The following is a list of recurringSaturday Night Live sketches, organized by the season and date in which the sketch first appeared.
| Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekend Update | October 11, 1975 | Chevy Chase Jane Curtin Dan Aykroyd | A satirical news segment starring that is the longest-running recurring sketch in the show's history. Like the show itself, it has seen many changes over the years and has a revolving door of anchors, includingChevy Chase,Jane Curtin,Dan Aykroyd,Bill Murray,Charles Rocket,Gail Matthius,Brian Doyle-Murray,Mary Gross,Christine Ebersole,Brad Hall,Christopher Guest,Dennis Miller,Kevin Nealon,Norm Macdonald,Colin Quinn,Jimmy Fallon,Tina Fey,Amy Poehler,Horatio Sanz,Seth Meyers,Cecily Strong,Colin Jost, andMichael Che. |
| The Killer Bees | October 11, 1975 | First characters to recur onSNL. According to aLorne Michaels interview for the bookLive 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. | |
| The Land of Gorch | October 11, 1975 | Jim Henson Alice Tweedie Jerry Nelson Fran Brill Richard Hunt Frank Oz | Puppet sketch starringJim Henson'sMuppets, King Ploobis (performed byJim Henson), Queen Peuta (performed by Alice Tweedie), Scred (performed byJerry Nelson), Vazh (performed byFran Brill), Wisss (performed byRichard Hunt), and the Mighty Favog (performed byFrank Oz). Lorne Michaels described the characters as the type of Muppets that can stay up late. |
| Land Shark | November 8, 1975 | Chevy Chase | Chevy Chase plays a shark attempting to lure his way into a victim's home. |
| Sherry | November 15, 1975 | Laraine Newman | Laraine Newman plays Sherry, a stereotypical naivevalley girl. Newman reprised the role in the40th anniversary special as part ofThe Californians sketch in 2015, in which she played Karina's mother who, like Sherry, also spoke valley girl-esque. |
| Minute Mystery with Mike Mendoza | November 15, 1975 | Dan Aykroyd | Dan Aykroyd is a crime scene photographer who gives the audience a list of clues and 60 seconds to solve a mystery. |
| Looks at Books | November 15, 1975 | Jane Curtin | Atalk show sketch hosted by Jane Curtin interviewing profound authors. |
| Emily Litella | December 13, 1975 | Gilda Radner | 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). Hercatchphrase was "Never mind!", said after she was informed of her mistake. |
| Saturday Night Live Samurai | December 13, 1975 | John Belushi | John Belushi plays asamurai warrior, who speaks only (mock)Japanese, and wields akatana. He is seen in various occupations ranging from a hotel desk clerk to a tailor. |
| Mel's Char Palace | December 20, 1975 | Dan Aykroyd | Asteakhouse 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. |
| Steve Bushakis | January 24, 1976 | John Belushi | A John Belushi character who hails fromChicago, named after Belushi's childhood friend. |
| H & L Brock | January 31, 1976 | John Belushi | 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 | February 28, 1976 | Mr. Bill is the clayfigurine star of aparody of children's shows. Mr. Bill got its start whenWalter Williams sentSNL aSuper 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 byVance DeGeneres).[1] The character's popularity spawned the 1986 live-action movieMr. Bill's Real Life Adventures. | |
| Tomorrow | April 17, 1976 | Dan Aykroyd | A parody ofThe Tomorrow Show, starring Dan Aykroyd asTom Snyder. |
| Baba Wawa | April 24, 1976 | Gilda Radner | Gilda Radner impersonates journalistBarbara Walters. |
| Colleen Fernman | April 24, 1976 | Gilda Radner | 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 isautistic. |
| Bobbi Farber | July 31, 1976 | Gilda Radner | Middle-class Jewish-American with a nasal voice, who appeared in eight sketches in various settings over five seasons. |
| Title | Premiere date | Host(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr. Mike's Least-Loved Bedtime Tales | October 30, 1976 | Michael O'Donoghue | O'Donoghue would tell children's bedtime stories with increasingly horrific, nightmarish twists. Appearances fromBuck Henry,Dick Cavett,Jodie Foster,Ruth Gordon,Senator Julian Bond andBuck Henry withMiskel Spillman. |
| Consumer Probe | December 11, 1976 | Dan Aykroyd,Jane Curtin,Candice Bergen | In each appearance, the moderator of the show would interrogate toy maker Irwin Mainway, played byDan 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" (ateddy bear with a working chainsaw in its chest), "Johnny Switchblade Adventure Punk" (an action figure with real retractableswitchblades), andHalloween 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 oversizedlighter). The first host of "Consumer Probe" wasCandice 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” bynerve.com, the third highest ranking sketch onSaturday Night Live after “Coneheads at Home” and “Samurai Hotel”.[2] |
| Coneheads | January 15, 1977 | Dan Aykroyd,Jane Curtin,Laraine Newman | a family of aliens stranded on Earth. Appearances fromRalph Nader,Steve Martin,Jack Burns,Elliott Gould,Buck Henry,Charles Grodin,Steve Martin,Jill Clayburgh,Richard Dreyfuss,Frank Zappa,Kate Jackson |
| E. Buzz Miller and Christie Christina | January 22, 1977 | Dan Aykroyd,Laraine Newman | Sleazypublic-access televisioncable TV hostE. Buzz Miller (Dan Aykroyd) made crude and lascivious remarks about otherwise commonplace subjects (such as fine art or exercise) to which his ditzy co-hostMiss Christie Christina (Laraine Newman) would giggle and make obtuse responses. Christie appeared once outside the cable TV show, in theSeason 5, Episode 15 sketch "Assertiveness Training". |
| Rhonda Weiss | January 29, 1977 | Gilda Radner | AGilda Radner character from Long Island, coined as the "Jewish-American Princess" |
| Leonard Pinth-Garnell | March 12, 1977 | Dan Aykroyd | 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 byLaraine Newman asLady Pinth-Garnell.) Pinth-Garnell was loosely based on the longtimePBSMasterpiece Theatre hostAlistair 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 |
| Colleen Fernman | April 9, 1977 | Gilda Radner | |
| Nick The Lounge Singer | April 16, 1977 | Bill Murray | one ofBill Murray's most popular recurring characters during his tenure on SNL. The character was a typical 1970slounge singer who sang current songs in a drawn-out, schmaltzy manner, and was typically accompanied byPaul Shaffer onpiano. 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 aprison, 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 spottedLinda 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 byJohn Belushi) finally punches him. In probably his most famous appearance, he sang the theme fromStar Wars, adding his own lyrics ("Star Wars/Nothing but Star Wars/Give me those Star Wars/Don't let them end!") to the famousJohn Williams piece. Nearly two decades after Nick debuted on SNL, a recurringskit calledThe Culp Family Musical Performances featuringWill Ferrell andAna Gasteyer would gain popularity using the same basic format. |
| Debbie Doody | April 16, 1977 | Gilda Radner | Doody is the widow ofHowdy Doody, complete with strings attached to her arms |
| Shower Mike with Richard Herkiman | May 21, 1977 | Bill Murray | 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. |
| Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edith Puthie | October 3, 2020 | Ego Nwodim | An inappropriately-named middle-aged woman (Ego Nwodim) from the "Name Change Office" and "Boomers Got the Vax" sketches. |
| Dr. Wayne Wenowdis | October 10, 2020 | Kate McKinnon | Weekend Update's resident medical expert (Kate McKinnon) who always replies with "We know dis". The pieces end with McKinnonbreaking character to address her anxieties regarding theCOVID-19 pandemic. |
| SmokeCheddaDaAssGetta and Nunya Bizness | December 12, 2020 | Timothee Chalamet,Ego Nwodim | White rapper SmokeCheddaDaAssGetta (Timothee Chalamet) appears on Nunya Bizness' (Ego Nwodim) talk show to voice his opinions on hip hop. |
| The Dionne Warwick Talk Show | December 12, 2020 | Ego Nwodim,Punkie Johnson,Andrew Dismukes,Melissa Villaseñor,Pete Davidson,Lauren Holt | Dionne Warwick (Ego Nwodim) hosts a talk show while showing how out-of-touch she is with modern pop culture (e.g. pronouncingBillie Eilish as "Billie Eyelash"). |
| Wooden Signs | February 13, 2021 | Aidy Bryant | A middle-aged woman receives decorative signs with quotes from her friends and family with progressively more offensive quotes. |
| Oops, You Did It Again | February 20, 2021 | Chloe Fineman | Britney Spears (Chloe Fineman) hosts a talk show in which she interviews guests that have been victims ofcancel culture and gives them a chance to apologize for their prior incidents. |
| Pauline, a Weary Mother in Her Darkest Hour | May 8, 2021 | Ego Nwodim | A worn-out woman (Ego Nwodim) appears onWeekend Update to lament her experiences as a mother. |
| Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angelo | October 16, 2021 | Aristotle Athari | "International singing sensation" Angelo (Aristotle Athari) performs at an exclusive venue, performing supposedly improvised songs from word prompts given by exasperated audience members. |
| TikTok | December 11, 2021 | Aidy Bryant | An unseen teenager scrolls through a series of eccentric videos onTikTok to avoid chores. |
| Trend Forecasters | January 29, 2022 | Aidy Bryant Bowen Yang | Two fashionable people (Aidy Bryant and Bowen Yang) report data on which trends are what's in and what's out. |
| Shoptv | April 2, 2022 | Mikey Day Cecily Strong Heidi Gardner | 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 |
| Why'd You Do That | April 9, 2022 | Kenan Thompson Chloe Fineman | 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. |
| Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Dumb Things | November 5, 2022 | Chloe Fineman Heidi Gardner | Three Caucasian blonde women (Fineman, Gardener, the episode's host) advertise the latest comically large item that's become popular among their demographic. |
| Protective Mom | February 4, 2023 | Pedro Pascal Marcello Hernandez | Mrs. Flores (Pascal) disapproves of the women her son Luis (Hernandez) dates, and rants about them in Spanish. |
| Lisa fromTemecula | February 4, 2023 | Ego Nwodim Punkie Johnson Bowen Yang | Lisa from Temecula (Nwodim) disrupts her sister's (Johnson) social life. |
| Garrett fromHinge | March 4, 2023 | Bowen Yang | Garrett (Bowen Yang) interrupts a couple after being stood up by the woman. |
| Jingle Pitch | March 11, 2023 | James Austin Johnson Andrew Dismukes Bowen Yang Chloe Fineman Devon Walker | 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 onWeekend Update. |
| Recording Session | April 15, 2023 | Devon Walker Kenan Thompson Ego Nwodim | Two female artists (Ego Nwodim, the episode's host) try to record a producer tag for Young Spicy (Devon Walker), but they end up being derogatory. |
| Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secretary | October 14, 2023 | Heidi Gardner Bowen Yang | In a 1960s law office, hyper secretary Trudy (Heidi Gardner) is manically predictive. |
| Dr. Please | October 28, 2023 | Bowen Yang | Oddball Dr. Please (Bowen Yang). |
| Washington's Dream | October 28, 2023 | Nate Bargatze James Austin Johnson Kenan Thompson Mikey Day Bowen Yang | During theRevolutionary War, generalGeorge 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.). |
| Immigrant Dad Talk Show | March 30, 2024 | Marcello Hernandez Mikey Day Andrew Dismukes | 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. |
| Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sábado Gigante | October 5, 2024 | Marcello Hernandez | A parody of the Spanish-language variety showSábado Gigante, starring Marcello Hernandez asDon 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. |
| Bridesmaid Speech | October 12, 2024 | Heidi Gardner Ego Nwodim Sarah Sherman Chloe Fineman Andrew Dismukes Marcello Hernandez | 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. See further details below the table. |