These "SNL" sketches are comedic gold. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the best and funniest times “SNL” skewered, we mean, celebrated the Olympics.
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00:00I don't think I can teach you anything.
00:01I'd love to see something.
00:03Oh, I would love to see you try.
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:06And today, we're counting down our picks for the best and funniest times SNL skewered,
00:11we mean celebrated, the Olympics.
00:13Do you have any questions about the Olympic sports?
00:15No, no, we already know too much.
00:18Number 10, figure skating cold open.
00:22Jason Priestley plays Brian Deming, an Olympic figure skater going for the gold.
00:26Real Cinderella story.
00:28A man who was not expected to win a medal here in Albertville
00:31can, with an impressive performance tonight,
00:33vault himself into contention for the gold medal in men's figure skating.
00:38There's just one issue.
00:39He spends more time horizontally on the ice than on his skates.
00:43It's a hilarious send-up of those moments where a performance just goes really wrong.
00:47That'll cost him even the bronze.
00:49Really, just for that fall?
00:50Yes, it was just so totally out of control.
00:52But he's gotten up and is continuing on.
00:54You've got to hand it to Priestley for his commitment to the physical comedy here.
01:03It's really gold medal stuff.
01:05His routine looks more like that scene from Bambi,
01:07where the eponymous character tries to walk across the ice.
01:10Only Bambi looks more graceful and elegant.
01:13The commentary, often interrupted by an
01:16makes it all that much funnier.
01:18Poor Brian, he really should put some ice on that.
01:25His heroic performance here in Albertville, yes.
01:33This Weekend Update bit might be short, but it packs plenty of laughs.
01:38Gilda Radner plays Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut,
01:40who is being interviewed by John Belushi.
01:43Please say hello to Olga and welcome her to Update.
01:51She says she's very happy to be here.
01:53Well, John Belushi with an accent.
01:55Korbut competed in the 1972 and 1976 Olympics,
02:00and famously missed out on a gold medal to Romanian gymnast Nadia Komaneci after some slip-ups.
02:05Anyway, Chevy Chase's pointed questioning probably didn't help the spirit of good sportsmanship here.
02:11Olga must be terribly disappointed and crushed by Nadia's success.
02:14Olga was the favorite to win, and now out of nowhere,
02:17Nadia comes along, wins the medals, becomes the darling of everyone,
02:20and Olga is left alone and crushed.
02:22While the real Korbut likely accepted her silver medal with grace,
02:25Radner's take is anything but gracious.
02:28She hilariously says what many Olympians
02:30probably wish they could say when they fall short of the top spot.
02:33I would like to take that balance beam and stick it in her eye.
02:37She says she likes and admires Nadia very much.
02:49A few years before Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte became embroiled in a scandal,
02:53SNL was already lampooning him.
02:55I think you mean animal practice.
02:57Yeah, the monkey's so funny.
02:59It's not fair they give all the best lines to the monkey.
03:04I give it three swims.
03:06Seth MacFarlane took on the role, dropping by the Weekend Update desk
03:09to discuss some of Lochte's favorite shows from the fall TV lineup.
03:13Lochte's interviews are notoriously... how do we put this kindly?
03:17Well, they tend to be memorable, that's for sure.
03:20I like that show because I enjoy complex characters
03:23that use their powers of deduction to solve riddles.
03:26Really?
03:27No, I just like the shapes.
03:29Okay.
03:30MacFarlane briefly mentions the fact that
03:33MacFarlane brilliantly nails his slow drawl
03:36and delivers quips that often raise more questions than they answer.
03:39Hey, um, Seth, you want to know a secret?
03:42Sure.
03:43If you hold your ear up to my ear, you can hear the ocean.
03:46Yeah, I'm good. I'm good right now.
03:50Soup yourself.
03:51Okay.
03:52The real Lochte reportedly didn't love the impression
03:54and essentially responded by challenging MacFarlane to a swimming race.
03:58Come on, he's basically just pitching a sketch here, right?
04:01What about the new season of American Dad on Fox?
04:04Oh, I heard that's actually really good.
04:05All right.
04:06Number seven, synchronized swimming.
04:08Did you ever notice that before the Paris 2024 Olympics,
04:12you didn't really see men compete in artistic swimming?
04:15Well, back in the 80s, a pair of brothers campaigned to change that.
04:19Men's synchro wasn't even in the 88 Olympics yet.
04:22That's okay, because we could use the time,
04:26because I'm not that strong a swimmer.
04:30Martin Short and Harry Shearer star in a mockumentary about their journey
04:33to become the first men to break into the sport.
04:36Their trainer, played by Christopher Guest,
04:38brings an energy that we'd like to believe
04:40accurately replicates what preparing for the event might look like.
04:43You're underwater, and I am too, but I'm talking,
04:45but this is just pretend, two, three, four.
04:47Look at the fish going by.
04:48You see people's feet.
04:49Can you hold it any longer?
04:51No, so burst out of the water.
04:53And aren't you glad to be out of the water?
04:55We're not saying these two were responsible for the Olympics
04:58officially allowing men into the sport,
05:00but just look at them.
05:01Who wouldn't tune in to watch this?
05:03We have the opportunity to do something that no one has ever done before,
05:08and we're going for it.
05:19Choosing Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics stirred up a lot of controversy,
05:24partly because of Russia's human rights record,
05:26especially with the LGBTQIA plus community.
05:29While the figure skating championship is fun to watch,
05:32Kate McKinnon's portrayal of Russian correspondent Olya Pavlotsky
05:36is absolutely hilarious.
05:38But the Olympics are in Sochi,
05:40which, as I understood, is sort of a resort town, right?
05:43A last resort, sir.
05:45Olya takes jabs at her village and country
05:47with sharp, funny comments about the issues,
05:49all under the guise of her own experiences.
05:52My sister and I were athletes as children.
05:55Our favorite sport was running away from angry wolf.
06:00I won gold.
06:01She won silver.
06:02God rest her soul.
06:04McKinnon hits every joke with perfect timing,
06:07making each one funnier than the last.
06:09Even Seth can't resist cracking up.
06:12If you were planning to travel for the Olympics that year,
06:14she definitely gave you a vivid picture of her hometown.
06:18Sochi has a warmer climate than most of Russia,
06:19so a lot of the Olympic budget has gone toward buying snow.
06:22Buying snow?
06:25What the hell?
06:27All I own is snow.
06:30Number five.
06:31Weekend update.
06:32Leslie Jones on the 2018 Winter Olympics.
06:35You may have caught Jones interviewing swimmer Katie Ledecky
06:38at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
06:40We'd like to believe that this was essentially the audition
06:43that landed her that gig.
06:45Jones admits that before the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang,
06:49she wasn't all that invested in the games.
06:51But it turned out that my favorite event was hockey.
06:55How come nobody told me about hockey?
06:57It's violence on ice.
06:59However, she became a major fan after watching them in person.
07:03In this segment, she shares her experiences with so much enthusiasm
07:07that it could be an Olympic sport in itself.
07:09They won the gold medal on a shootout,
07:11and this woman who did a straight potluck move was like,
07:15Clown, clown, clown.
07:16I was like, I didn't know you could do that.
07:19At one point, ice hockey gold medalist Hillary Knight even joins the fun,
07:23daring Colin to show off some moves.
07:26Honestly, every event would be better with Leslie Jones as a commentator.
07:30Hillary, do this with me.
07:32Who run the world?
07:33Girls.
07:34That's right.
07:35Who run this mother?
07:37Girls.
07:38Number four.
07:39Space Olympics.
07:41It's 3022, and the Olympics have gone intergalactic.
07:45Welcome to the Space Olympics, the year 3022.
07:50Take part in a grand tradition.
07:55It promises to be an epic event,
07:57but hosting the games in space comes with its own set of issues.
08:01Events are canceled, others are pending,
08:03and there's a short supply of oxygen.
08:06To make matters worse,
08:07someone has hit the big red self-destruct button,
08:10and safety is just an alien horde away.
08:15Accidentally hit self-destruct.
08:18As you file to your escape pods,
08:20I'll distract the alien hordes.
08:22As doom looms,
08:24Andy Samberg wraps up his space talk and reflects on his own life instead.
08:28He also ends the song with a line that seems to borrow
08:30from Justin Timberlake's,
08:31My Love.
08:33You do it for the love, my love.
08:39And there ain't no woman that can take yours by my love.
08:43We hope that when Zargon eventually wins their bid to host the Olympics,
08:47it goes better than this.
08:52Have you ever dreamed of having a swimmer's body?
08:55It's never been easier.
08:56Just follow the Michael Phelps diet.
08:58Introducing the Michael Phelps diet.
09:00It's the only diet that lets you eat whatever Michael Phelps eats.
09:05And as you can tell,
09:06it works wonders for me.
09:09Fancy a CarbFest breakfast top with a gallon of coffee ice cream?
09:13Hey, coffee beans, grow on plants.
09:15Sounds pretty balanced to us.
09:17Already thinking about lunch?
09:18Go wild.
09:19Just make sure you stop at 12,000 calories.
09:22Just listen to the people who have tried it and made it work.
09:25I've been on the Michael Phelps diet for almost two weeks,
09:28and people are already coming up to me and saying congratulations,
09:32because they know I found the perfect diet.
09:35Yes, there's a cameo that hasn't aged well,
09:38but let's just move past that.
09:40Oh, also, disclaimer,
09:41do not attempt the Michael Phelps diet
09:43unless you are training for at least five to six hours a day
09:46and preparing for Olympic-level competition.
09:49Because you don't have to train like an Olympic athlete
09:51to have a body like an Olympic athlete.
09:57Yum, cake frosting.
09:59Are you gonna finish that?
10:00Hey, gutteral, I'm on a diet.
10:04Number two, Telemundo Winter Olympics.
10:07In this sketch, Jennifer Lopez and Fred Armisen
10:10play Telemundo presenters baffled by the Winter Olympics in Canada.
10:13They can't fathom the cold weather or understand the sports there.
10:17Come on, Canada, couldn't you finish building that ramp?
10:21You will not believe this.
10:22The ramp was supposed to be like that.
10:27You either finish building a ramp or you do not build it at all.
10:30This is the madness that happens when a country has no beaches.
10:34But we guess that's what you get from a country
10:36that apparently doesn't have any beaches.
10:38All their field correspondents are equally shocked by what they witness.
10:42Shuffleboard on ice?
10:44Yeah, we're not buying it either.
10:45They've been forced to play shuffleboard with their rocks.
10:50What are they doing?
10:51I believe these poor men are trying to melt ice with their brooms,
10:54sweeping and sweeping, but it does no good.
10:57The entire cast sells the bit convincingly, making it absolutely hilarious.
11:02That said, we're putting on our mitts so we can proudly wave the Canadian flag
11:06in celebration of our beautiful beaches up here.
11:09Do you know that there are places with sunshine and dancing?
11:13And not just ice dancing, fun dancing.
11:16With shoes and even bare feet.
11:18Do you have any questions about the Olympic sports?
11:20No, no, we already know too much.
11:22Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:26Weekend Update.
11:27Carrie Strug and Kippy Strug on winning Olympic gold.
11:31So Carrie Strug still won gold with her brother Kippy by her side?
11:34Could she have another gold medal for that?
11:36Are you coming, Kippy?
11:37Yeah, I guess I'm coming.
11:39Oh my god!
11:42What?
11:42My foot's asleep.
11:44It's all tingling.
11:46Mormons on the Slopes.
11:47Taking their mission to new and snowy heights.
11:50Have you been to Salt Lake City before?
11:53No, but I can't talk now.
11:55Do you know about the Church of Latter-day Saints?
11:59Swimming Instructor.
12:01A swimming lesson to never forget, even if you really want to.
12:05Oh yeah, right there.
12:06Good swimming.
12:08Don't we need to get into the pool?
12:10No, no, before I take the ship out to sea, I like to dry dock it for a little bit, check out the hull.
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12:31Number 1.
12:32Little Chocolate Donuts
12:34Maybe the Michael Phelps diet isn't quite your thing.
12:37How about trying the Belushi approach?
12:39Here's his approach.
12:44And he's got it!
12:46Belushi's won the gold, now he's going for the world's record!
12:50You might not see the comedian as your typical athlete, but with the right sugary treat,
12:54you too can gain energy for all kinds of athletics.
12:57Let's be honest, who hasn't eaten a chocolatey donut and felt ready to smoke out the competition?
13:03I logged a lot of miles training for that day, and I downed a lot of donuts.
13:08Little chocolate donuts.
13:10They taste good, and they've got the sugar I need to get me going in the morning.
13:13The premise is simple, and the execution is spot on.
13:17Just seeing a box of those donuts probably makes you think of the sketch in Crack a Smile.
13:21That's why little chocolate donuts have been on my training table since I was a kid.
13:25Another disclaimer.
13:26While it worked for Belushi, we wouldn't recommend trying it yourself.
13:30However, you might just score a six-pack from laughing through this sketch.
13:33Little chocolate donuts.
13:35The donuts of champions.
13:38Which SNL Olympic sketch would you award a gold medal to?
13:41Let us know in the comments.
13:44Well, that's too bad.
13:45That'll cost him the gold.
13:46Do you agree with our picks?
13:48Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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