Was the ‘SNL’ Monkey Sketch With John Mulaney Ripped Off From ‘The Whitest Kids U’ Know’?
It wouldn’t be an official Saturday Night Live season without disgruntled comedians complaining that the nearly 50-year-show ripped off their jokes. Sometimes, the accusations are eye-rolling — in October, a New York stand-up complained that Andrew Dismukes’ “Hey Soul Sister” sketch copied his bit. But there’s not much to the allegation — both simply make fun of Train’s cringe song. Get in line. People have been ripping that song for years.
The Whitest Kids U' Know, the 2000s sketch comedy group with a cult hit on IFC, might have a more credible claim to comedy idea theft after the recent John Mulaney episode. As Matt Belloni observed in his What I’m Hearing column, “Last week’s Beppo the monkey astronaut sketch on SNL looks very similar to this ‘Bo Bo the Monkey’ sketch by the Whitest Kids U’ Know from about 15 years ago.”
While the Kids haven’t complained publicly, the similarities between the two sketches are striking. Consider:
- SNL’s sketch features a monkey astronaut named Beppo. The Kids’ sketch features a monkey astronaut named Bo Bo.
- Both sketches take place in a mission control room full of scientists outfitted in white shirts, neckties and horn-rimmed glasses.
- The driving plot of both bits: Our beloved Beppo/Bo Bo won’t be making the trip back to Earth. The scientists are heartbroken.
- Beppo/Bo Bo proves himself to be an emotionally manipulative monkey, using limited vocabulary to plead for his life.
- Both lead scientists turn off communications monitors rather than listen to the monkey’s cries for help.
- There’s a last-ditch effort to bring the simians back.
- Both bits appear to end with a monkey-mangling explosion, although SNL adds a twist ending.
A few fans of Whitest Kids U’ Know have noticed the parallels.
Most accusations of SNL sketch theft can be attributed to parallel thinking — an obvious premise that gets exploited in a vaguely similar way. But Beppo/Bo Bo is an oddly specific duplication, right down to the names of the chimp astronauts. It’s enough to make one wonder if some actual monkey business was going down.