20. "Sprockets"
19. "Land Shark"
18. "The Sinatra Group"
17. "Weekend Update"
16. "Prose And Cons"
15. "Hans And Franz"
14. "The Last Voyage Of The Starship Enterprise"
13. "Celebrity Jeopardy"
12. "Samurai Deli"
11. "Ebony And Ivory"
10. "Church Lady"
9. "Get A Life"
8. "Matt Foley"
7. "Wayne's World"
6. "Schweddy Balls"
5. "Dick In A Box"
If you had told me back in the late '90s when *NSYNC was popular that the frizzy-haired lead singer would go on to be one of the funnier guest hosts of SNL since the heavy hitters like Chevy Chase and Steve Martin, I would have laughed my rear end off at the absurdity of the idea. Now, Justin Timberlake's boy band background (complete with the in sync dance moves) is part of the reason his skits so funny. In December 2006, paired with Andy Samberg (who wrote the skit), "Dick In A Box" perfectly matched JT's musical expertise and his sense of humor to create one of the funniest skits on SNL in a long time. One of my favorite things about the skit are the faces that Maya Rudolph makes when her man presents her with his very special Christmas gift. In case you forgot the instructions for how to create your own unique gift (perfect for ANY occasion, not just Christmas!) I'll share them for you: 1. Cut a hole in a box, 2. Put your junk in that box, 3. Make her open the box... and that's the way you do it!--Heather4. "Chippendales Audition"
They say the best comedy is fearless. And if you're a portly man trying to make people laugh, you can't get more fearless to take off your shirt, strap on a Chippendales collar, and stand next to a shirtless Patrick Swayze. The sketch was built on a brilliant, yet simple, premise. Chris Farley vs. the Dirty Dancer during a Chippendales audition. And while Swayze had the abs and the hair, Farley had the heart. He moved and jiggled and strode his stuff with horrifyingly funny results. Thus a comedy masterpiece was born. Fearless comedy. For as many times as I've seen it, it still makes me laugh every time.--Daddy Geek Boy3. "Buckwheat"
Years ago we had to spend a week with my mom's sister's family. They have a daughter a few years younger than I and, since we rarely see each other, we aren't that close. So spending a week with them was kinda awkward since we don't really know each other and we are into really different things. We were trying to find something on TV to watch (less talking and awkwardness) and we ended up watching some SNL episodes and I was introduced to the glory of Buckwheat Sings. We sang "wookin pa nub" about 100 times that weekend. We begged my aunt to get us this Eddie Murphy collection from the video store. It had all the Buckwheat skits. We got to see Alfalfa kill Buckwheat. We'd watched enough reruns to find that tremendously funny. We watched that VHS tape about 4 times in a row until our parents were throughly sick of it. And I'd thought maybe it was one of those things that was awesome when I was young, but I watched the skits again recently and you know what? Still really damn funny. Eddie Murphy, bringing families together since 1981 (and not as an animated donkey).--Archphoenix2. "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood"
If you're of a certain age, you probably remember when SNL suddenly--and inescapably--became the Eddie Murphy show. You'd patiently wait as a handful of forgettable cast members would mumble through some incomprehensible skit (Charles Rocket, anyone? Robin Duke?) when suddenly an urban smart-ass would strut onto the screen and pluck you from boredom and deposit you into hilarity. Eddie was suddenly everywhere, and it seemed like everything he touched was comic gold. At my age I didn't always understand why certain things were funny (the Velvet Jones "How to Be a Ho" commercials are much funnier to to me now than they were then) but you knew that this guy had something special...he had "it."As incredible as his repertoire of SNL characters is (I still can only sing James Brown songs like Eddie did), one sketch stands out as the ultimate Eddie Murphy moment: "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood." It had everything. Let's break it down:
- It made fun of a beloved icon (Mr. Rogers was said to have thought it was funny)
- It had social commentary ("I hope I can live in your neighborhood someday/the problem is that when I move in...y'all move away!)
- It was educational ("Go practice your new word to see if you're saying it right. Walk into Mommy's room and say, "BITCH!" Did Mommy slap you? Then you said it right!")
- And occasionally it had Mr. T
I know Dr. Doolittle is a nice paycheck, Eddie, but come back to us...--CroutonBoy
1. "More Cowbell"
"More cowbell!"You yell that in any public place, and people are sure to know which SNL skit you're referring to. The iconic skit pretends to be a VH1 Behind The Music documentary on Blue Oyster Club's recording of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." It features guest Christopher Walken as "legendary" record producer Bruce Dickinson and SNL regular Will Ferrell as Gene Frenkle, the cowbell maestro. Who can forget the image of Will Farrell smacking the hell out of the cowbell, trashing and gyrating all over the studio, all the while his sweater - which is two sizes too small - begins to expose his hairy belly?
While other members of group attempt to lay down the track, Gene Frenkle is distracting their playing with his trashing about and delivering on Bruce Dickinson's insistence that he needs "more cowbell."
What adds to the hilarity is how the rest of the cast can't keep a straight face during the sketch, Jimmy Fallon especially cracks up while delivering his lines. Even Will Farrell looks like he's going to lose it, allowing a smirk to creep on his face.
Word has it that Will Farrell actually wrote the sketch, and Jimmy Fallons said that it really wasn't funny during rehearsal. But during the live performance, Farrell decided to wear a sweater that was so blatantly too small for his six-foot-three frame. And the rest is cowbell history!--Jay Noel
