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).
Title | Premiere date | Main 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 Bees | October 11, 1975 | First 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. |
Sherry | November 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 Mendoza | November 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 Books | November 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 Palace | December 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 Bushakis | January 24, 1976 | John Belushi | A John Belushi character who hails from Chicago, named after Belushi's childhood friend. |
H & L Brock | January 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, 1976 | Mr. 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. | |
Tomorrow | April 17, 1976 | Dan Aykroyd | A parody of The Tomorrow Show, starring Dan Aykroyd as Tom Snyder. |
Baba Wawa | April 24, 1976 | Gilda Radner | Gilda Radner impersonates journalist Barbara Walters. |
Colleen Fernman | April 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 Farber | July 31, 1976 | Gilda Radner | Middle-class Jewish-American with a nasal voice, who appeared in eight sketches in various settings over five seasons. |
Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Young girl interrupting porn shoots | October 10, 2015 | Aidy Bryant | The shooting of a porn movie is regularly interrupted by a young girl ( Aidy Bryant), seemingly unaware of the fictional aspect of the scene she has stumbled into. |
Citizens forum | October 10, 2015 | Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Kenan Thompson, Cecily Strong, Bobby Moynihan, various others | An array of eccentric people monopolize the podium during the citizens' forum of Bakersfield, California, to the dismay of two helpless councilors ( Bobby Moynihan and Cecily Strong). Also features Aidy Bryant as disgruntled, middle-aged spinster Jan Krang, Kyle Mooney as Dutch rapper MC Strategy, and Kenan Thompson as costume store owner Gary Loomis. |
Colleen Rafferty | December 5, 2015 | Kate McKinnon | Three people are being interrogated about a paranormal encounter or phenomenon they experienced. But Colleen Rafferty's ( Kate McKinnon) recollection of the events vastly differs from the other two (played by Cecily Strong and the host), and is filled with unsavory details. |
Deenie, somebody's mom | December 19, 2015 | Kate McKinnon | Deenie ( Kate McKinnon) inaccurately recaps her favorite soap-operas on Weekend Update while eating from a plastic container. |
America's Funniest Pets | January 16, 2016 | Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong | The presenter of an animal-based video clip show invites the two presenters of a French similar series, Joelle LaRue and Noelle LeSoup ( Cecily Strong, Kate McKinnon). He asks them to cohost the show and provide silly voiceovers for the clips. But said voiceovers turn out to be more depressing than their American counterpart. |
True Tales From The Sea | March 12, 2016 | Kate McKinnon | Adventurers down on their luck are rescued by beautiful mermaids, including Shud ( Kate McKinnon), a part-woman, part- blobfish mermaid who doesn't exactly enchant the men she's trying to seduce. |
Shanice Goodwin: Ninja | April 9, 2016 | Leslie Jones | Despite her big stature and general clumsiness, Shanice Goodwin ( Leslie Jones), cashier by day and ninja by night, is inexplicably a master of stealth. |
Chad | April 16, 2016 | Pete Davidson | Pete Davidson plays Chad, an apathetic, easily distracted youth with limited conversational skills whose catchphrase is "okay". He's the heartbreaker of several people decades older than him, but he couldn't care less about their grand declarations of love. In one instance, he is the obsession of a psychopathic serial killer, but Chad takes no notice of the killer's attempts to torment him. |
Suburban mothers | May 7, 2016 | Vanessa Bayer, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Sasheer Zamata, Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong | A group of suburban mothers engage in cult-like behavior in trying to convert a newer, inexperienced mother into doing something that proved them of their motherhood. |
Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Edith Puthie | October 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 Wenowdis | October 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 Bizness | December 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 Show | December 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 culture (e.g. pronouncing Billie Eilish as "Billie Eyelash"). |
Quote Signs | February 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 Again | February 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 Hour | May 8, 2021 | Ego Nwodim | A worn-out woman (Ego Nwodim) appears on Weekend Update to lament her experiences as a mother. |
Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Angelo | October 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. |
TikTok | December 11, 2021 | Aidy Bryant | An unseen teenager scrolls through a series of eccentric videos on TikTok to avoid chores. |
Trend Forecasters | January 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. |
Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Protective Mom | February 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 | March 4, 2023 | Bowen Yang | Garrett (Bowen Yang) interrupts a couple after being stood up by the bride. |
Jingle Pitch | March 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 Goals | April 1, 2023 | James Austin Johnson | Game show about couple goals, where one couple shares very intense theories and thoughts about what would happen to their partner. |
Crystal | April 8, 2023 | Heidi Gardner | A co-worker who's busy doing absolutely nothing (Heidi Gardner) who appears on Weekend Update. |
Recording Session | April 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. |
Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Secretary | October 14, 2023 |
Heidi Gardner Bowen Yang |
In a 1960s law office, hyper secretary Trudy (Heidi Gardner) is manically predictive. |
Dr. Please | October 28, 2023 | Bowen Yang | Oddball Dr. Please (Bowen Yang). |
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).
Title | Premiere date | Main 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 Bees | October 11, 1975 | First 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. |
Sherry | November 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 Mendoza | November 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 Books | November 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 Palace | December 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 Bushakis | January 24, 1976 | John Belushi | A John Belushi character who hails from Chicago, named after Belushi's childhood friend. |
H & L Brock | January 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, 1976 | Mr. 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. | |
Tomorrow | April 17, 1976 | Dan Aykroyd | A parody of The Tomorrow Show, starring Dan Aykroyd as Tom Snyder. |
Baba Wawa | April 24, 1976 | Gilda Radner | Gilda Radner impersonates journalist Barbara Walters. |
Colleen Fernman | April 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 Farber | July 31, 1976 | Gilda Radner | Middle-class Jewish-American with a nasal voice, who appeared in eight sketches in various settings over five seasons. |
Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Young girl interrupting porn shoots | October 10, 2015 | Aidy Bryant | The shooting of a porn movie is regularly interrupted by a young girl ( Aidy Bryant), seemingly unaware of the fictional aspect of the scene she has stumbled into. |
Citizens forum | October 10, 2015 | Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Kenan Thompson, Cecily Strong, Bobby Moynihan, various others | An array of eccentric people monopolize the podium during the citizens' forum of Bakersfield, California, to the dismay of two helpless councilors ( Bobby Moynihan and Cecily Strong). Also features Aidy Bryant as disgruntled, middle-aged spinster Jan Krang, Kyle Mooney as Dutch rapper MC Strategy, and Kenan Thompson as costume store owner Gary Loomis. |
Colleen Rafferty | December 5, 2015 | Kate McKinnon | Three people are being interrogated about a paranormal encounter or phenomenon they experienced. But Colleen Rafferty's ( Kate McKinnon) recollection of the events vastly differs from the other two (played by Cecily Strong and the host), and is filled with unsavory details. |
Deenie, somebody's mom | December 19, 2015 | Kate McKinnon | Deenie ( Kate McKinnon) inaccurately recaps her favorite soap-operas on Weekend Update while eating from a plastic container. |
America's Funniest Pets | January 16, 2016 | Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong | The presenter of an animal-based video clip show invites the two presenters of a French similar series, Joelle LaRue and Noelle LeSoup ( Cecily Strong, Kate McKinnon). He asks them to cohost the show and provide silly voiceovers for the clips. But said voiceovers turn out to be more depressing than their American counterpart. |
True Tales From The Sea | March 12, 2016 | Kate McKinnon | Adventurers down on their luck are rescued by beautiful mermaids, including Shud ( Kate McKinnon), a part-woman, part- blobfish mermaid who doesn't exactly enchant the men she's trying to seduce. |
Shanice Goodwin: Ninja | April 9, 2016 | Leslie Jones | Despite her big stature and general clumsiness, Shanice Goodwin ( Leslie Jones), cashier by day and ninja by night, is inexplicably a master of stealth. |
Chad | April 16, 2016 | Pete Davidson | Pete Davidson plays Chad, an apathetic, easily distracted youth with limited conversational skills whose catchphrase is "okay". He's the heartbreaker of several people decades older than him, but he couldn't care less about their grand declarations of love. In one instance, he is the obsession of a psychopathic serial killer, but Chad takes no notice of the killer's attempts to torment him. |
Suburban mothers | May 7, 2016 | Vanessa Bayer, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Sasheer Zamata, Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong | A group of suburban mothers engage in cult-like behavior in trying to convert a newer, inexperienced mother into doing something that proved them of their motherhood. |
Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Edith Puthie | October 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 Wenowdis | October 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 Bizness | December 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 Show | December 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 culture (e.g. pronouncing Billie Eilish as "Billie Eyelash"). |
Quote Signs | February 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 Again | February 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 Hour | May 8, 2021 | Ego Nwodim | A worn-out woman (Ego Nwodim) appears on Weekend Update to lament her experiences as a mother. |
Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Angelo | October 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. |
TikTok | December 11, 2021 | Aidy Bryant | An unseen teenager scrolls through a series of eccentric videos on TikTok to avoid chores. |
Trend Forecasters | January 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. |
Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Protective Mom | February 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 | March 4, 2023 | Bowen Yang | Garrett (Bowen Yang) interrupts a couple after being stood up by the bride. |
Jingle Pitch | March 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 Goals | April 1, 2023 | James Austin Johnson | Game show about couple goals, where one couple shares very intense theories and thoughts about what would happen to their partner. |
Crystal | April 8, 2023 | Heidi Gardner | A co-worker who's busy doing absolutely nothing (Heidi Gardner) who appears on Weekend Update. |
Recording Session | April 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. |
Title | Premiere date | Main actor(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Secretary | October 14, 2023 |
Heidi Gardner Bowen Yang |
In a 1960s law office, hyper secretary Trudy (Heidi Gardner) is manically predictive. |
Dr. Please | October 28, 2023 | Bowen Yang | Oddball Dr. Please (Bowen Yang). |