Saturday Night Live continued its streak of phenomenal host selections this past weekend with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness star Benedict Cumberbatch. Many would argue that the series' current season has been especially well-written and well-performed, with seasoned repertory players such as Kenan Thompson, Kate McKinnon, and Cecily Strong perfectly complementing newer additions to the cast such as Sarah Sherman, James Austin Johnson, and Aristotle Athari.
While the majority of SNL sketches enjoy brief periods of relevance that subside when successive ones capture the public's attention, certain of them have been immortalized due to their stark originality and the brilliant performances of the involved cast . A select number of sketches from the current season could potentially secure the iconic status enjoyed by those such as "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood" and "More Cowbell."
"Rami Wants A Treat"
In addition to three exceptional new cast , season 47 has introduced a recurring segment starring the comedy troupe Please Don’t Destroy in which the often interact with the host of the episode in which each sketch airs. “Rami Wants A Treat,” which became one of the trio’s most popular sketches despite being cut for time and being released online only, features television and film star Rami Malek demanding that the three comedians provide him with a “treat” as a reward for behaving himself.
The sketch is far more absurd and surreal than SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels normally allows to be produced, and it displays Please Don’t Destroy’s wonderfully unusual comedic sensibility.
"Why’d You Like It?"
Some of the most effective SNL sketches touch on widely-relatable themes — a likely reason why this game show sketch from Jake Gyllenhal’s recent episode gained a significant degree of traction. The fictional show’s host, played by long-running SNL cast member Kenan Thompson, asks contestants why they liked specific posts on Instagram, and the reluctant participants lie about their reasoning repeatedly before itting that their motives were sexual in nature.
Americans’ unhealthy preoccupation with social media is prime material for satire, and those who can relate to the helpless contestants may find their discomfort cathartic.
"Princess & The Frog"
Zoe Kravitz increased the popularity that she achieved with her recent role in The Batman by delivering a brilliant performance as host of a recent episode of SNL.
Perhaps the most hysterical of the sketches in which she appeared was "Princess & The Frog," a parody of the similarly-named 2009 Disney film. Chris Redd portrays the titular frog, who casually mentions his lack of genitalia when urging Kravitz’s character to kiss him so that he can become a man. The sketch courageously deals with taboo subject matter in a way that network television is often reluctant to.
"Food And YouTube"
SNL’s musical sketches are often among its most popular, and the hysterical relatability of the Lizzo-featured "Food and YouTube" secured it as a season 47 standout that could potentially achieve long-term relevance.
Beloved performers Bowen Yang and Chris Redd attest to the delight of watching internet videos while eating, during which it is gradually revealed that Redd has been persuaded to believe in conspiracy theories due to the videos that YouTube’s algorithm suggests for him. Lizzo appears as a personified version of said algorithm and boasts that she “know[s] you better than you know yourself.”
"Short-Ass Movies"
Fan favorite Pete Davidson and musical guest Gunna earned over 1.5 million views on YouTube for this hysterical music video, which draws laughs by treating a trivial topic with an outsized level of ion. Cast member Chris Redd and actor Simon Rex offer ing performances that perfect the wildly-popular sketch, in which the four men heap praise upon films that are short enough to hold the focus of "a simple man with no attention span."
"Short-Ass Movies" owes its success to a rare combination of carefully-considered writing and well-executed comedic acting, and it is arguably one of Pete Davidson's best SNL sketches.
"Cancelling Cable"
"Cancelling Cable," the most notable of the sketches from Succession star Kieran Culkin's November 2021 episode, ruthlessly skewers the most prominent cable companies' infamously-awful customer service. The sketch exaggerates the incompetence of such companies' employees to an absurd degree, with the automated voice (provided by Cecily Strong) making a horribly sexist remark, and a representative (played by Ego Nwodim) asking Culkin's character if he would like to decrease the number of channels provided to him in exchange for a price increase.
As scores of Americans have found themselves in situations concerningly similar to the one presented, the sketch has garnered significant popularity in the months since its airing.
"TikTok ft. Billie Eilish"
This sketch, which depicts an unnamed and unseen teenager scrolling through videos on TikTok as their father urges them to take out the trash, is perhaps the most inventive concept that SNL's writers have developed in recent years, and many would argue that it is among the best SNL sketches of 2021.
Each video is intended to mock common trends on the app (such as that in which Billie Eilish's character, a nurse, dances provocatively as her patient suffers a life-threatening crisis in the background), and the cast ' performances are intentionally excessive, so as to mirror the over-the-top personalities of the most popular TikTok content creators.
"Post-COVID Game Show"
While certain SNL sketches take place in surreal alternate realities of sorts, others succeed by addressing real and pressing issues that most of the show's viewers can identify with. "Post-COVID Game Show," which depicts a fictional competition called Is My Brain Okay? that is hosted by a dazed Kate McKinnon character, provides catharsis to exhausted audiences by depicting contestants who are struggling to cope with the pandemic and the related social isolation.
Host Jerrod Carmichael's character wins the episode by posing "If you set the clock ahead, you don't have to be alive as long" as a potential conversation starter.
"The Switch"
While the body-swapping trope is well-worn in television and film, "The Switch"'s take is unique enough to render it one of the most memorable sketches of season 47. When host Kim Kardashian (who is one of the best SNL hosts of 2021) and veteran cast member Aidy Bryant switch places for the day, Bryant finds her new lifestyle exciting and glamorous while Kardashian is underwhelmed by her new status as a lower-level celebrity.
Kris Jenner and Khloe Kardashian make cameo appearances in the sketch that serve to humanize one of the nation's wealthiest and most prominent families.
"911 Call"
In this sketch from the exceptional Simu Liu episode, a group of middle-aged college professors smoke marijuana together at a Thanksgiving gathering and experience severe adverse reactions to the drug.
Their hilarious exchanges with the 911 operator whom they (such as claiming that they are dead and asking her to "send the hospital" to them) play on the differing strength of marijuana in earlier eras and now, and they show that demographics who are commonly seen as uptight and straight-laced can occasionally rebel in ways that they are not expected to.