‘SNL’ Has Once Again Been Accused of Ripping Off an Internet Comedy Video
In what’s fast becoming a staple of Saturday Night Live discourse, the show has, once again, produced a sketch that some folks have pointed out is suspiciously similar to an internet comedy video.
Two weeks ago, the John Mulaney-hosted episode included a sketch about a doomed monkey astronaut named “Beppo,” which sure seemed a lot like the Whitest Kids U Know’s “Bo Bo the Monkey” sketch. Earlier this year, a Scooby-Doo-themed sketch was similarly called out for plagiarizing a Nerdist video (although, to be fair, that video seemingly built on a joke that had already been around for years). And before that, viewers noticed that a Charmin Bears sketch was not unlike an animation by YouTuber Joel Haver.
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This week’s Charli XCX-centric episode included a sketch in which the singer is caught with green makeup all over her face and hands, following a performance of Shrek: The Musical, thus indicating that she had hooked up with the Broadway actor playing the flatulating ogre. But a number of people on social media responded to the sketch with accusations that it had copied a routine from the YouTube channel Smosh.
Specifically, the comedic overlap stems from an improv challenge in which cast members were trying not to laugh while holding a mouthful of water. Smosh’s Erin Dougal emerged with glitter paint on her mouth and hand, until her “dad” asked, “Bella, why are you always covered in glitter when you hang out with that Edward guy?”
Okay, obviously this is a Twilight joke, not a Shrek joke, and — darkest fanfic corners of the internet aside — those two franchises aren’t the same. But there is one big similarity between the two: the makeup on the hand and mouth implying intimate relations with a famous pop-culture character. Although in the SNL sketch, the context of the Shrek musical is presented first, and the makeup is the punchline. In the Smosh bit, namechecking Bella is what leads to the laugh.
Still, Smosh fans alerted Dougal to the sketch, and she commented on the matter in a TikTok post. After admitting that the jokes did seem somewhat alike, she pointed out that “this could be a coincidence,” adding that there are “so many creatures and characters that we all want to suck and rub. I get it.”
@erindougal
She also worked in a plug for her Smosh sketch show Bit City, noting that it’s released every Friday “if SNL needs some more inspiration for jokes to borrow.”
Some of her followers did point out that the premise isn’t so uncommon, even SNL made a similar joke back in 2016. While it wasn’t the focus of the sketch, “A Girl’s Halloween” ends with the reveal that Aidy Bryant’s character’s moth is caked in green makeup because she’s been making out with a guy in a Hulk costume (played by Pete Davidson).
Actually, we can’t say with 100 percent certainty that Davidson wasn’t supposed to be a shirtless Shrek.
