On the American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show Saturday Night Live (SNL), a commercial advertisement parody is commonly shown after the host's opening monologue. Many of the parodies were produced by James Signorelli. The industries, products, and ad formats targeted by the parodies have been wide-ranging, including fast food, beer, feminine hygiene products, toys, clothes, medications (both prescription and over-the-counter), financial institutions, automobiles, electronics, appliances, public-service announcements, infomercials, and movie & TV shows (including SNL itself).
Many of SNL's ad parodies have been featured in prime-time clip shows over the years, including an April 1991 special hosted by Kevin Nealon and Victoria Jackson, as well as an early 1999 follow-up hosted by Will Ferrell that features his attempts to audition for a feminine hygiene commercial. In late 2005 and in March 2009, the special was modernized, featuring commercials created since the airing of the original special.
"Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" is a catchphrase that originated in 1975 during the first season of NBC's Saturday Night and which mocked the weeks-long media reports of the impending death of Francisco Franco. It was one of the first catchphrases from the series to enter the general lexicon.
Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance. Historically, one or two of the players are cast in the role of news anchor, presenting gag news items based on current events and acting as hosts for occasional editorials, commentaries, or other performances by other cast members or guests. In modern times, dedicated anchors are chosen among writing staff, often lead writers, in lieu of cast or featured players. Chevy Chase has said that Weekend Update – which he started as anchor in 1975 – paved the way for comedic news shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.
"The Continental" is a recurring sketch on Saturday Night Live (SNL) featuring Christopher Walken. The first sketch aired on the eleventh episode of the fifteenth season, January 20, 1990.
Celebrity Jeopardy! is a series of sketches that aired regularly on the television comedy/variety show Saturday Night Live between 1996 and 2002, the years when Will Ferrell was a cast member. It parodies the same-named special event on the television quiz show Jeopardy! that features competition between notable individuals with all winnings going towards charitable organizations, and significant reductions to the game's level of difficulty. Fifteen sketches aired between December 1996 and February 2015: two sketches per season from 1996 to 2002, and one each in 2005 and 2009, when Ferrell returned to the show as host. The sketch was revived for the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special on February 15, 2015.
Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created and produced by Lorne Michaels for most of the show's run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.
"Wayne's World" was originally a recurring sketch from the NBC television series Saturday Night Live. It evolved from a segment "Wayne's Power Minute" (1987) on the CBC Television series It's Only Rock & Roll, as the main character first appeared in that show. A prototype of the Wayne character had appeared several years prior on CITY-TV in Toronto's overnight show City Limits. The Saturday Night Live sketch spawned a hit 1992 film, its 1993 sequel, and several catchphrases which have since entered the pop-culture lexicon. The sketch centered on a local public-access television program in Aurora, Illinois, hosted by Wayne Campbell, an enthusiastic long-haired metalhead, and his timid and sometimes high-strung, yet equally metal-loving sidekick and best friend, Garth Algar. Wayne lives with his parents and broadcasts his show "live" from the basement of their house every Friday evening at 10:30. The first "Wayne's World" sketch appeared in the 13th Saturday Night Live episode of the 1988–1989 season, on February 18, 1989.
Michael William Day is an American actor and comedian. He was hired as a writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live before its 39th season in 2013. He was then promoted to on-air cast status and became a featured player during the show's 42nd season in 2016, later being promoted to repertory status beginning with the 44th season in 2018. Day is also the host of the Netflix show Is It Cake? He previously was an on-air correspondent for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Jay Leno Show.
The sketch comedy television show Saturday Night Live aired several critically acclaimed sketches parodying then Alaskan Governor and vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin in the lead-up to the 2008 United States presidential election. The sketches featured former cast member Tina Fey, who returned as a guest star to portray Palin. Fey won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her impersonation of Palin.
"What Up with That?" is a recurring sketch on the NBC television series Saturday Night Live. The sketch first aired in 2009. It stars Kenan Thompson as Diondre Cole, host of a talk show on BET. Supporting characters include the show's announcer, originally played by Will Forte, and later by Taran Killam and Mikey Day, Fred Armisen as Giuseppe, a Kenny G-like saxophone player, Jason Sudeikis as Vance, an overzealous track-suit-wearing backup dancer, and backup singers Pippa and Poppy, portrayed by Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad in season 35, Pedrad and Vanessa Bayer during seasons 36 and 37, Bayer and Cecily Strong in season 38, Strong and Sasheer Zamata during the SNL 40th Anniversary Special, Ego Nwodim and Melissa Villaseñor in season 45, and Villaseñor and Punkie Johnson in season 47. The sketch has incorporated unannounced cameo appearances by a number of celebrities. In addition to this, cast members frequently play roles adding to the chaos during Cole's performances, such as Paul Brittain and Abby Elliott's dancing performances as Vili Fualaau and Mary Kay Letourneau, a student and teacher who made news for their sexual relationship.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between October 7, 2000, and May 19, 2001, the twenty-sixth season of SNL.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 13, 2008, and May 16, 2009, the thirty-fourth season of the show.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 26, 2009, and May 15, 2010, the thirty-fifth season of SNL.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 25, 2010, and May 21, 2011, the thirty-sixth season of SNL.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 24, 2011, and May 20, 2012, the thirty-seventh season of SNL.
Alexander Everett Moffat is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, where he debuted as a featured player during the show's 42nd season in 2016, alongside Mikey Day and Melissa Villaseñor. After two seasons as featured players, all three became repertory cast members in 2018, beginning with the show's 44th season. Moffat left SNL in 2022, after six years as a cast member. In 2023, he made his Broadway debut in The Cottage.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced during the fortieth season of SNL, which began on September 27, 2014.
The forty-third season of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live premiered on September 30, 2017, during the 2017–2018 television season with host Ryan Gosling and musical guest Jay-Z, and concluded on May 19, 2018, with host Tina Fey and musical guest Nicki Minaj. Like the final four episodes of season 42, season 43 was broadcast live in all four time zones within the contiguous United States, with the exception of the Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa episode due to the network's commitment to the NFL.
"Saturday Night Live at Home" refers to the final three episodes of the 45th season of the late-night comedy program Saturday Night Live. Whereas SNL typically consists of sketches performed live in-studio, these "at Home" episodes were recorded remotely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television; none of the sketches were performed live for any of these episodes, and none of the participants in any sketch from these shows were in the same physical location.