First characters to recur on SNL. According to a Lorne Michaels interview for the book Live from New York, "The only note we got from the network on the first show was 'Cut the bees.' And so I made sure I put them in the next show." The bees were played by all the repertory players at the time, who wore yellow and black horizontal stripes, wings, and springy antennas. Much of the humor from these scenes came out of puns or metaphors that had to do with well-known activities and body parts of bees. The bees were a staple of the first season, appearing 11 times. However, the cast and crew quickly became tired of them, and the bees only appeared three more times during the original cast's five-year tenure.
Puppet sketch starring Jim Henson's Muppets, King Ploobis (performed by Jim Henson), Queen Peuta (performed by Alice Tweedie), Scred (performed by Jerry Nelson), Vazh (performed by Fran Brill), Wisss (performed by Richard Hunt), and the Mighty Favog (performed by Frank Oz). Lorne Michaels described the characters as the type of Muppets that can stay up late.
Laraine Newman plays Sherry, a stereotypical naive valley girl. Newman reprised the role in the 40th anniversary special as part of The Californians sketch in 2015, in which she played Karina's mother who, like Sherry, also spoke valley girl-esque.
Emily Litella was an elderly woman with a hearing problem who frequently ranted about topics about which she had misread or misheard, such as "Violins on Television," "Canker Research," "Endangered Feces," or "Presidential Erections" (to satisfy the censors at the time, Litella was made to explicitly state that she was referring to erecting statues of presidents). Her catchphrase was "Never mind!", said after she was informed of her mistake.
John Belushi plays a samurai warrior, who speaks only (mock) Japanese, and wields a katana. He is seen in various occupations ranging from a hotel desk clerk to a tailor.
A steakhouse commercial parody featuring Dan Aykroyd. At Mel's, customers are given a chainsaw and are invited to hunt, stun, cut and cook their own cow.
As Lowell Brock, John Belushi gives reasons why he should do your taxes., "He'll take the time . . because he has the time . . because he's doing time."
Mr. Bill is the clay figurine star of a parody of children's shows. Mr. Bill got its start when Walter Williams sent SNL a Super 8 reel featuring the character in response to the show's request for home movies during the first season. Mr. Bill's first appearance was on the February 28, 1976, episode. Williams became a full-time writer for the show in 1978, writing more than 20 sketches based on Mr. Bill. Each Mr. Bill episode started innocently, but quickly turned dangerous for Mr. Bill. Along with his dog, Spot, he suffered various indignities inflicted by "Mr. Hands," a man seen only as a pair of hands (played by Vance DeGeneres).[1] The character's popularity spawned the 1986 live-action movie Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures.
Appearing in seven sketches over five seasons, Colleen is usually non-talkative, and appears to be spaced out or in a vegetative state, and it is established in a February 24, 1979, sketch about psychiatrists that she is autistic.
In each appearance, the moderator of the show would interrogate toy maker Irwin Mainway, played by Dan Aykroyd, while he defended his company's extremely dangerous products aimed at children, such as "Bag O' Glass" (with Mainway also acknowledging other products in its line, such as "Bag O' Vipers" and "Bag O' Sulfuric Acid"), "Teddy Chainsaw Bear" (a teddy bear with a working chainsaw in its chest), "Johnny Switchblade Adventure Punk" (an action figure with real retractable switchblades), and Halloween costumes such as the "Johnny Combat Action Costume" (which includes a working rifle, and is allegedly popular in Detroit and Texas), "Invisible Pedestrian" (a black, non-reflective uniform), "Johnny Space Commander Mask" (an airtight plastic bag affixed over the head with a rubber band), and "Johnny Human Torch" (an oil-soaked costume that comes with an oversized lighter). The first host of "Consumer Probe" was Candice Bergen (her character had no name), and then in four subsequent episodes, "Consumer Probe" (twice entitled "On The Spot") was hosted by Joan Face. The sketch was named the 8th best sketch in “The 50 Best Sketches of All Time” by nerve.com, the third highest ranking sketch on Saturday Night Live after “Coneheads at Home” and “Samurai Hotel”.[2]
Sleazy public-access televisioncable TV host E. Buzz Miller (Dan Aykroyd) made crude and lascivious remarks about otherwise commonplace subjects (such as fine art or exercise) to which his ditzy co-host Miss Christie Christina (Laraine Newman) would giggle and make obtuse responses. Christie appeared once outside the cable TV show, in the Season 5, Episode 15 sketch "Assertiveness Training".
a recurring character. Pinth-Garnell, always clad in a tuxedo and black tie, would lugubriously introduce a short performance of "Bad Conceptual Theater", "Bad Playhouse", "Bad Cinema", "Bad Opera", "Bad Ballet", "Bad Red Chinese Ballet", or "Bad Cabaret for Children", and then exult in its sheer awfulness. Aykroyd played the character nine times from 1977 through 1979, and returned for a single appearance on November 3, 2001, introducing "Bad Conceptual Theater." (The show was hosted at least one time by Laraine Newman as Lady Pinth-Garnell.) Pinth-Garnell was loosely based on the longtime PBSMasterpiece Theatre host Alistair Cooke. Memorable quotations: "Stunningly bad!", "Monumentally ill-advised!", "Perfectly awful!", "Couldn't be worse!", "Exquisitely awful!", "Astonishingly ill-chosen!", "Really bit the big one!", "Unrelentingly bad!", "Rally socks!", "There ... That wasn't so good now, was it?". Appearances:[3]Sissy Spacek, Julian Bond, Shelley Duvall, Madeline Kahn, Mary Kay Place, Jill Clayburgh, Buck Henry, Carrie Fisher, Kate Jackson, Teri Garr, John Goodman
one of Bill Murray's most popular recurring characters during his tenure on SNL. The character was a typical 1970s lounge singer who sang current songs in a drawn-out, schmaltzy manner, and was typically accompanied by Paul Shaffer on piano. Nick always had a different 'seasonal' last name (i.e. Nick Summers, Nick Springs, etc.) or sometimes a surname more specific to the sketch (for instance, if he were performing at a prison, he would be "Nick Slammer") and, although he would perform at such unfortunate gigs as airport bars and dives, he would always sing his heart out. He would often take the popular songs of the time and change some of the lyrics to suit the occasion or the setting. In between songs, Nick would schmooze and joke with the audience, chiding them in a harmless showbiz fashion. In one episode, he spotted Linda Ronstadt (that episode's musical guest) in the audience and proceeded to sing a very uncomfortable and unamused Ronstadt a medley of her hits until her bodyguard (played by John Belushi) finally punches him. In probably his most famous appearance, he sang the theme from Star Wars, adding his own lyrics ("Star Wars/Nothing but Star Wars/Give me those Star Wars/Don't let them end!") to the famous John Williams piece. Nearly two decades after Nick debuted on SNL, a recurring skit called The Culp Family Musical Performances featuring Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer would gain popularity using the same basic format.
Herkiman, who at first appears to be taking his routine morning shower and imagining he is hosting a TV talk show. It soon becomes apparent that the TV program is real, as his TV "guests" enter the shower with him fully clothed.
Weekend Update's resident medical expert (Kate McKinnon) who always replies with "We know dis". The pieces end with McKinnon breaking character to address her anxieties regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dionne Warwick (Ego Nwodim) hosts a talk show while showing how out-of-touch she is with modern pop culture (e.g. pronouncing Billie Eilish as "Billie Eyelash").
Britney Spears (Chloe Fineman) hosts a talk show in which she interviews guests that have been victims of cancel culture and gives them a chance to apologize for their prior incidents.
"International singing sensation" Angelo (Aristotle Athari) performs at an exclusive venue, performing supposedly improvised songs from word prompts given by exasperated audience members.
Two TV shopping network hosts (Mikey Day & Cecily Strong/Heidi Gardner) present a seller (played by the host) with an inappropriate product which results in sexual innuendos and dirty phone calls
Danny Donnigan (Thompson) hosts a game show where he grills the contestants (consisting of Fineman, one or two other cast members, and the episode's host) on their questionable social media interactions.
Three Caucasian blonde women (Fineman, Gardener, the episode's host) advertise the latest comically large item that's become popular among their demographic.
Two members of Soul Booth (James Austin Johnson, Andrew Dismukes) try to come up with a new jingle for a company.
Couple Goals
April 1, 2023
James Austin Johnson
Game show about couple goals, where one couple shares very intense theories and thoughts about what would happen to their partner.
Driving Altercations
April 1, 2023
Mikey Day
Two people (Mikey Day, the episode's host) get into an argument in a driving scenario and use obscene hand gestures to narrate their argument. Also stars Chloe Fineman as Madison, an embarrassed daughter who would often use gestures filled with sexual innuendo.
Crystal
April 8, 2023
Heidi Gardner
A co-worker who's busy doing absolutely nothing (Heidi Gardner) who appears on Weekend Update.
During the Revolutionary War, general George Washington (Bargatze) tells his troops (Johnson, Thompson, Day, Yang) about his dreams for the new nation they are fighting for, which include a vast amount of idiosyncrasies that make little sense to even Americans (e.g., weights and measures, miles vs kilometers, unique spellings of certain English words, etc.).
Joaquín Antonio González Hernández Suárez (Hernandez) hosts a show, alongside another character (played by the episode's host), who frequently joke about their sons and their life choices. Recurring characters who appear on the show include Kevin (Day), a white man who engages in unique relationship dynamics with his son Connor (Dismukes), which González and his co-host find off-putting.
A parody of the Spanish-language variety show Sábado Gigante, starring Marcello Hernandez as Don Francisco. The sketch usually involves an Anglophone, non-Hispanic audience member character who is very hesitant to play in one of the show's segments.
Husband and wife, Matthew (Dismukes) and Kelsey (Fineman), are celebrating an achievement in their relationship when Kelsey's friends (Gardner, Nwodim, Sherman, and the episode's host) perform a poorly-sung parody of a popular song that details a trip they took to another state. The song ends up revealing information about Kelsey having an affair with a man named Domingo (Hernandez), who shows up at the end to clarify the revelations to Matthew.
Dubbed as "The Couple You Can't Believe Are Together", Grant (Hernandez) and Alyssa (Wickline) play a couple on Weekend Update whose personalities vastly contrast each other, with Grant being loud, talkative and extroverted, and Alyssa being reserved, quiet, and introverted.
Acting Teacher
November 16, 2024
Marcello Hernandez Chloe Fineman Andrew Dismukes
Theodore Strop (Hernandez) teaches an acting class for commercial acting. His methods are unconventional and bizarre, much to the chagrin of students Lacey and David (Fineman and Dismukes), who express bewilderment and frustration on said methods. The host would play a student who Strop sees as one of his "star students".
Bridesmaid Speech Installments
The first installment, which parodied Sabrina Carpenter's song "Espresso," wound up going viral following its initial airing, with the ending segment featuring Hernandez's Domingo character becoming a popular soundbite on TikTok. The sketch, taking place during Matthew and Kelsey's wedding and featuring host Ariana Grande as Kelsey's half-sister, reveals that Kelsey actively pursued and slept with Domingo while on a bachelorette trip to Charleston. Domingo arrives and proclaims that he and Kelsey did hook up. (Hernandez would later make a surprise appearance as Domingo during Carpenter's Los Angeles performance on November 17, 2024, which was part of her Short n' Sweet Tour, where he served as the recipient of the show's traditional "audience arrest" segment.)[4]
The second installment, titled "Babymoon", aired on November 16, 2024, and featured host Charli XCX as Kelsey's cousin. This sketch takes place at Matt and Kelsey's baby shower. Kelsey's friends reveal that they took her on a "babymoon" trip to Miami and parody Chappell Roan's "Hot to Go!" while explaining how Kelsey travelled to meet Domingo's family because she has found out she is having twins and that one is Matthew's and one is Domingo's. To Matt's shock, Domingo arrives and declares that they will be in each other's lives forever and that Kelsey will be moving to Miami to raise the babies.
Carpenter makes a special guest appearance in a new (third) installment created exclusively for the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special titled "Domingo: Vow Renewal". Carpenter appears as Kelsey's childhood best friend, Sophie, who, alongside Kelsey's other friends, took Kelsey on a girls' trip to New York City. They sing a song to the tune of "Defying Gravity" about how Kelsey is now ready to commit to monogamy. The song then switches to a parody of Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me" about how Kelsey is still in love with Domingo, who then arrives to encourage an open relationship. Matt's groomsmen (Bowen Yang, Andy Samberg, Kyle Mooney, and Beck Bennett) also perform a song in a parody of "Espresso" about how they took Matt on a golfing trip to Scottsdale (which Sophie joined after the girls' trip) and he had an affair with Domingo's older brother Ronaldo (played by Pedro Pascal). Kelsey's parents (Martin Short and Molly Shannon) also reveal that her mother slept with Domingo and Ronaldo's other brother Santiago (played by Bad Bunny).[5]
