In honor of the 35th anniversary of "Saturday Night Live," one of the two greatest television shows in history, here is a comprehensive list of the greatest moments in SNL history.25. Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood (1982)
Credited with making SNL popular again in the early 1980s and for a time carrying the show on his back, Eddie Murphy provided some of the show's best characters--Gumby, Buckwheat and his singalongs, and a black man attempting to expose racism in the workplace by disguising himself as a white man. Some of his best moments involved his turn as a "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" spoof. Instead of a peaceful, WASPy suburban house, Mr. Robinson appears to be in the projects. The jolly, serene and inviting presence of Mr. Robinson succumbs to a loud, angry, and a bit stereotypical anger as he is disrupted. "Who is it?" he shouts. Mr. T once appeared as his neighbor, and Mr. Robinson was not able to put up as forceful a resistance.
24. Betty White--"Thank you for being a friend" (2010)
With all due respect to the other famous SNL Digital Shorts--"Dick in a Box, "Jizz in My Pants," "Natalie Portman Rap," etc. it was the quasi-tribute to Betty White with her iconic "Thank you for being a friend" song from "Golden Girls" that made me laugh the hardest. Starting very conventionally and cheerfully, host Betty White (who was brought to the show to satisfy the request of a large Facebook fan club) was guided to a chair by Adam Samberg, the creator of the digital shorts. Wishing to express their thanks to her for all she's given, the cast sang "Thank You for Being a Friend," and White chuckled wholeheartedly...until she insisted that she preferred her version better. Pulling a ski mask over her face, she began a rather harsh heavy medal version of the song, with serious hints at BDSM and blood everywhere. "Happy Mother's Day," she said, "mother fuckers."
23. Lord and Lady Douchebag (1979)
Set in the Salisbury Manor in 1730, Lord Salisbury (played by Harry Shearer, a writer for the show who later became a contributor to Christopher Guest's comedic films as well as providing multiple voice characters for "The Simpsons") was hosting a dinner party, with guests including Lord Worcestershire (Jim Downey) and Earl of Sandwich (Bill Murray). The butler (Garrett Morris) announced the newest guests--"Lord and Lady Douchebag!" with host Buck Henry and Gilda Radner as the the lord and lady respectively. Shearer went to great them. "Well, well, well," he says. "I was just asking Sandwich, where the devil are those Douchebags?" Lord Douchebag would be happy to explain what kind of a project he had been working on, but perhaps after his host had finished eating. Murray's character Sandwich was happy to see the couple as well, as he greated him in a buddy fashion of "Douchebagggg!"
"Don't tell me for the first time in memory we're going to have a House of Parliament for the first time without a Douchebag," he says. The puns just kept continuing. This was the last skit of the last episode of the last season featuring members of the original cast.
22. "Star Wars" auditions (1997)
With impersonations of Barbara Streisand from Anna Gasteyer and Richard Dreyfuss from Darrell Hammond, it was really host Kevin Spacey carrying the skit on his back, with hysterical impersonations of Christopher Walken auditioning for Han Solo, Walter Matthau for Obi-Wan Kenobi, and an irritated Jack Lemmon for Chewbacca. Spacey has a talent for a rare amount of impersonations, as evidenced by his interview on "Inside the Actor's Studio" and this terrific skit.
21. Oops! I Crapped My Pants (1998)
The fake commercials have long-been a staple sketch for SNL, among the best being the hyperbolic cereal commercial featuring Phil Hartman and the calm but ridiculous fashion in which a bank promises to provide whatever change amount a customer wishes. One of the best is "Oops! I Crapped My Pants." Starting as expected with happy characters in normal yet complicated everyday situations, a grandmother decided her bowel movements had prohibited her from playing tennis with her family. An older man, presumably the grandfather, insisted that the younger ones go and play while he talks with the grandma. "You're still having control problems, aren't ya?" he asked. He introduced her to a little secret--Opps! I Crapped My Pants: diapers for older adults. "Oops! I Crapped My Pants,"
"I've heard of those," she says. "Do they really work?" Of course they do, and to prove it, the older gentleman demonstrated by pouring a pitcher of ice tea, representing a gallon of feces, into the diapers. It concluded with a thankful Grandma saying, "Thanks, Oops! I Crapped My Pants!"
20. Stay the Course--the Great Debate of 88 (1988)
Perhaps SNL's best employments of humor has been through its political satire, cementing in American pop-culture the public's perception of Gerald Ford (Chevy Chase) as a clumsy fool; Ronald Reagan (Phil Hartman) as a kind, sweet, harmless old man in public and yet a fierce hawk in private meetings; Bill Clinton (Darrell Hammond) as a horndog; and George W. Bush (Will Farell) as America's number one idiot (until Sarah Palin via Tina Fey came along). In 1988, an election year that moments like the Pledge of Allegiance debate and Michael Dukakis's ridiculous ride in a tank. SNL nonetheless had fun. Dana Carvey, in one of his thousands of impersonations, was George Bush, running for election after two terms of Reagan, and Jon Lovitz as Dukakis, the "inspiring" candidate from Massachusetss. Carvey portrayed Bush as seriously lacking the Hollywood acting of his boss, and desperate in his Peggy Noonan lines of "staying the course" and a "thousand lights." The length of time it took to utter these lines did not completely fill the amount of time the moderators had given him, so he repeated them, further stressing each word, further motioning his hands, as if he really, really wanted a thousand points of life. Finally satisfied, the moderators turned to his opponent. "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy," was Dukakis's response.
19. The Chris Farley Show (1993)
I hate to cheat and clump skits together, but I will with this one. "The Chris Farley Show" featured Chris Farley as the antithesis of himself, in this case a shy, speechless young interviewer terribly nervous in the presence of his interviewees, such as Jeff Daniels, Martin Scorsese, and Paul McCartney. After listing his guest's accomplishments, he would stumble, ask them if they recalled certain moments (like when McCartney was in the Beatles), or other stupid questions (like if the scene in "The Last Temptation of Christ" where Jesus gets angry at the money collectors in the synagogue was Scorsese's idea). He further digressed, and then stuttered that whatever moment, relevant or not, "was awesome."
18. Bass O-Matic (1976)
Dan Aykroyd was the salesman, in rapid, lightening-speed, of the Super Bass O-Matic 76. Finally, through this salesman, we were offered a means of consuming the whole fish, from head to tail and with all the bones still intact. Laraine Newman took a sip (of hopefully something besides liquid bass) and exclaims, "Wow! That's terrific bass!"
17. Happy Fun Ball (1990)
The king, in my opinion, of SNL's fake commercials, Happy Fun Ball was the most fun little ball sweeping the nation, and with a price of only $14.95! But what appeared to be only a harmless little ball was also described by narrator Phil Hartman as containing a number of warnings--that pregnant women, the elderly, and children should avoid exposure to the Happy Fun Ball, that it contains a dangerous liquid that should not be looked at, the toy should not be bounced on concrete, and a whole host of others. Incidentally, it is also "being dropped by our warplanes on Iraq." Finally, do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
16. The Blues Brothers "Soul Man" (1978)
Admittedly not a funny moment, it was still priceless. Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi were the Blues Brothers, not only one of the best musical guests but also spawning the only exceptional SNL movie two years later. This film's only competition, however, from SNL material has been movies such as "It's Pat," "Coneheads," and "Night at the Roxbury."
15. "Jane, you ignorant slut!" (1978)
Many will probably place Chevy Chase, with his sardonic tone and iconic "I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not" line, or Norm Macdonald (who Chase said was the only one who replicated the humor of the original) at the top of the list for the "Weekend Update" sketches. My favorite moment, though, was when Chase had left the show, he was replaced by two co-anchors, Jane Curtain and Dan Aykroyd. The sketch would usually end or climax with a heated, but not over the top, debate between the two regarding a variety of current issues. Curtain usually provided a rational opinion and argument, though she at least once described her opponent as a disgusting pig. Aykroyd, in turn, in a line that has come to be a legendary one, harshly replied, "Jane, you ignorant slut!"
More best SNL moments are on the way!
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