The Best SNL Sketches of 2023
In honor of the announced return of Saturday Night Live this weekend after a long month away due to the holidays, I'm finding it fitting to do one more retrospective look at 2023: the best SNL skits from the year! After 2022 finally marked a return to post-COVID normalcy, last year had a wrench thrown in it that we hadn't seen in over 15 years, with the double strikes of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. Fortunately, both were ultimately resolved, but it meant the fewest amount of SNL episodes in a year for quite some time, with nothing between mid-April and mid-October.
Despite being an abnormal year for the show, and having a shortage of memorable episodes, there was no shortage of memorable sketches. Whether it was one per episode, or five, almost 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 I did it all the same!
All this being said, with the recognition that there are several decent skits that will not receive the shoutout they probably deserve, here are my Top 25:
25. "Troye Sivan Sleep Demon" (Timotheé Chalamet, November 11th)
IIt’s hilarious that they made this sketch, because literally the week I noticed Troye Sivan popping up more and more in my Spotify playlists, and I’ve been thinking to myself ‘should I check out more of his music?!’ (Actually though, “Rush” is a banger- it’s been stuck in my head for about a week straight.) If you don’t know Troye, you were probably wildly confused this whole sketch, but this was loads of fun, especially with the boygenius cameo at the end.
24. "Taboo" (Aubrey Plaza, January 21st)
More often than not, my "sketch length"-related gripes are that a funny bit just dragged on too long. This is the rare instance where I'm annoyed a sketch didn't go on longer! It felt like there was so much more humor and backstory we could have gotten out of Plaza and Mikey Day's couple! But what a great premise, executed to perfection by all involved.
23. "Jake From State Farm" (Michael B. Jordan, January 28th)
This was a great take on one of the more recognizable figures from ‘Commercial-land.’ Sort of amazed I haven't seen SNL or anyone in the Twittersphere have this kind of take on Jake From State Farm yet, actually. Regardless, funny bit, and also the best acting of the night by the host.
22. "Black Lotus" (Aubrey Plaza, January 21st)
This was a simple, perhaps obvious spoof-- we had to know some White Lotus parody was coming, right? --but was just really well written. You don't have to watch the show to keep up with the premise here, that a nonwhite 'resort staff' would put up with < 1% of the nonsense that the White Lotus staffs of both seasons did. Also, pretty funny to hear the audience unsure of how to react to Aubrey Plaza's character. She's Puerto Rican, guys! It's okay to laugh!
21. "Old Friends" (Adam Driver, December 9th)
The setup for the joke was fairly obvious, but it didn’t make this bit any less funny. Adam Driver was, unsurprisingly, so good as the emotionless creeper (and unfortunately, I think we all have an old acquaintance at least that fits in this sort of trope).
20. "Diet Coke by Olay" (Emma Stone, December 2nd)
Right at the very end of this episode came a nice little treat. A mock ad that presents an absurd product that might actually be a thing of the future, and the sort of banal happy consumers we see all the time in real ads. Vintage SNL.
19. "Please Don't Destroy - The Original Princes of Comedy" (Pete Davidson, October 14th)
Between how soon he began collaborating with the trio after they joined the show, to him actually bringing them aboard his 2021/22 New Year's Eve hosting stint on NBC, one could easily conclude that Pete Davidson, to his credit, caught on pretty quickly to how funny the "Please Don't Destroy" guys were. Thus, it was somewhat fitting that the strongest sketch on Pete's hosting night was a PDD digital short, although in this case, the stars were neither the host nor the three PDD members themselves, but rather the three kids who perfectly played the younger versions of Ben, John and Martin. Hilarious concept, and great execution.
18. "Submarine Launch" (Woody Harrelson, February 25th)
This was the most “10-to-1” non-10-to-1 sketch ever. I wonder if it would have made me laugh even harder if it was in the slap-happy hours. As it was, though, I still cracked up throughout the whole thing; this was a clever way to integrate internet humor with real-world contexts.
17. "I'm Just Pete" (Pete Davidson, October 14th)
Yes, the Barbie parody was obvious, considering SNL didn't get a chance during the summer (or the strike) to touch on the cultural zeitgeist. Yes, the excessive self-referential humor made me roll my eyes a bit. All that being said, this was very clever from start to finish, and I actually found it even funnier upon rewatching.
16. "Little Orphan Cassidy" (Timotheé Chalamet, November 11th)
What an absolute gem, right at the tail-end of the show, and what a debut for Chloe Troast! In the new cast member’s first starring role, she proved equal parts hilarious and talented, with a legitimately great baritone singing voice. This was a simple idea at its heart, sure, but such a funny idea for a sketch, and very well-executed.
15. "Rome Song" (Jason Momoa, November 18th)
My little brother pointed out that SNL was about a month behind on the viral “Men think about Rome daily” TikTok meme, but eh, who cares. This was a ton of fun and in a pretty weak episode overall, was a clear standout both in humor and energy.
14. "Cologuard" (Woody Harrelson, February 25th)
On a night where the live sketches were largely off, it’s no surprise that the biggest highlight was another solid mock ad from SNL, one of the things they do best. This was in line with Adam Sandler’s “Rectix” ad from a couple years ago, in that it’s a medical product that takes an… interesting turn. The second twist at the end was cleverly done, too.
13. "Waking Up" (Pedro Pascal, February 4th)
This is a perfect example of how no matter how dumb or random a sketch idea is, it can be hilarious if everyone fully commits and the crowd is on board. I mean, this was such a weird, dumb bit and yet, Pedro’s wide-eyed commitment to his character, as well as Heidi Gardner’s flustered wife and Bowen Yang the oblivious doctor, made the interpersonal dynamics so funny. The crowd’s energy added that much more juice to it; it also doesn’t hurt that Pascal broke at a hilarious time.
12. "Tiny Ass Bag" (Adam Driver, December 9th)
What I said above about fully committing, no matter how stupid or silly a sketch is? Yeah, applies again. This was the mother of all ten-to-one sketches. So much to love here. A ridiculous premise! Ego and Marcello pairing up for the first time! A cameo from the musical guest, who killed it! Adam Driver perfectly playing the complete opposite personality of all the other characters, to devastating comedic effect! And to make things even better, it had the funniest sketch ending, on a night abnormally full of strong ones.
11. "Wing Pit" (Pedro Pascal, February 4th)
It feels like it had been a while since we got a good fake ad, and this was a great one. I love that the joke progressed past being just a parody of our society’s tendency for over-indulgence, into taking an extremely intense, dark turn.
10. "Washington's Dream" (Nate Bargatze, October 28th)
None of the ideas in this sketch were novel, but what a creative way to parody some of the more absurd aspects of American exceptionalism. Kenan Thompson and his character added a terrific additional layer on top of an already-great running joke.
9. "Lake Beach" (Nate Bargatze, October 28th)
This is American heritage! And a genuinely catchy tune, at that, coming from someone that doesn’t typically enjoy Country music. I appreciated that this was a loving rib of Southern culture from a trio of Southern men, rather than mean-spirited skewering of ‘rednecks.’
8. "Traffic Altercation" (Quinta Brunson, April 1st)
What a concept for a sketch! I don’t know what I love more, the fact that somebody thought up this idea, or the fact that it was the first sketch that aired after the monologue. This was an absolute delight, though, which was made funnier by Mulaney’s dedication to pretty much just talk like himself instead of doing a monkey impression.
7. "ShopTV Christmas" (Adam Driver, December 9th)
Immature humor maybe, but executed to perfection. I couldn’t stop giggling throughout the whole thing, and Driver’s innocently oblivious character played so well off of Heidi and Mikey’s flamboyant (and horrified) co-hosts. The “squeal” was a great touch, too.
6. "Please Don't Destroy - Road Trip" (Jenna Ortega, March 11th)
After a couple “meh” outings the preceding weeks, this was the trio’s best output in quite some time. It took a while to get to the major jokes, but it was worth the trip (haHA!) to get there. And though I was skeptical about the musical number aspect at first, it effectively served as a vehicle (hahaHA!) to accentuate the passive-aggressive sniping even more.
5. "Trump Easter Cold Open" (Molly Shannon, April 8th)
Say it with me: letting James Austin Johnson riff as Trump is a gold mine. Unlike last week’s cold open which also featured 'Trump,' Johnson's spot-on impression this time was coupled with a hilarious conceit and great writing. I also feel like at least some of the interaction with the last supper crew behind him was improv, which only added to the hilarity. Probably the best cold open of the season, and easily the best political cold open in years.
4. "The Age of Discovery" (Bad Bunny, October 21st)
This was a terrific use of the host, and also of Marcello Hernandez, who played off Bad Bunny so well all night. Just a funny concept that was executed extremely well; all played their parts, but Andrew Dismukes made me crack up with just one line.
3. "ABBA Christmas" (Kate McKinnon, December 16th)
There are plenty of instances where you can tell the writers go, "Idk, let's just let our host be wild and wacky with these guests!" and it doesn't really work. Not the case this time- letting Kate, Bowen, Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph just be themselves and do hilarious ABBA impressions while almost certainly trying to get each other to break led to magical results; truly some of the most fun I've had with any sketch this whole year.
2. "Lisa From Temecula" (Pedro Pascal, February 4th)
A ridiculous 10-to-1 sketch, starring Ego Nwodim doing the MOST, and featuring the host and cast breaking multiple times? Yes please. In a calendar year short on buzzy SNL sketches, this was the only true viral star of 2023.
1. "Waffle House" (Jenna Ortega, March 11th)
It’s funny, the Waffle House sign was the first thing I noticed, and I actually thought “Ohhhh yeah, this is gonna be a Waffle House sketch.” Then Marcello Hernandez and Jenna’s dialogue started, and I thought “Oh! Okay, it’s just a melodramatic teen parody.” Little did I know we’d get both! Both elements of this sketch were so good; the interior of the Waffle House was obviously the hilarious part, but Marcello and Jenna committed to their parts so well, I honestly couldn’t decide which part to focus on more. This was instantly memorable, and undoubtedly had ‘year-end best’ credentials.
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