The 50 Best SNL Sketches of All Time

What constitutes a great Saturday Night Live sketch? The question is more complicated than it seems. Besides the obvious issue of subjectivity—I'm sorry, but I just don't think "Opera Man" is funny—there are several SNL-specific issues we have to think through before we pick favorites. For instance, what's the difference between great characters and great sketches, or are they synonymous? I love Tracy Morgan's lip-glossed embodiment of the idiosyncratic zookeeper, Brian Fellows, as well as Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri's Spartan cheerleaders. But did either of those characters produce one of SNL's best sketches? I'm not so sure. To be clear, funniness is not the only factor that matters. Legacy counts, too.

View in Browser  SHOP EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBE The 50 Best Saturday Night Live Sketches of All Time What constitutes a great Saturday Night Live sketch? The question is more complicated than it seems. Besides the obvious issue of subjectivity—I'm sorry, but I just don't think "Opera Man" is funny—there are several SNL-specific issues we have to think through before we pick favorites. For instance, what's the difference between great characters and great sketches, or are they synonymous? I love Tracy Morgan's lip-glossed embodiment of the idiosyncratic zookeeper, Brian Fellows, as well as Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri's Spartan cheerleaders. But did either of those characters produce one of SNL's best sketches? I'm not so sure. To be clear, funniness is not the only factor that matters. Legacy counts, too. Read More Cooler New Balances Have Never Been on Sale It's a Presidents' Day miracle. Read More Our Favorite Art TV Is Finally on Sale on Amazon And no, it's not the Samsung Frame. Read More Why One of England's Richest Men Spent $2 Billion to Make His Dream Car It all began with a love for safari. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the founder of the London-based multinational chemical giant INEOS, has long enjoyed spending his holidays in Africa. And his favored vehicle for traversing rough terrain in the bush was the Land Rover Defender. When Land Rover said in 2016 that it was going to discontinue his favorite 4x4, Ratcliffe asked to buy the rights so that he could continue manufacturing the Defender himself. The automaker said no. But the INEOS chairman is not a man easily deterred. Read More How to Navigate the Increasingly Insane Console Market For those of you asking about the difference between the three (!) different models of the PlayStation 5. Read More 60 Amazon Deals to Grab This Presidents' Day Weekend There's nothing better than scoring necessities on sale. Read More The Trump Administration Has Finally Gotten a Media Scandal They Can't Lie Their Way Out Of It now appears that the administration may have screwed the pooch in the most exquisite way possible—by assuming that everyone they've brought into the government is as unprincipled and slavishly loyal as, say, every Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives. This has put the entire Department of Justice into a jackpot over New York mayor Eric Adams and given the administration a media-scandal spectacular that it can't lie its way out of. Read More Follow Us Unsubscribe | Privacy Notice | CA Notice at Collection Esquire is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2025 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779