14 ‘SNL’ Parody Sketches That Really Skewered the Source Material
From its first season, when it was the little Saturday night program that could, SNL has had its sights set on the big boys. In fact, they’ve gotten quite adept at aping the styles of big budget movie productions, and lampooning the dialogue of their television competitors. Here are some of their best…
The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise
John Belushi’s Captain Kirk and Chevy Chase’s Spock deliver melodramatic dialogue and endure the clunky practical effects that passed for space warfare, before things get real meta and Captain Kirk has to confront his own flagging ratings.
The Group Hopper
Pete Davidson plays the hero (literally — his name, “The Hero,” is tattooed on his back) who will deliver the downtrodden masses from their fascist dystopia, skewering every single YA novel ever printed. In fact, the film is “adapted from the comments section of a Hunger Games trailer.”
Bern Your Enthusiasm
Comparisons between Larry David and Bernie Sanders were running rampant in the run-up to the 2016 election. This slam dunk was basically a faithful recreation of a Curb episode, even starring Larry David himself as, nominally, Bernie Sanders.
New Disney Movie
The Rock plays Bambi in the one live-action gritty reboot Hollywood is too cowardly to make: a Fast and Furious-esque twist on Bambi.
The People’s Court
A hairdresser regrets the deal she made with the devil, and takes him to court. John Lovitz’s cheap devil costume allows his frantic diva energy to really shine.
Don’ You Go Rounin’ Roun to Re Ro
In a riff on the incomprehensible dialogue in British crime dramas, Bill Hader plays an ex-con who’s trying to go straight, but gets sucked back into gangland. Hader and Fred Armisen deliver god-tier gibberish while the score and camera work do the heavy lifting to convey some serious drama.
The Sopranos Diaries
This mashup of The Sopranos and The Carrie Diaries imagines the gang as high school rabble rousers, with double popped collars, DayGlo and hairspray galore.
Give Us All Our Daughters Back
Every Hollywood A-lister over the age of 45 is clamoring for a chance to show they’ve still got what it takes to kick ass and adjust their cufflinks. But there aren’t enough Takens, Expendables and 007s to go around. So why not funnel a whole herd of them into one film?
Kenan and Kelly
Keke Palmer got Kenan to reboot the franchise that made him a star, only, with her instead of Kel Mitchell. But don’t worry — Kel made his first (and so far, only) cameo later in this sketch, after years of rumors about beef between the two former costars.
DJesus Uncrossed
The real Jesus was all about forgiveness and stuff. But wouldn’t His story be so much cooler if He were hell-bent on revenge, Tarantino-style?
MacGruber
This episode from 2007, featuring host Jeremy Piven, launched an entire franchise off the back of Will Forte’s novel take on a ubiquitous joke.
The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders
What if Wes Anderson got into horror? It would definitely feature some bewildered musing from Owen Wilson, a plucky string score and a ship in a bottle. Oh, and plenty of mauve.
Hobbit Office
Host Martin Freeman combined two of his biggest roles by playing Bilbo Baggins on the set of The Office. Bilbo still needed to pay the bills after his grand adventure, so he settled down into a life of selling paper and driving a Jetta.
Grouch
David Harbour plays a disillusioned sanitation worker who undergoes a dramatic transformation into Oscar the Grouch (and a tragic descent into madness) in a beat-for-beat parallel of 2019’s melodramatic Joker trailers.