Top 5 Best SNL Skits Ever According To Zillennials
This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s senior fall editorial intern Maggie Lardie. Find her on Instagram at @maggielardie. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
While it’s clear that Saturday Night Live is a lot older than the Zillennial generation, we figured it was about time we write an article about it! Since it first aired in 1975, Saturday Night Live has featured countless comedic news updates, skits and celebrity hosts. Some SNL skits have become so popular that they were even the inspiration for movies! The most recent host of SNL aired on November 11 and was hosted by Timothée Chalamet. This was Chalamet’s second time hosting, and fans were thrilled to see him reprise his viral soundcloud rapper role from 2020. The new skit, entitled “Museum of Hip-Hop Panel” got us thinking: what are the SNL best skits ever? Keep reading for the list of our favorites.
Rap Roundtable
You already knew it was coming! “Rap Roundtable” aired December 12, 2020 as part of Timothée Chalamet’s first time hosting. The skit centers around a panel of rap artists Questlove (played by himself) and Queen Latifah (Punkie Johnson) and as they reflect on what hip-hop means to them. Unfortunately for them, Pete Davidson’s and Timothée Chalamet’s “Guaplord” and “$mokecheddathaassgetta” have a “different” interpretation of the genre. What makes the entire thing even more hilarious is the featured song, entitled “Yeet.” Along with being the highlight of the skit, the song went viral on social media and even provided people with some Halloween costume inspiration!
Career Day
One of our absolute favorite Adam Driver moments, this skit focuses on Mordecai (Pete Davidson) and his class as they listen to guest speakers talk about their careers. Mordecai’s father, Abraham H. Parnassus (Adam Driver), is an oil baron who uses a few interesting techniques when speaking to children. Adam Driver absolutely crushes this role, managing to stay in character even when everyone else around him breaks. According to Abraham H. Parnassus, the role of an oil baron is to “crush your enemies.” He demonstrates this idea to the class by instructing them to point to the weakest among them and bringing a dead bird as a visual aid. We recommend you give this skit a watch!
Diner Lobster
The premise of this skit is straight and to-the-point: a man goes to eat in a diner and shocks everyone there by ordering lobster. What’s not to the point, however, is the entrance of Keenan Thomspon, simultaneously dressed as a lobster and Jean-Valjean from Les Misérables. Thompson serenades Pete Davison, Chris Redd and host John Mulaney as he contemplates his existence as the only lobster in the diner tank. More songs from the hit Broadway musical are featured as Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong sing alongside the ancient lobster. If you’re a Broadway fan, a John Mulaney fan or even just someone who thought about ordering the lobster on a whim, this is the skit for you!
Protective Mom 2
We of course have to give a shout out to the original “Protective Mom,” which featured host Pedro Pascal and aired in February of this year. “Protective Mom 2,” only just came out, but it already made a spot for itself on our list! Both skits feature Marcello Hernandez as Luis, a guy bringing his girlfriend home to meet his protective mother (played by Pascal). In the sequel version, host Bad Bunny plays Tia Rosa, Luis’s aunt. While fans were obviously very happy to see Bad Bunny take on a similar role to Pascal, they were thrilled to discover Pascal had returned to play Luis’s mother for the second time around. Both skits feature the mom throwing passive-aggressive insults in both English and Spanish at Luis’s girlfriend, while simultaneously getting defensive about her mothering techniques. This skit is especially fun to watch because of its use of both Spanish and English.
High School Musical 4
It’s safe to assume that as Zillennials, the majority of us have seen at least ONE of the High School Musical movies. If you were the child who questioned why everyone was always singing, you have to see this skit. Troy Bolton (obviously played by host Zac Efron) returns to East High to give the next graduating class a pep talk as they prepare to head out into the world. What no one is prepared for is how his experience at a non-musical college changed him. As he tells the graduates “from what I can tell, this is America’s only singing highschool.” His speech is full of funny anecdotes, comparisons and pieces of advice that just have to be heard by anyone who grew up watching Disney movies.
What do you think are the SNL best skits ever? Let us know in the comments below!