The 20 Best SNL Sketches of 2017
In honor of tonight's return of Saturday Night Live after a 4-week holiday hiatus, I consider it fitting to do one more retrospective look at 2017: the best SNL skits from the year. 2017 was not quite as chock full of amazing skits as its predecessor was, but to be fair it was a tough act to follow. 2016 was filled with some of the best episodes of Saturday Night Live in years, and its election coverage was perhaps the most relevant of any news channel's.
That being said, though the writing has been noticeably less sharp in Season 43 of SNL than Season 42, there have been plenty of skits, political and non-political that made me laugh. Here are my Top 20 (and this is excluding some good ones):
20. "Cheetos Pitch Meeting" (Alec Baldwin, February 11th)
It's been almost a year, so it may be easy to forget that this was in fact a perfect parody of the themes of last year's Super Bowl ads. As the advertisers' pitches for Cheetos' commercial get increasingly absurd, the skit does a nice job of not skewering liberal ideas, but rather skewering the promotion of them for capital gain.
19. "Kellywise" (Kumail Nanjiani, October 14th)
A similar idea ('Kellyanne Conway as deranged') was done in the form of a Basic Instinct parody in an earlier episode. This version was slightly more effective, capitalizing on the sensation that IT was at the time of airing.
18. "World's Most Evil Invention" (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, May 20th)
Good lord, this is dark. You can tell it's incredibly uncomfortable for the studio audience, but I bet the cast and writers were dying. Kudos to them for even daring to put this on air. Also, poor White Castle.
17. "Wayne Thanksgiving" (Chance The Rapper, November 18th)
As an avid Batman (well, Christopher Nolan's Batman) fan, this made me a tiny bit sad. But also-- humorously-- made an important point about what's behind how we think about 'cleaning up crime.'
16. "Beers" (Larry David, November 4th)
Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney have been doing these absurd send-ups of 90s teen dramedy shows since they got to SNL, and I LOVE them. This was probably the finest installment yet, largely due to Larry David's total buy-in of the sketch.
15. "Basketball Scene" (Jimmy Fallon, April 15th)
Just fun. Also, 100% how I'd behave if I got this role.
14. "Visit With Santa" (James Franco, December 9th)
I think Alec Baldwin's Trump has gone incredibly stale, and the writing around him lazy. Thus, I much more appreciate the sneakily political content that uses more creative ways to get to anti-Trump punchlines. Case in point: utilizing children to bring home the funniest lines of the night.
13. "Five Stars" (Aziz Ansari, January 21st)
Apparently this is a parody of a Black Mirror episode-- I am yet to watch Black Mirror (yes, I know Internet, I'm SORRY), but still enjoyed this witty skit, mostly for Bobby Moynihan's character Petros.
12. "Girl At A Bar" (Octavia Spencer, February 11th)
Every girl I've shown this skit to has simply said "Too real." I'm sure it is, sadly. Fortunately, the over-the-top reactions from the male cast members, and Aidy Bryant's closing cameo, there's enough laughing to keep us from crying.
11. "First Date" (Gal Gadot, October 7th)
The reveal in this skit was among the best moments of the season so far, but the skit builds on the joke from there instead of letting it deflate. Terrific writing.
10. "Translator" (Scarlett Johansson, March 11th)
Using a dog to 'deliver' a somewhat coherent defense of Trump had to be among SNL's greatest feats last year. Also, that had to be improv on Beck's part when the dog's helmet fell off, right? Brilliant stuff.
9. "Amazon Echo" (Melissa McCarthy, May 13th)
A simple premise, but so hilariously pulled off by Kenan and co. I think my parents have shown every single house guest this video.
8. "A Sketch For The Women" (Scarlett Johansson, March 11th)
In a similar vein to "Girl At A Bar", at least in terms of 'seemingly helpful men are actually the worst.' I just love how perfectly Beck and Kyle encapsulate the types of faux outrage ever-present these days.
7. "Dry Fridays" (Kristen Stewart, February 4th)
Sometimes, SNL hosts are a delightful surprise- that was 100% the case with Kristen Stewart last February, who ended up hosting one of the best shows of 2017 (more examples coming soon). Here, her weird personality is perfectly cast.
6. "Papyrus" (Ryan Gosling, September 30th)
I'm a huge sucker for comedy skits that feature extremely over the top concepts with legitimately great dramatic acting. On the one hand, this is absurd; on the other hand, I'd totally watch a full-length feature of this.
5. "Bedroom" (Aziz Ansari, January 21st)
Sexual humor is often lazy, but sexual situational humor, such as this, can just be an absolute gold-mine of jokes. This one had me rolling start to finish. (Completely unrelated: if I showed this to my girlfriend and she responded with "LITERALLY ME", should I be worried?)
4. "Come Back, Barack" (Chance The Rapper, November 18th)
This skit won the 2nd annual Woodiwiss Family SNL Bracket over Christmas-- an all-too-real plea, and a hilarious take that I have to assume Chance had a big part in writing.
3. "Totinos" (Kristen Stewart, February 4th)
The third installment of the lady who just wants to feed her hungry guys took a hilarious, unexpected turn. And again, this legitimately has the look of an award-winning movie.
2. "Take Me Back" (Jimmy Fallon, April 15th)
Short and sweet. What starts as Jimmy Fallon making you giggle with his funny voice/song choice ends in the best punchline of the year, and then another one. Will people understand this in 10 years? Probably not. Will it still be great? Yes.
1. "Sean Spicer Press Conference" (Kristen Stewart, February 4th)
Alec Baldwin may play Trump, the cast may be terrific, Kristen Stewart may have hosted this episode, but 2017 in SNL belonged to Melissa McCarthy. This skit was the introduction of her as former Press Secretary Sean Spicer, and was a surprise casting to all (listen how the audience only gradually realizes it's McCarthy). The impression was perfect, the rage real, her berating of the assembled reporters frighteningly accurate. Though Spicer may be lost in the absolute shitshow of the Trump years, this skit was and still is iconic.