List of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches

Last updated

The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live sketches, organized by the season and date in which the sketch first appeared. For an alphabetical list, see Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches (listed alphabetically).

Contents

1975–1976

TitlePremiere dateMain 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, including Chevy 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, and Michael Che.
The Killer BeesOctober 11, 1975First characters to recur on SNL. According to a Lorne Michaels interview for the book Live 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 starring Jim Henson's Muppets, King Ploobis (performed by Jim Henson), Queen Peuta (performed by Alice Tweedie), Scred (performed by Jerry Nelson), Vazh (performed by Fran Brill), Wisss (performed by Richard Hunt), and the Mighty Favog (performed by Frank 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.
SherryNovember 15, 1975 Laraine Newman Laraine Newman plays Sherry, a stereotypical naive valley girl. Newman reprised the role in the 40th anniversary special as part of The Californians sketch in 2015, in which she played Karina's mother who, like Sherry, also spoke valley girl-esque.
Minute Mystery with Mike MendozaNovember 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 BooksNovember 15, 1975 Jane Curtin A talk 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). Her catchphrase was "Never mind!", said after she was informed of her mistake.
Saturday Night Live Samurai December 13, 1975 John Belushi John Belushi plays a samurai warrior, who speaks only (mock) Japanese, and wields a katana. He is seen in various occupations ranging from a hotel desk clerk to a tailor.
Mel's Char PalaceDecember 20, 1975 Dan Aykroyd A steakhouse 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 BushakisJanuary 24, 1976 John Belushi A John Belushi character who hails from Chicago, named after Belushi's childhood friend.
H & L BrockJanuary 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, 1976Mr. Bill is the clay figurine star of a parody of children's shows. Mr. Bill got its start when Walter Williams sent SNL a Super 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 by Vance DeGeneres). [1] The character's popularity spawned the 1986 live-action movie Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures .
TomorrowApril 17, 1976 Dan Aykroyd A parody of The Tomorrow Show , starring Dan Aykroyd as Tom Snyder.
Baba WawaApril 24, 1976 Gilda Radner Gilda Radner impersonates journalist Barbara Walters.
Colleen FernmanApril 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 is autistic.
Bobbi FarberJuly 31, 1976 Gilda Radner Middle-class Jewish-American with a nasal voice, who appeared in eight sketches in various settings over five seasons.

1976–1977

1977–1978

1978–1979

1979–1980

1980–1981

1981–1982

1982–1983

1983–1984

1984–1985

1985–1986

1986–1987

1987–1988

1988–1989

1989–1990

1990–1991

1991–1992

1992–1993

1993–1994

1994–1995

1995–1996

1996–1997

1997–1998

1998–1999

1999–2000

2000–2001

2001–2002

2002–2003

2003–2004

2004–2005

2005–2006

2006–2007

2007–2008

2008–2009

2009–2010

2010–2011

2011–2012

2012–2013

2013–2014

2014–2015

2015–2016

2016–2017

2017–2018

2018–2019

2019–2020

2020–2021

TitlePremiere dateMain actor(s)Description
Edith PuthieOctober 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 WenowdisOctober 10, 2020 Kate McKinnon Weekend Update's resident medical expert (Kate McKinnon) who always replies with "We know dis". The pieces end with McKinnon breaking character to address her anxieties regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
SmokeCheddaDaAssGetta and Nunya BiznessDecember 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 ShowDecember 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. pronouncing Billie Eilish as "Billie Eyelash").
Wooden SignsFebruary 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 AgainFebruary 20, 2021 Chloe Fineman Britney Spears (Chloe Fineman) hosts a talk show in which she interviews guests that have been victims of cancel culture and gives them a chance to apologize for their prior incidents.
Pauline, a Weary Mother in Her Darkest HourMay 8, 2021 Ego Nwodim A worn-out woman (Ego Nwodim) appears on Weekend Update to lament her experiences as a mother.

2021–2022

TitlePremiere dateMain actor(s)Description
AngeloOctober 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.
TikTokDecember 11, 2021 Aidy Bryant An unseen teenager scrolls through a series of eccentric videos on TikTok to avoid chores.
Trend ForecastersJanuary 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.
ShoptvApril 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 ThatApril 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.

2022–2023

TitlePremiere dateMain actor(s)Description
Big Dumb ThingsNovember 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 MomFebruary 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 from Temecula February 4, 2023 Ego Nwodim
Punkie Johnson
Bowen Yang
Lisa from Temecula (Nwodim) disrupts her sister's (Johnson) social life.
Garrett from Hinge March 4, 2023Bowen YangGarrett (Bowen Yang) interrupts a couple after being stood up by the woman.
Jingle PitchMarch 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 GoalsApril 1, 2023James Austin JohnsonGame show about couple goals, where one couple shares very intense theories and thoughts about what would happen to their partner.
CrystalApril 8, 2023Heidi GardnerA co-worker who's busy doing absolutely nothing (Heidi Gardner) who appears on Weekend Update.
Recording SessionApril 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.

2023–2024

TitlePremiere dateMain actor(s)Description
SecretaryOctober 14, 2023 Heidi Gardner
Bowen Yang
In a 1960s law office, hyper secretary Trudy (Heidi Gardner) is manically predictive.
Dr. PleaseOctober 28, 2023Bowen YangOddball Dr. Please (Bowen Yang).
Washington's DreamOctober 28, 2023 Nate Bargatze
James Austin Johnson
Kenan Thompson
Mikey Day
Bowen Yang
During the Revolutionary War, general George 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(eg: weights and measures, miles vs kilometers, unique spellings of certain English words, etc).

2024–2025

TitlePremiere dateMain actor(s)Description
Bridesmaid SpeechOctober 12, 2024 Heidi Gardner
Ego Nwodim
Sarah Sherman
Chloe Fineman
Andrew Dismukes
Marcello Hernandez
A woman named Kelsey (Fineman) and a man named Matt (Dismukes) are celebrating an achievement in their relationship when Kelsey's friends (Gardner, Nwodim, Sherman, the episode's host (Ariana Grande and Charli XCX, respectively)) perform a poorly-sung parody of a popular song that details a trip they took to another state. The song ends up revealing details about Kelsey having an affair with a man named Domingo (Hernandez), who shows up at the end to clarify the revelations to Matt.

The first installment would end up going viral following its initial airing, with the ending segment featuring Hernandez's Domingo character becoming a viral soundbite on TikTok. In addition, the character of Domingo would make a surprise appearance during Sabrina Carpenter's (whose song "Espresso" was parodied in the first-ever installment) Los Angeles performance on November 17th, 2024 for her Short n' Sweet Tour, in which he appeared as the recipient of the show’s traditional "audience arrest" segment. [2]

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References

  1. "Oh Noooooo! It's Mr. Bill's 20th Anniversary (1995)". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  2. Atkinson, Katie (2024-11-18). "Sabrina Carpenter Surprises LA Crowd With Marcello Hernandez as Domingo From Viral 'SNL' Sketch". Billboard. Retrieved 2024-11-18.