The 25 Best SNL Sketches of 2019
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 2019: the best SNL skits from the year. 2018 was an interesting year for the show: the tail-end of Season 44 and first half of Season 45 have seen some phenomenal episodes, some...not-so-phenomenal. But whether it was one per episode, or five, just about every episode presented at least one candidate for sketch of the year. Honestly, trimming the list to even 25 skits for this article was never going to be easy.
But, with the recognition that there are several funny skits that will not receive the shoutout they probably deserve, here are my Top 25:
25. "Spooky Song" (Chance the Rapper, October 26th)
This felt like it could have amounted to more as a sketch, but sheesh, Chance’s entire character arc was golden. Who even thinks of that kind of a death? Also, I’m so impressed by the cloud animation in the background. The details, man.
24. "Love Island" (Phoebe Waller-Bridge, October 5th)
Okay, confession time. In the last year and a half, I went from not knowing what the heck Love Island was to watching the entirety of the completed 4 seasons with my housemates. So when the narrator says "You think you won't [50 hours of this], but you will", that hits hard. Now that I've admitted my guilty fandom, I can attest that this is a startlingly good portrayal of the show. They were just missing someone shouting "Ah've goot a TEXT!!!" at the top of their lungs.
23. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" (Scarlett Johansson, December 14th)
Forget “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” I’ve always thought the most unnerving Christmas song is “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” I’m glad Cecily Strong seems to agree, and am even more glad that she so brilliantly helmed this parody song about an even darker “I Saw Mommy” timeline. It was around this time last year that I started my #getCecilyanEmmy campaign, and I think it’s about time we start that up again.
22. "What's Wrong With This Picture" (Paul Rudd, May 18th)
The “game show with dumb players” has been done a lot by SNL, but never this particular show. The guests were delightfully ‘off’ in this sketch, and Kenan made a terrific flustered host. With a better ending, this probably ranks higher.
21. "Party Song" (Will Ferrell, November 23rd)
Catchy, hilarious, strange and original. This was one of the few times in the disappointing Will Ferrell-hosted episode that we saw SNL at its best, and one of the strongest pre-taped bits all year.
20. "DNC Town Hall" (Woody Harrelson, September 28th)
As has usually been the case in the Trump era, SNL was disappointingly short on great political content in 2019. But that arena has picked up ever so slightly, with the start of the 2020 Presidential Race, and the show's first debate parody of this go-round was its best. Harrelson as Joe Biden made too much sense (although can we talk about how he looks like a cross between a Kennedy and Billy Graham?), almost as perfect a casting as Maya Rudolph, who predictably stole the show as Kamala Harris. It's been well-documented that Elizabeth Warren is my favorite of McKinnon's political impressions, and although I don't feel the same need as most do to have Larry David's Bernie back, it's fun nonetheless. But let's shout out the less-used figures: newcomers Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman debuted perfect Andrew Yang and Marianne Williamson impressions, and Colin Jost as Pete Buttigeig was hilarious.
19. "Bachelorette Party" (Kit Harington, April 6th)
This was one of several bizarro sketches on the night Kit Harington, but none were sold as wholly as this one. The host absolutely commits to his quietly dedicated character, Kate McKinnon perfectly embodied the emotionally distant French burlesque instructor, and the low-key star of it all was Melissa Villaseñor, whose character’s fascination with the groom’s body proves to be especially unnerving.
18. "Extreme Baking Championship" (Don Cheadle, February 16th)
This was nothing like any game show skit I'd seen SNL do before, and it was a riot. Honestly, I would have killed to just keep seeing deformed cartoon cakes. Cheadle was terrific here, as a peppy dad, ultimately with a good amount of self-awareness. One of the only missteps was the bizarre 'cake coming to life' joke, but that was rescued with Kyle Mooney’s understanding of what Yoda’s famous feature is.
17. "Apple Picking Ad" (Woody Harrelson, September 28th)
Epitomizing the strangeness of this season so far, the first Scorecard of Season 45 had a 10-to-1 sketch win the day! For the last sketch of an episode, this had everything you could want: weird characters, hilarious one-liners, live animals, Aidy Bryant breaking for the 2nd time in the night, and Kate McKinnon breaking for seemingly the first time in her career.
16. "State Meeting" (Halsey, February 9th)
I don't know if you remember the Virginia Governor's blackface scandal, but back when it was the news story of the week, SNL tackled it throughout the night, but never more effectively than in this sketch. The characters' obliviousness is played so well that you should probably check yourself if you DON'T share Kenan's rage.
15. "The Duel" (Sandra Oh, March 30th)
Sure, this was a little dumb, and surprisingly morbid. But, true to form for my reactions to both Pete Davidson’s and especially Beck Bennett’s humor, I laughed a lot more than I should have.
14. "Sara Lee" (Harry Styles, November 16th)
This is one that I thought was just okay upon first viewing, but since have quoted it as much as any other sketch this year. It's unsettling and delightful. Also, I laughed way harder than I should have Cecily Strong’s character mixing up the names “Santino” and “Jake.”
13. "The Perfect Mother" (Emma Thompson, May 5th)
Between last year’s Mother’s Day sketch, the Christmas sketch, and now this, SNL is really trying to make sure I don’t have kids, huh? It’s crazy how the same premise every time has been so, so funny, even if it’s no longer unexpected.
12. "New Paint" (Kristen Stewart, November 2nd)
My brother, as avid an SNL fan as I am, texted me in the wake of this skit his theory that “before the season, Lorne pulled Aidy, Beck, and Kyle into a room and told them to write every skit and just have fun with it.” I’m inclined to agree, because often times in Season 45, the highlight of the entire night is when one of the cast members (Aidy Bryant in this case) was allowed to just go nuts. But let’s not overlook the drama of this skit, too! This felt like a Tennessee Williams play, a one-woman comedy act, and a Farrow & Ball commercial all in one.
11. "The Actress" (Emma Stone, April 3rd)
For anyone who has ever wondered what sort of acting chops it takes to get supporting “roles” in porn videos: thankfully, we finally have an answer, via Emma Stone’s best performance since La La Land. The earnestness with which she played the actress who played Deidre was inspiring.
10. "Grouch" (David Harbour, October 12th)
This Joker take was just pulled off extremely well. I kind of need to see a dark realistic Sesame Street film now.
9. "R Kelly Interview Cold Open" (Idris Elba, March 9th)
Man, this was risky material, but they pulled it off well. Leslie’s quietly indignant Gayle and Kenan Thompson’s absolutely clueless “Victim” Kelly were dead on. Kenan, who does such a good job juicing comedy out of the most unsympathetic figures, is truly a national treasure.
8. "SoulCycle" (David Harbour, October 12th)
The only thing that held this one back was the bizarre interplay between Ego Nwodim’s and Alex Moffat’s characters; it’s not that it was bad, it just felt unnecessary. Apart from that, this is one of the most quotable skits of the year. The revolving door of SoulCycle Leaders was hysterical. Bowen Yang is a rising star, no doubt about it.
7. "Dad" (Woody Harrelson, September 28th)
It's been delightful watching Kyle Mooney's progression at SNL. For the first few years on the show, it seemed like his skits were always going to be on the outside looking in. Gradually (perhaps with the help of noteworthy internet support), his weird brand of humor started finding more and more inroads into live episodes, and now we're here, where a sketch that is Mooney to the core, avoids the cut and gets good air time. This was, yet again, a terrific parody of 90s teen melodrama, as well as the era in which white guys tried to get into rap. Chris Redd's inexplicably religious character made me laugh hard, too.
6. "That's The Game" (John Mulaney, April 14th)
Chris Redd plays a new “king” of the drug game, but it becomes increasingly clear that he is in way over his head. Redd is so good at playing these half-witted characters with full commitment. Definitely one of the most laugh-out-loud funny skits of the season.
5. "Chris Farley Song" (Adam Sandler, May 4th)
On my SNL Scorecard at the time, I didn't give this a particular rating. Because really, how do you even rate something like this? It wasn’t a comedy skit (though there were some nice laughs in there); it was a musical performance by the host, but not from the musical guest. More than that, it was just a touching, heartfelt, melancholy tribute from one comedian friend to another. But I can't talk about Saturday Night Live in 2019 without talking about this moment. This was reminiscent of Kate McKinnon’s post-Election “Hallelujah” sketch, though on a more personal level, as something that just transcended what SNL is typically about.
4. "A Journey Through Time" (Paul Rudd, May 18th)
I typically don’t like skits that were already so incredible in their original format becoming recurring installments. But, along with “Black Jeopardy,” these Ms. Rafferty sketches are perpetually welcome, no matter how often they are done. How they consistently think of euphemisms that Kate McKinnon can employ for the butt and vagina is remarkable. Aidy Bryant seems to be on the edge of breaking every time they do this skit and it’s not hard to see why. This character is McKinnon’s “Target Lady.”
3. "Mid-Day News" (Phoebe Waller-Bridge, October 5th)
Ego Nwodim has to have one of the best batting averages of the SNL cast. By that I mean, it feels like she doesn't play a major part in many sketches, but just about every sketch I can recall her having a major part in, I've loved. This one got to the punchline pretty quickly, but the jokes kept coming (such as Chris Redd's character subtly loosening his tie). And man, the first time Kenan Thompson and Ego celebrated, I LOST it. This felt like something out of The Chappelle Show.
2. "What's That Name" (John Mulaney, March 2nd)
Not the traditional game show format you’re used to, probably. This was a delightful character study (i.e., which character do you hate the most?). I have to confess: I horribly underrated this sketch on its first airing, even being as daft as to claim it "wasn’t quite as funny as other well-known SNL game show skits." Upon further review, this is a gem. Bill Hader, the quintessential game show host, was magnificent to watch, but the episode's host and cast members packed a tremendous humorous punch themselves.
1. "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood" (Eddie Murphy, December 21st)
No return of an old Eddie Murphy sketch was more welcome than one of his most iconic characters, Mr. Robinson of the fictional "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood." But the brilliance of this is that it wasn't just leaving Eddie to do his thing; rather, they updated the classic sketch to include contemporary jokes about gentrification and 'well-intentioned' white friends/neighbors. The result was, quite simply, the best sketch of the entire year.