Eli’s Favorite SNL Moments

Well I wrote a lot of articles this year about Saturday Night Live in celebration of the show’s 50th anniversary but I haven’t written the big article yet, so now’s the time. Here are my favorite moments in SNL history.

Actually there are far too many sketches, monologues and segments from this show for me to list every single one I like, so I had to narrow this list down to the best of the best. But even after doing so this is still a pretty long list. For that reason, I provide very limited commentary and no sketch synopsis nor reason for making these choices. Just trust me when I say that everything you’re about to see on this list is peak SNL.

“Word Association” – S1 Ep7 (1975) – Best SNL sketch of the 1970s

“The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise” – S1 Ep22 (1976)

Paul Simon’s Turkey Suit Monologue – S2 Ep8 (1976) – Best SNL Monologue

“Extremely Stupid” – S2 Ep10 (1976) – Best improvised line (“You know, we all can’t be brainy like Fern here” – Gilda Radner)

“The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave” – S3 Ep15 (1978)

“Dancing in the Dark” – S3 Ep18 (1978)

“The French Chef” – S4 Ep8 (1978)

The Don Rickles episode – S9 Ep11 (1984) – Host Don Rickles improvised throughout this entire episode often to hilarious results, with the comedic highlight being the Romeo and Juliet sketch.

“My Name Is Needleman” – S9 Ep19 (1984) – This was one of the most consistently funny episodes of SNL I’ve ever seen. Not only did it introduce the fantastic “Needleman” sketch but the “Stooges Self-Defense” sketch and the “Mikko’s Got Your Nose Safety Guard” sketch were also comedy gold.

“White Like Me” – S10 Ep9 (1984) – Best SNL sketch of the 1980s

Eddie Murphy talks about George Washington Carver on Black History Minute – S10 Ep9 (1984)

The Francis Ford Coppola Episode – S11 Ep13 (1986)

“It’s a Wonderful Life: The Lost Ending” – S12 Ep8 (1986)

“Brenda the Waitress” – S15 Ep18 (1990)

“Happy Fun Ball” – S16 Ep13 (1991) – Best SNL commercial parody

“Lunch Lady Land” – S19 Ep11 (1994) – Best Adam Sandler song

“Wake Up and Smile” – S21 Ep8 (1995)

“Schweddy Balls” – S24 Ep9 (1998) – Best SNL sketch of the 1990s

“Interrogation” – S25 Ep1 (1999)

“More Cowbell” – S25 Ep16 (2000)

“You Call This a House, Do Ya?” – S30 Ep5 (2004)

“Christmastime for the Jews” – S31 Ep9 (2005) – Best TV Funhouse cartoon

“United Way” – S32 Ep16 (2007)

“Dear Sister” – S32 Ep17 (2007) – Best SNL Digital Short/Best SNL sketch of the 2000s

Amy Poehler Raps about Sarah Palin on Weekend Update – S34 Ep5 (2008)

The Betty White Episode – S35 Ep21 (2010)

“Harry Potter Epilogue” – S37 Ep12 (2012)

“American Gothic” – S38 Ep7 (2012)

“You’re a Rat Bastard, Charlie Brown” – S38 Ep10 (2012)

“Z Shirt” – S38 Ep15 (2013)

“Hobbit Office” – S40 Ep9 (2014)

“Santa Baby” – S41 Ep7 (2015)

“Star Wars Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base” – S41 Ep10 (2016)

“Bern Your Enthusiasm” – S41 Ep12 (2016)

“The Day Beyoncé Turned Black” – S41 Ep13 (2016)

“Farewell Mr. Bunting” – S41 Ep21 (2016)

“Sean Spicer Press Conference” – S42 Ep13 (2017) – Best SNL sketch of the 2010s

“Totino’s with Kristen Stewart” – S42 Ep13 (2017)

Black Panther on Black Jeopardy – S43 Ep17 (2018)

“Diner Lobster” – S43 Ep18 (2018)

“Grouch (Joker Parody)” – S45 Ep3 (2019)

“HBO Mario Kart Trailer” – S48 Ep12 (2023)

Here’s a bonus list of my favorite recurring SNL characters and sketches (and the year they were introduced). These are the ones that consistently make me laugh the most.

Mr. Bill (1976)