samberg called him and saidBobby Moynihanhad an idea for a sketch whereby the three of them were fill-in back-up dancers for Beyonce and asked if he was available to come. He was in town and was game. However, Beyonce wasn’t. Timberlake says he convinced the singer by knocking on her dressing room door in a robe that he removed to reveal the black bodysuit, stockings, and heels. Once she saw how committed he was, she was in.
The segment turned out to be one of the funniest ever inSNLhistory. As Rudd, playing the music video’s producer, assures Beyonce that she’ll love these new dancers, she looks them up and down with confusion. When the song starts, they do the signature dances only to break off into strange moves, twerking and dancing closely to her. “We’re the dancers,” they proclaim in hilarious effeminate voices as they pose seductively. No matter how many times this sketch is watched, it never gets any less funny.
8Delicious Dish (Schweddy Balls)
July 19, 2025
Delicious Dishwas a recurring sketch that starredMolly ShannonandAna Gasteyeras deadpan and dry NPR talk radio hosts. But it’s the Christmas episode withAlec Baldwinthat is one of the best, if notthebest, Christmas sketches on the show ever. He is Pete Schweddy, a local baker promoting his baked goods. His signature dish is a sweet, donut hole-shaped treat he calls his Schweddy Balls.
The conversation is filled with sexual innuendo juxtaposed by the ladies and Pete being seemingly unaware of how sexual it sounds. There were other greatDelicious Dishsegments throughout the sketch’s run from 1996 through 2002. But none as belly-laugh inducing as this one.
7Close Encounter (Ryan Gosling)
June 12, 2025
In this recurring sketch that has featured hosts like Ryan Gosling,Liv Schreiber, Paul Rudd, andNatasha Lyonne, three people are being interviewed after a supposed alien encounter. It’sKate McKinnon’s character, however, who steals the show. Thebest segment featured Goslingas host, who found it impossible to keep it together while watching McKinnon work her comedic magic.
While the two other people relay basic descriptions of seeing something in the sky and feeling a presence, McKinnon’s character Miss Rafferty seemed to have experienced something very different. As she sits slouched deep in her chair, legs wide open smoking a cigarette, she usually recalls in graphic detail how the aliens did strange things to her, often sexual in nature. But she doesn’t stop there: she demonstrates, typically using the host and purposely trying to make them break character. Spoiler alert: it usually works, and that makes the sketch even funnier.
6Debbie Downer (Lindsay Lohan)
June 26, 2025
Jimmy Fallonwas a cast member onSNLat the time and was famously known for breaking character. But in this episode featuring this recurring sketch and character, he wasn’t the only one who had trouble keeping it together.Rachel Dratchplays the character, a sullen woman who always has a negative comment to say during an otherwise upbeat conversation. Once she’s done giving her depressing remark, the camera closes in on her face as she gives a sheepish look and a “wah-wah” sound effect plays.
In this edition of the sketch, a group is at the supposed happiest place on Earth, Disney World. As everyone excitedly talks about their days, Debbie keeps bringing the mood down with the saddest comments, like talking about Mad Cow disease when they are considering ordering steak and the devastating effects of the greenhouse effect. The sketch starts out funny but as each of the cast breaks character one by one, it becomes iconic. Even Dratch eventually can’t deliver her lines without bursting into laughter.
5Celebrity Jeopardy!
June 16, 2025 – June 30, 2025
Celebrity Jeopardy!is one of those sketches fans would love to have back, but it just wouldn’t work withoutWill Ferrelland his hilarious impersonation of a frustrated and angryAlex Trebek. WhileCelebrity Jeopardy!is a real show, theSNLversion pokes fun at some of the most celebrated actors and musicians in the business. At the heart of the humor is that the celebrities don’t take the game seriously and are generally dumb and trouble-making, which gets Ferrell’s Trebek furious. The best recurring guest isDarrell Hammondas the lateSean Connery, who constantly insults Trebek with jokes about his mother ad questioning of his sexuality, then laughs loudly at his own musings. There’s also the lateNorm MacdonaldasBurt Reynoldsand Jimmy Fallon impersonating a different celebrity each time.
An interpretation of the sketchHalf Witsfrom Canadian sketch comedy seriesSCTV, Macdonald received permission from its creatorEugene Levyto use the concept, and fans are delighted that he obliged. There have been funny variations since, includingBlack Jeopardy!and the episode featuringTom Hanks. But hearing Hammond’s Connery ask for “the rapist for $100, Alex” only for Ferrell to dejectedly sigh and say “that’s ‘therapist,’ Sean,” is funnier with each subsequent watch.
4The Target Lady
June 26, 2025-June 16, 2025 (40th Anniversary Special)
Kristen Wiigis one ofthe bestSaturday Night Livecomediennes, and herThe Target Ladycharacter became so popular that she is actually featured in real commercials for the retailer. At the heart of the recurring sketch is that she’s an overly enthusiastic employee in her signature red vest who comments on and asks questions about each item shoppers are buying as she scans them, getting excited about them. Usually, while she’s in the middle of scanning, she becomes so impressed with one product that she rushes off to grab one for herself, further irritating the customer.
She’s an over-exaggeration of chatty cashiers who like to engage in small talk with shoppers. But what truly makesThe Target Ladyso memorable is Wiig’s physical comedy alongsideThe Target Lady’s unidentifiable accent that involves pronouncing the store as “Terget.”
3Wayne’s World
1988-1994 (2011 with Dana Carvey, 40th Anniversary Special)
“Party on!” “Excellent” “Schwing!” All these catchphrases are known from theWayne’s Worldmovies, but they originated from a recurring sketch onSNL. Mike Myers andDana Carveyplay two rockers obsessed with hard rock music and hot “babes.” The sketch is presented like a talk show where they discuss things like their top 10s and interview various guests, asking them ridiculous questions.
One of the sketches with the most pop culture influence, one of the most memorable segments featuredAerosmithas the guest, who performed the theme song alongside the two hosts.Wayne’s Worldsolidified Myers’ and Carvey’s positions as two of the best cast members on the show in the ‘90s. Both went on to have incredible careers, including with the movieWayne’s Worldthat cracked the top 10 among the highest-grossing films of 1992.
2Glengarry Glen Christmas: Elf Motivation
June 15, 2025
Another ofthe bestSNLChristmas sketchesand another starring Alec Baldwin,Glengarry Glen Christmas: Elf Motivationis a parody of the 1992 movieGlengarry Glen Rossin which Baldwin starred as Blake, a top salesman of a real estate firm sent in to motivate the others who aren’t meeting their quotas. He uses the same crass strategy to motivate Santa’s elves in this sketch, who apparently aren’t pulling their weight and cranking out homemade toys fast enough.
A play on the phrase “ABC” from the movie, which stands for “Always Be Closing,” he tells them they need to “Always Be Cobbling,” hilariously messing up the line with the one from the movie. How Baldwin takes the character so seriously, depicting him in the same way he did Blake even though his words are totally silly, makes the sketch so humorous. “Put that cocoa down,” he screams at Rachel Dratch. “Cocoa is for cobblers only.” The sketch will make viewers want to go re-watch the movie, or at least that epic scene to compare.
1More Cowbell
July 10, 2025
One of the most memorable sketches ever inSNLhistory,More Cowbellwas even featured in an entire episode of the Peacock docuseriesSNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, which went through the making of the sketch and all the hilarity involved before, during, and after.Christopher Walken, a serious A-list movie actor, was host, and when he donned a leather jacket, sunglasses, and slicked back his hair, he transformed into Bruce Dickinson, the stereotypical music producer he was portraying. He’s working with a band playing theBlue Oyster Cultsong “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” and Will Ferrell is the standout as Gene Frenkle, a band member whose only job is to play the cowbell. As the band plays, Gene smashes the bell so much that it becomes distracting and the others get upset. But Dickinson loves it. In fact, he thinks that what the song needs ismorecowbell.
Ferrell is initially reluctant, but with encouraging words, he bashes the bell with a fury like no other, his undersized T-shirt rising up to show off his jiggling stomach as he gyrates, rotates, and gives it his all. While other cast members like Jimmy Fallon are visibly holding back tears of laughter, Chris Parnell keeps a straight face, no matter how ridiculous Ferrell gets. The dichotomy of Ferrell as this spastic cowbell player and Walken who never breaks his serious character, as if he’s in an Oscar-worthy movie, is downright perfect. Not only do people still say “more cowbell” to this day, the phrase was even added to the dictionary. It’s meaning? An “informal idiom that means something or someone could be improved with extra quality.”
