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.
Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an American late-night live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The show's premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The show's comedy sketches, which often parody contemporary American culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that is usually based on political events and ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", properly beginning the show.
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.
"Wayne's World" was originally a recurring sketch from the NBC television series Saturday Night Live. The first "Wayne's World" sketch appeared in the 13th Saturday Night Live episode of the 1988–1989 season, on February 18, 1989. 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. The Saturday Night Live sketch spawned a hit 1992 film, its 1993 sequel, and several catchphrases which have since entered the pop-culture lexicon.
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.
Kate McKinnon Berthold is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2012 to 2022, where she became known for her character work and celebrity impressions. For her work on the series, she was nominated for ten Primetime Emmy Awards, including one for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and nine for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning in 2016 and 2017.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 30, 2006, and May 19, 2007, the thirty-second 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 24, 2011, and May 20, 2012, the thirty-seventh season of SNL.
Sasheer Zamata Moore is an American actress and stand-up comedian. She is best known for her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2014 to 2017. Since her departure from SNL, she has garnered wider attention for her leading roles in the TV series Woke (2020–2022) and Home Economics (2021–2023). In 2024, Zamata starred as Jennifer Kale in the Disney+ Marvel show Agatha All Along. She has also served as a celebrity ambassador for the American Civil Liberties Union.
The forty-second season of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live premiered on October 1, 2016, during the 2016–2017 television season, with host Margot Robbie and musical guest The Weeknd, and concluded on May 20, 2017, with host Dwayne Johnson and musical guest Katy Perry. The season removed two commercial breaks per episode in order to increase programming time. Episode 18 on April 15, 2017, was the first episode ever to be broadcast live in all four time zones within the contiguous United States. Until this episode, the show aired live only in the Eastern and Central time zones, and was tape-delayed in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.
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.
"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.