We can't quite look at these the same way. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the “Saturday Night Live” sketches that, in light of events that occurred after their initial air date, have taken on a darker significance.
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00:00First thing you're going to want to do is to get settled into the saddle.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the Saturday
00:10Night Live sketches that, in light of events that occurred after their initial air date,
00:14have taken on a darker significance.
00:16Then can you tell the court who did murder your parents?
00:20Our other two brothers, Danny Menendez and Jose Menendez Jr.
00:2510. The entirety of the November 7th, 2015 episode
00:30A lot of people are saying, Donald, you're the most amazing guy. You're brilliant.
00:36You're handsome. You're rich. You have everything going. The world is waiting for
00:41you to be president. So why are you hosting Saturday Night Live? Why?
00:47When this episode aired, Donald Trump's presidential campaign was hardly taken
00:50seriously by the general public. At that time, Trump seemed like nothing more than
00:54a novelty candidate, propelling his candidacy forward because of his preexisting cultural clout,
00:58celebrity status, and reported wealth.
01:00Winning is tough. It's not that easy. If you think that's how it's going to be
01:05when I'm president, you're wrong. It's going to be even better.
01:09His 2015 hosting appearance seemed like little more than an extension of this newfound source
01:14of attention. Look to the few sketches that Trump does appear in, like his monologue or
01:17the confounding sketch that depicts the former real estate magnate having won the 2016 election,
01:22which, as we're all aware of, would become the case on November 8th of that year.
01:27You used to call me on the cell phone.
01:38Number nine, Soda Shop.
01:39Scoop, who's the pouty penny?
01:42It's me. I'm the only girl who didn't get asked to the Spring Fling bebop and sock hop.
01:47Well, sounds to me like those boys are making a whopper of a mistake.
01:50On the surface, this pitch-dark sketch feels on-brand for disgraced comedian-slash-frequent
01:55SNL host Louis C.K., who made an elevated form of blue-collar humor a hallmark of his stand-up act.
02:00However, when you take into account the comedian's multiple accusations of misconduct,
02:04Soda Shop gets uncomfortable really quickly.
02:08That's for teenagers, Sam.
02:10Well, then, wouldn't it wow the crowd to show up with an older man on your arm?
02:14I'd go with Sam if he asked me.
02:16Well, I didn't ask you, stupid. I asked Louise.
02:18The sketch, which makes light of ultra-puritanical 1950s American culture,
02:23features C.K. as the man behind the counter of said Soda Shop,
02:26who clearly has a thing for high school girls.
02:28While the object of the joke is perfectly clear, you may wince once C.K.'s pleading
02:32with Cecily Strong's character begins to echo claims of abuse made against the comedian in 2017.
02:38Sam, this is nice and all, but...
02:41Wait! Get down, Louise! Bang, bang!
02:43Did you see that?
02:44What?
02:45I killed two people!
02:47Why? Why did you do that?
02:49Well, I didn't like the way they were talking about you.
02:51Number 8. Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton Town Hall Debate Cold Open
02:54We just need to do one last thing.
03:02Oh, much better. Now let's get this nightmare started.
03:05Remember the Trump stuff from earlier? Yeah, it gets even harder to watch.
03:09Playing Martha Raddatz, Cecily Strong inquires if she can just
03:12call Hillary Clinton the president at this point.
03:14Please help us welcome the candidates.
03:15Republican nominee Donald Trump, and can we say this yet?
03:19Probably fine.
03:19President Hillary Clinton.
03:21While crowds ate it up at the time, we can all look back now and cringe at how
03:24sure the mainstream media was that the former Secretary of State,
03:27Senator, and First Lady had the 2016 U.S. presidential election in the bag.
03:31SNL was quick to join in on counting Trump out, and this sketch serves as a harrowing
03:36reminder of how sorely, seemingly everyone had misjudged the future president's appeal to voters.
03:41Hi, Patrice. Let me start by walking over to you, just as I practiced.
03:48Right, left, right, left, right, left, left, speak.
03:52Number 7. Kevin Spacey's 1997 monologue
03:55When you hear the name Kevin Spacey, you think one word, comedy.
04:01And now that I have the laugh market cornered, I thought I'd take a few minutes and show you
04:06Kevin Spacey's sentimental side.
04:08There was a time when two-time Oscar winner Spacey could do no wrong.
04:11Widely admired for his work on stage and screen, all of that came crashing down
04:15when the thespian was accused of several counts of misconduct and assault in late 2017.
04:30The bone-chilling nature of the allegations, which included a number of underage accusers,
04:35cast a deeply off-putting shadow over Spacey's opening monologue from his January 11,
04:391997 hosting appearance. The actor sang a cover of Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours of the
04:45Morning and all the while subtitles, jokingly, charged him with violent, bizarre behavior.
04:50That would unfortunately prove all too accurate 20 years later.
04:536. Abby Elliot's Brittany Murphy impression
05:06It was reported this week that actress Brittany Murphy was fired from her upcoming film The
05:10Caller for being a detriment to production and oh no. Beloved performer Murphy, depending on who
05:17you ask, was either fired or removed herself from the set of the film The Caller in November 2009.
05:22She personally chalked it up to creative differences. The incident was soon parodied
05:26on SNL, with Abby Elliot playing a ditzy, confused, somewhat mean-spirited version
05:30of Murphy on Weekend Update. Elliot's Murphy appeared out of the loop and under the impression
05:46that she was that episode's host. Tragically and eerily, the real Murphy would die of pneumonia
05:51just a few weeks later, on December 20, 2009. The segment is no longer shown as part of reruns of
05:56the episode, which was hosted by Blake Lively and featured Rihanna as a musical guest.
06:135. Harassment Charlie
06:21In the early weeks of January 2018, Oscar-nominated actor James Franco was riding a career high
06:29off of the strength of his docudrama The Disaster Artist. That is, until allegations of misconduct
06:34against the filmmaker bubbled up, with the Los Angeles Times reporting on January 11 that five
06:39women had accused Franco of inappropriate behavior while working as a teacher or instructor.
06:51Keeping that in mind, this SNL sketch from less than a month becomes deeply disturbing to watch.
07:00In a deeply unfortunate case of art imitating life, Franco plays a corporate CFO who's
07:05fired for making advances on his female employees. Oof.
07:214. Colin Quinn's Eerily Prescient Weekend Update Joke
07:37After the terrible tragedy of 9-11 occurred, NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared on SNL to
07:42cautiously help the show usher in a new era. However, this wouldn't have been the first time
07:46Saturday Night Live mentioned the individual elements that made up the tragic events of
07:49September 11, 2001.
07:51In international news, a Hong Kong-based news magazine reported this week that suspected
07:55terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is dying of kidney failure. The reclusive bin Laden
08:00is reportedly hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan and is on a dialysis machine.
08:05On a March 18, 2000 episode hosted by Dwayne The Rock Johnson, a quickly forgotten series
08:10of remarks made by Weekend Update host Colin Quinn now take on an unfortunate second layer.
08:15In quick succession, Quinn addresses recent news featuring George W. Bush and oil prices,
08:20Osama bin Laden, and a thwarted airplane hijacking.
08:313. Don't Look Back in Anger
08:33In an early-period sketch that's as heartbreaking as it is hilarious, this season 3 segment finds
08:48cast member John Belushi playing himself. The tragic aspect? Belushi plays an elderly
08:52version of himself who visits the graves of his SNL cast members, proclaiming that he's
08:57the last surviving original cast member.
09:03As SNL and comedy fans in general sadly know all too well, Belushi was the first cast member to
09:09die. Making the sketch even more difficult to watch is the fact that Belushi pokes fun
09:13at his own hard-partying lifestyle, which would ultimately be his undoing.
09:17Belushi died in March 1982, aged only 33 of a drug overdose.
09:212. Chris Farley's Final Hosting Appearance
09:36SNL veteran and overall comedy legend Farley tragically met a similar fate to John Belushi,
09:53whom the former had often cited as one of his showbiz idols. The energetic performer even
09:58died at the same age as, and in a similar fashion to Belushi, aged 33 at the time of
10:02his death on December 18, 1997.
10:062. Chris Farley's Final Hosting Appearance
10:19Knowing that fact makes watching Farley's only hosting appearance even more painful.
10:23Commentators in the years since the beloved SNL cast member's passing have noted that Farley
10:28looks unwell throughout the episode, his voice hoarse and typically athletic comedy at a low.
10:32This episode marked Farley's final television appearance before his death.
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10:591. The Menendez Trial
11:12Long before a 2024 wave of support that saw the Los Angeles District Attorney
11:17recommend resentencing them, public opinion of the Menendez brothers was dire. The two
11:21were mostly viewed as deeply unsympathetic rich brats who had brutally taken their parents' lives
11:26as a means of claiming their substantial inheritance. While in recent years,
11:29Lyle and Eric's claims of abuse have been taken more seriously,
11:45the early 90s cultural climate couldn't have taken them less seriously.
11:48Take, for example, this cringeworthy sketch starring host John Malkovich
11:52as Eric and Rob Schneider as Lyle, ostensibly mocking the brothers' lack of tangible proof.
11:57Decades later, this sketch has been considerably
11:59re-evaluated for its insensitive portrayal of victims of abuse.
12:10Are there any SNL sketches that are hard for you to watch nowadays? Let us know in the comments.
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