On its forty-five years on air, Saturday Night Live had produced many sketches and characters that shaped pop culture and innovated comedy until this very day. But apart from the hilarious jokes, given to us by several of the funniest comedians out there, there are also jokes that aged poorly.
At their time, these SNL segments, from live sketches to monologues, were considered funny, subversive and topical. But nowadays they not only lose their luster but are regarded as socially inappropriate, racially offensive and overtly dated. Like learning history, it is important to acknowledge these jokes – for better or worse.
10 Chippendales Auditions
Chris Farley is an SNL legend, whose entire tenure is presided by his one-trait joke. It truly prepped him for sketches that require brash characters and slapstick comedy. What kicked off his journey to stardom is the “Chippendales Auditions”. He and host Patrick Swayze play guys auditioning to be a Chippendales dancer. While Swayze performed sultrily, Farley went all-out dancing.
Indeed, it is a laugh-out-loud riot to witness Farley flailing, only for the judges to feel uncomfortable. Today’s society captures the judges’ reactions since this classic sketch borders on fat-shaming.
9 Japanese Game Show
In the ’90s, Mike Myers headlines a sketch entitled “Quiz Kings”, where he plays Japanese game show host Nakadai Toshiro holds a quiz show with only Chris Farley’s Templeton as the only American contestant. And the gag consists of him trying to understand their garbled exchanges before he gets tortured.
It is clear what aspects are wrong about this sketch. One is the stereotypical depictions of Japanese people, even though this sketch mocks ludicrous Japanese show, second is the white cast members wearing yellowface and third is laughing at torture.
8 Norm Macdonald’s Weekend Update Tenure
Norm Macdonald is a controversial figure in SNL 90’s history. During his time as Weekend Update anchor, he was given free reins to discuss controversial topics, explore real-life personalities and throw uncomfortable jabs at them. He also namedrops Frank Stallone as a recurring non-sequitur joke. He was a colorful presence.
Macdonald’s brand of comedy may be described as trolling or shock humor. That is why it might never catch on for modern audiences when shock humor is thrown for shock humor’s sake. And yet, his Michael Jackson was eerily accurate.
7 Uncle Roy
Buck Henry labeled himself as a “boring host”, answering the reasons why he hosted numerous times in SNL. Perhaps, his most popular sketch appearance is in a Samurai Futaba sketch when he accidentally got wounded by Futaba’s katana. But that is not enough to cover his disturbing Uncle Roy sketches.
In those sketches, Henry plays a babysitting uncle to Gilda Radner’s Tracy and Laraine Newman’s Terry who bears an inappropriate attraction to his young nieces. Their “innocent” interactions are troubling in broadcast, but it is wildly unacceptable for today’s time.
6 Anything from Louis C.K.
Bear on this: at his time, Louis C.K. was considered one of the most subversive standup comedians. From his off-kilter monologues to his FX show Louie, he was at the top of his game, especially in his hosting gigs for Saturday Night Live. But when the MeToo movement surged, C.K. was one of those reprimanded.
In every mention of him or his projects, it bears a stain that cannot be removed. And it is not helping that on one of his monologues during Season 40 has him joking about molestation.
5 Pat
Pat O’Neill Riley is Julia Sweeney’s most notable recurring character in SNL. The character is obese, curly-haired and bespectacled, often wearing dweeby outfits. The main gimmick about Pat is the character’s confusingly ambiguous gender, and how the people around react to the character’s clumsy antics weird habits and indefinite sex.
With comedy progressing to be inclusive to all genders, the character of Pat is considered to be offensive and stereotypical. And it demeans people with hermaphroditic traits. But all can agree that the worse offense is the movie It’s Pat.
4 The Continental
Christopher Walken is considered as one of the greatest SNL hosts in history. His off-kilter acting range and his iconic voice is perfect to bring weird characters to any sketch. But for every Bruce Dickinson who wants more cowbell, there is the Continental who makes moves to every woman he encounters.
Walken plays a suave ladies’ man, whose attempts on wooing ladies borders on sexual predation. The Continental may be a caricature, but not all caricatures work on a post-MeToo period. But, one safe takeaway is his catchphrase “Wow! Wowie-wow-wow-wow!”
3 The Situation Room - Tiger Woods
SNL is no stranger on poking fun of topical current events, controversial or not. But this instance had gone way too far. During Blake Lively’s hosting appearance on Season 35, the show spoofed Wolf Blitzer’s The Situation Room to highlight Tiger Woods (Kenan Thompson). Throughout the segment, Woods was shown with more injuries when he is off-camera.
The sketch worsens the view of not only Woods’ domestic issues, but also mocking domestic abuse. It does not help that Rihanna, a victim of such abuse, was there as a musical guest.
2 Regis Auditions
Now, this sketch was recently resurfaced and properly addressed, in light of the George Floyd protests. On Season 25 episode “Joshua Jackson/'N Sync”, a sketch featuring Darrell Hammond as Regis Philbin was aired, wherein he is holding auditions as his co-host. One of them is Jimmy Fallon as Chris Rock.
Though Fallon’s Chris Rock appearance was brief, it bled severely on this age when blackface in TV is condemned. Fallon immediately apologized and patched the issue up with NAACP. Though, Rock never felt offended. Best to leave this sketch behind.
1 Racist Word Association Interview
Here is a classic but monumental sketch. Richard Pryor is one of the best comedians of the ’70s. So, he was expected to have a hosting gig in SNL. And perhaps his most well-known sketch is the “Racist Word Association Interview”. In here, Pryor’s applicant is being interviewed by Chevy Chase’s interviewer through word association.
While the interview went fine, the interview started to spew anti-black slurs. As a response, the applicant throws anti-white slurs. Needless to say, their exchanges and slurs will not sit well to African-Americans who praise Pryor as a comedy legend.
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September 28, 2020 at 05:30AM
