Summary
“Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” It’s the famous phrase that closes the first skit of the night and announces the start ofSaturday Night Live. It’s been one of the rallying cries of television for decades, and some truly hysterical skits tend to follow these words whenever they are said. These sketches can feature daring satire, political commentary, bombastic characters, and offensive language.
Saturday Night Livehas been on television since 1975 and remade the “comedy skit” into a genre all its own. When the show debuted, it was calledNBC’s Saturday Night, and the host was none other than notoriously edgy comedian George Carlin. It’s almost impossible to choose only a few as thebestSNLskitsin that long and distinguished history, but it’s certainly fun to try.
Updated July 31, 2025, by Kristy Ambrose:Just when the public seems to lose interest in the antics of late-night sketch comedy, something happens in the pop culture zeitgeist to bring new life to the show. Modern skits have included movie trailers, video games, and TV show parodies, in addition to the classic skit comedy. As such, there is an endless supply of great SNL skits, and more will just keep coming. Some things have changed about SNL since the old days, but the framework of a celebrity host, a musical guest, and a rotating staff of comedy writers and actors has remained the same.
25Career Day
Original Air Date: Jul 15, 2025
This was the second time Adam Driver had appeared as the celebrity guest host on SNL, and he crushed it playing the role of Abraham H. Parnassus in the skit"Career Day.“Driver was playing a parody of a crusty old oil baron, the most obvious example being the main character from the filmThere Will Be Blood.
The debut from writer Eli Coyote Mandel was an instant hit, with Driver burying fellow actors who were just trying to hold it in. Pete Davidson, who plays the hapless son Mortecai, just has to deal with daddy’s archaic tantrum along with the derision of his peers and try not to burst into laughter.
24Cobras & Panthers
Original Air Date: June 28, 2025
This choice for thefunniestSNLskitwouldn’t be the same without the deadpan of the great Norm Macdonald, who can’t figure out why his hardened gang buddies, the Cobras, keep breaking into song. It makes fun of musicals, but specifically, the kind that take place in what would normally be a gritty and terrifying world where there’s very little singing.
Part of this satire is a reference to the popularity of musicals likeWest Side Story, and the absurdity carries on until the rival gang shows up. It seems like they’re tough guys at first, but then they also break into song, complete with choreography. By the time the skit ends, nobody is mad anymore, with the exception being the frustrated gang leader who has already bailed in frustration.
23The 2016 Election Night Special
Original Air Date: November 13th, 2016
As the first show after the election that saw Donald Trump elected as the President of the United States, this episode ofSNLwas more focused than others. Even the cold open had a somber tone, but by the time this skit came along, the laughs had returned, even if they were on the bitter side.
The scene is an upper-middle-class apartment with a few friends, obviously Hillary supporters, smugly predicting the outcome just as the official reporting is getting underway. Only one of them,played by Dave Chapelle, expresses some skepticism. As the night wears on, however, his “I told you so” starts to shine through just as Chris Rock arrives.
22HBO Mario Kart Trailer
Original Air Date: Saturday, Feb. 4
The HBO release ofThe Last Of Usreceived a lot of positive attention, and it appears that the Golden Age of video games to live-action adaptations has arrived. With that in mind, it doesn’t mean that every video game can make a good movie. WhenPedro Pascal hostedSNL, he starred in this mock trailer for a series based on a popular video game, and the combination hilariously doesn’t work.
It looks likeThe Last of Us,but it’s not.There’s a lot of drama that surroundsMario Kart,as it’s the kind of game that can ruin friendships, but this trailer makes it look more likeMad Max: Fury Road.How Pascal keeps a straight face as the Stoic Mario, especially after he’s joined by a trash-talking shot-gun-wielding Luigi, is anyone’s guess. Although this is a more recent addition toSNL, it’ll likely go down in history as one of thefunniestSNLskitsof all time.
21Ronald Reagan Press Conference, aka, “Earpiece”
Original Air Date: July 05, 2025
It’s one of SNL’s most infamous cold opens,featuring Robin Williamsin the part of a confused and flustered Ronald Reagan, struggling with an earpiece at a press conference. Believe it or not, concerns about the diminished capacity of aging world leaders aren’t exactly new, and questions were raised about President Reagan’s mental capacity in the late 1980s.
The two aides helping the President were played by two other actors who were also known for their Reagan impressions, Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman. They replace the President’s hearing aid with an earpiece that has a short-wave radio connection, and as a result, the president starts to repeat the signals that he picks up, which include some police bands.
It’s intended to mimic and partly explain the “word salad” that made Reagan’s press conferences infamous. After taking a few questions from the press and a string of hysterical babble that only Robin Williams could muster, he gets the message “Live From New York, it’s Saturday Night,” and the show officially begins.
20Black Jeopardy With Tom Hanks
Original Air Date: August 07, 2025
SNLhas always been around to make political commentary, whether the viewers like it or not. In this case, they used the recurring skit"Black Jeopardy"to take an interesting look at the phenomenon of Trump voters. It was October 2016 when the skit aired, and the upcoming election promised to be a fierce and bitter one. Fom this conflict rose one of thefunniestSNLskitsof all time.
Amid this chaos, which had only just begun, Tom Hanks returned as a celebrity guest and took on the character of Doug, a devoted follower of the MAGA philosophy who found his way on Black Jeopardy to “win some money.” In the course of his adventure, he learns that he has more things in common with his neighbors than he previously thought.
19Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood: Nutrition
Original Air Date: June 15, 2025
One of the more daring earlier sketches that featured the up-and-coming Eddie Murphy,“Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood"was a parody of the popular children’s television show,Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. This version was set in the part of town that used to be known as “the ghetto” in which the main character recounted his daily experiences, which often included running from the law.
In this particular episode, Mr. Robinson had stolen a bag of groceries. This naturally led to a hysterical conversation about proper dietary needs and food security, especially given the context. When Eddie Murphy returned to hostSNL, he reprised his role as Mr. Robinson in a new sketch that dealt with the ways inner cities had changed and ways that they hadn’t.
18MacGruber With Betty White
Original Air Date: June 02, 2025
MacGruberwas a parody based on the popular 1980s drama MacGyver. It followed the exploits of the main character, MacGruber, played by Will Forte, and other recurring characters. It had been running since 2007, but the episode in 2010,in which Betty White appearsas MacGruber’s grandmother, is one of thefunniestSNLskitsof the lot.
The skit follows the usual template. MacGruber tries to focus on defusing a bomb, but something distracts him, and the bomb goes off. This time is slightly different with Nana around, who has plenty of embarrassing stories to tell about MacGruber’s childhood before he blows them all to smithereens.
17White Like Me
Original Air Date: July 02, 2025
In a skit eerily reminiscent of what Dave Chappelle would have made in his earlier days,Eddie Murphy put togetherthis short mockumentary of how white people behave when they’re “alone together.” It’s funny, but there’s an undertone about it that’s also serious, and for the early 1980s, it was a bold move.
Murphy puts on “white face” and goes to various places in New York, gauging the different reactions of shopkeepers, bankers, and customer service agents to him now that he’s “white.” It’s equally funny watching Murphy change his voice and overall demeanor to be more Caucasian, which just adds to the satirical effect.
16Wayne’s World: Aerosmith
Original Air Date: May 17, 2025
This wasn’t just a hilarious skit featuring two ofSaturday Night Live’s most iconic and popular characters; it officially madeSNLone of the coolest shows on TV.Wayne’s Worldwould eventually become a cultural icon and would be featured in a hit film that revitalized 1970s rock bands like Queen.
The skit isn’t just hilarious and one of the best skits of all time; it also features regular visiting star Tom Hanks and other big names in media in the early 1990s. It’s easy to forget that Hanks started his career as a comedian, but his talent still shines through. The fan service is part of what makes it so satisfying.
