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Something for fans of any era

42 Motivational Bits of ‘SNL’ Trivia to Perk Up Any Debbie Downer

October 25, 2024

What was your favorite SNL era?

We liked a whole slew of different eras, so it’s really hard for us to decide. Either way, with 50 seasons (and counting) to choose from, everyone is sure to have at least one favorite year. You’d have to be one salty hater to dislike all 50 seasons of a show and still be here hating on random behind-the-scenes facts about said show.

Anyway, we hope you’re all reading these facts with more of a smile than a scowl.

42

THUNDRE THE MAN TIM MEADOWS CRACKED.COM Meadows worked in a liquor store during high school. Would-be womanizers swaggered in, hoping to boost their romantic prospects with a bottle of Courvoisier. The ladies men inspired Meadows to create Leon Phelps. — Source

41

CHURCH LADY DANA CARVEY CRACKED.COM Carvey developed the Church Lady as a way to deal with demonic hecklers during his 1980s stand-up comic days. He'd shut them down wiith a combination of condescension and patronizing. Patronizing is funny. — Source

40

DAVE ATTELL PUT IN A FEW DAYS OF HARD WORK 1993 CRACKED.COM I WOULD SAY I WAS ON FOR A YEAR AND I WROTE FOR MAYBE TWO WEEKS, ATTELL TOLD HOWARD STERN. I WAS ALWAYS LEAVING EARLY. WHEN YOU'RE A COMIC AND YOU HAVE TO GIVE YOUR GOOD JOKES TO THE WEEKEND UPDATE GUY, IT'S LIKE UGH! — Source

39

SPROCKETS MIKE MYERS CRACKED.COM Myers based Deiter, the avant- garde talk show host, on a Toronto waiter who provided questionable service. Не would be taking your order, and then it would be like, your order has become tiresome. And he would bolt and leave, and never come back. — Source

38

LAURIE METCALF TWO-TIME TONY WINNER CRACKED.COM METCALF DESCRIBES HER SNL TENURE AS A WHIRLWIND FIVE DAYS. SHE NEVER MADE IT TO AIR AND DESPITE HER SUCCESS ON STAGE, 'ROSEANNE, AND 'LADYBIRD,' SHE'S NEVER HOSTED. I WOULD HAVE NIGHTMARES ABOUT IT BEFORE AND AFTER. — Source

37

Ben Affleck

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON DIRECTED BEN AFFLECK 2000 CRACKED.COM POST-BOOGIE NIGHTS, SNL FAN PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON WROTE A FEW SKETCHES FOR THE SHOW. НЕ ALSO DIRECTED 'FANATIC,' WITH AFFLECK STARRING AS ANNA NICOLE SMITH'S BIGGEST, BRACES-WEARING FAN. RUMOR HAS IT НЕ MET WIFE MAYA RUDOLPH DURING HIS SNL TENURE. — Source

36

Saturday Night Live

THE BEES BELUSHI ET AL INTERNATION CRACKED.COM One of the show's first notes from meddling network execs: Cut the bees. Lorne Michaels responded by inserting the Bees into nearly every episode of Season One, making them the show's first recurring characters. — Source

35

Debbie Downer

MONDAY DOWNER RACHEL DRATCH CRACKED.COM I was on vacation in Costa Rica, and when I told someone that I was from New York, they asked, 'Were you there for 9/11?' The conversation froze. The name Debbie Downer is now listed in the dictionary as a name for someone who constantly makes others feel bad. — Source

34

Stephen Colbert

STEPHEN COLBERT BROKE UP A NORM MACDONALD FIGHT 1997 CRACKED.COM LATE-NIGHT SOCCER GAMES WOULD BREAK OUT IN THE SNL HALLS. GUEST WRITER COLBERT WOULD JUMP IN, INCLUDING A GAME WHERE MACDONALD GOT INTO A HUGE FIGHT WITH INTERN WYATT CENAC. COLIN QUINN HELPED COLBERT PULL THE TWO COMICS APART. — Source

33

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM AT ONE POINT, THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE A CONEHEADS ANIMATED SERIES. They made a 22-minute animated movie that was originally supposed to be a pilot, but the series never took off. — Source

32

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM THERE'S A SCRIPT WRITTEN FOR A BILL SWERSKI'S SUPERFANS MOVIE. Basino CHICAGO Russ el Jordan CHICAGO RUNNO DIHIS Micago alls It was written by Bob Odenkirk and Robert Smigel, and it's about Superfans traveling the country amid a football strike. Chances are it'll never get made, though. — Source

31

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM AFTER AUSTIN POWERS BECAME A HIT, DIETER ALMOST DID, TOO. Based on Mike Myers' sketch about a West German TV show host, it was supposed to feature Will Ferrell - but it never got off the ground. — Source

30

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM THERE WAS A SKETCH THE SNL TEAM WROTE FOR TRUMP, THAT НЕ REFUSED TO DO. It involved The Giving Tree, with Trump playing another tree - and, according to SNL writer Bryan Tucker, Trump had to stand in a tree with his face looking out of the hole of this tree, and he did not like that. — Source

29

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM WE NEARLY GOT AN AMBIGUOUSLY GAY DUO AS A FULL-LENGTH MOVIE. A G It was supposed to star Jimmy Fallon and Alec Baldwin, but things just didn't work out - apparently, the stumbling block was the ownership of the characters. — Source

28

JIM CARREY CRACKED.COM Carrey was only 18 years old when he auditioned for SNL. Didn't get I N the gig but he was VING quickly hired at LOP — Source

27

JOHN MULANEY ALL STAR CRACKED.COM After his audition, Mulaney got a call from Seth Meyers with a writing job offer. I want to be clear, said Meyers, this is not the cast. Mulaney responded, I want to be clear. I would never think I would be in the cast. — Source

26

ZACH GALIFIANAKIS CRACKED.COM Galifianakis thought he'd landed a spot in the cast but I got to New York and I realized quickly that I was writing. That less-than-dream job lasted only two weeks. — Source

25

Nude Beach Sketch

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM SNL'S NUDE BEACH SKETCH HAD MATTHEW BRODERICK SAY PENIS OVER 40 TIMES. And that made people really, really angry, apparently- the SNL team thought it'd piss people off, and they were proven right. — Source

24

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM SNL AIRED A SKETCH ABOUT TIGER WOODS GETTING ATTACKED BY HIS WIFE. Help The problem? It was seen as making light of domestic violence, as Rihanna -who had been in the news recently after being assaulted by then-BF Chris Brown-was the musical guest. — Source

23

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM WHEN DJANGO UNCHAINED CAME OUT, SNL AIRED A SKETCH CALLED DJESUS UNCROSSED. Christoph Waltz himself played Our Lord and Savior, and the sketch wasn't too warmly greeted - for one, Sears pulled their advertising. — Source

22

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM IN 1994, THERE WAS AN SNL SKETCH THAT KIND OF MADE LIGHT OF PEDOPHILIA. At least that's what some people alleged - Canteen Boy was about a scoutmasters coming on to a Boy Scout who's supposed to be an adult, but that wasn't made 100% clear, and controversy ensued. — Source

21

Wayne’s World

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM SNL AIRED A SKETCH THAT HAD A JOKE ABOUT CHELSEA CLINTON, AND HAD TO APOLOGIZE. It aired when Bill Clinton was in the White House, and the joke was Chelsea... well, she's a babe in development. Mike Myers and Dana Carvey (who had performed the sketch), and Lorne Michaels, all apologized to the White House. — Source

20

GILDA RADNER was the very first hire for Saturday Night Live. The actress was the first to be cast in SNL in 1975. She stayed for five years. GRACKED COM — Source

19

SNL’s 40th Anniversary

Saturday Night Live's 40th Anniversary after-party had a bunch of big names live jamming on stage. Highlights of the night: - Paul McCartney performin

18

CRACKED TINA FEY REFUSED TO SHARE THE STAGE WITH SARAH PALIN Tina Fey refused to appear on camera with Sarah Palin when she cameoed on Saturday Night Live. Fey explained on David Tennant Does a Podcast With... that she felt a two-shot with her and Palin would come back to haunt her later in life, as she disagreed whole-heartedly with Palin's platform. To make the sketch work, producers instead kept Palin backstage with Lorne to make her guest appearance. — Looper / YouTube

17

JOHN GOODMAN GRAGKED.COM 13-time host (third place all-time!) but it was a hard no when he auditioned for the cast in 1980. — Screen Rant

16

Larry David

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM WAY BACK BEFORE SEINFELD OR CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, LARRY DAVID WROTE FOR SNL. I was writing sketches. They weren't putting any of my sketches on the air. The sketches were funny at the readthrough but the producer, Dick Ebersol, he didn't care for them, he recalled. — Source

15

BOBODENKIRK WAS NOT A LORNE MICHAELS FAN 1990 CRACKED.COM I BASICALLY HAD A HUGE CHIP ON MY SHOULDER, REMEMBERS ODENKIRK. MIX THAT IN WITH LORNE'S TRADITIONAL INTIMIDATION AND IT'S NOT GOOD. I DIDN'T RESPOND TO THE WAY HE LIKES TO APPROACH YOUNG PERFORMERS AND SET HIMSELF UP AS SOME KIND OF VERY DISTANT, STRANGE COMEDY GOD. — Live from New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests

14

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM THE NOW-CLASSICDICK IN A BOX SKETCH DREW COMPLAINTS AT THE TIME. And some people also criticized the fact that Justin Timberlake, who had been in the news for Nipplegate two years earlier, was singing it. — Source

13

BEWARE THE BULGES OF TWO WILD AND CRAZY GUYS MARTIN/ACKROYD CRACKED.COM STEVE HAD THIS CHARACTER, THE CONTINENTAL GUY, SAYS ACKROYD, AND I HAD THE 'SWINGING' CZECH WHO WAS TRYING TO TALK LIKE AN AMERICAN, TRYING TO HAVE THE ACCENT, THE CLOTHES. so WE TOOK HIS CONTINENTAL GUY AND MY CZECH GUY AND WE FUSED THEM INTO THE CZECH BROTHERS. — Live from New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests

12

JENNY SLATE WROTE 'MARCEL THE SHELL' S 19 02 9 INTERNATIONAL is CRACKED.COM RUMOR WAS SNL DROPPED SLATE FOR HURLING AN F-BOMB. NOT TRUE: I JUST DIDN'T BELONG THERE, SAYS SLATE. SHE WENT ON TO KILL IT ON 'PARKS AND REC' AND THE WELL-RECEIVED INDIE 'OBVIOUS CHILD.' — Cinema Blend

11

SNL WAS RACIST TOWARDS, UH, DONALD TRUMP. Many complained how racist Michael Che was when he called Trump a cheap cracker. Our hearts go out to the person whose son asked what a cracker is, and had to explain to a child the long history of institutionalized violence against white people in the U.S. — People Magazine

10

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM JOHN BELUSHI VS FEMALE CAST SML John Belushi was known for shooting down female written sketches, and playing them down if he appeared in them on air. Former cast member Jane Curtin said said women are just fundamentally not funny... Не felt as though it was his duty to sabotage pieces written by women. — Source: Huffington Post

9

Sharks Movies & TV Saturday Night Live Landshark was Chevy Chase's only original recurring character. While many SNL cast members have a few characters in their pockets for multiple sketches, Landshark was Chase's only character that showed up more than once. Good thing he had Weekend Update. CRACKED.COM — Source: Saturday Night Live Wiki

8

Jordan Peele

CRACKED.COM KEY& PEELE JORDAN PEELE ALMOST WAS ON SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. Peele was approached to do his Obama impression on SNL, but was unable to do so because he was still under contract with Mad TV. When the contract expired, he took his impression to his own show. — Source: The New Yorker

7

SNL Facts

JB SMOOVE HAD SOME GREAT SKETCH PITCHES 2006 CRACKED.COM BUT UNFORTUNATELY, MOST NEVER MADE THE AIR. LIKE THE FACE-LIFT WIG THAT HIDES YOUR HANDS AS THEY PULL BACK YOUR WRINKLES. OR A SKETCH WHERE TOM BRADY WOULD PLAY A 1950S QUARTERBACK FAMOUS FOR BEING THE FIRST NFL PLAYER TO SMACK TEAMMATES ON THE ASS. — Late Night with Seth Myers YouTube

6

HANS & FRANZ GOT BOMBED BY `LAST ACTION HERO' UNPRODUCED CRACKED.COM 'THE GIRLY-MAN DILEMMA' WOULD HAVE CO-STARRED. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER AS HIMSELF. WHEN HIS 'LAST ACTION HERO' TANKED, ARNOLD GOT COLD FEET AND PULLED OUT, KILLING THE PROJECT. KEVIN NEALON DESERVED BETTER. — Vulture

5

MORE COWBELL WILL FERRELL CRACKED.COM Classic rock fan Chris Parnell wrote the sketch, which bombed in dress rehearsal. Before air, Ferrell asked wardrobe for a shirt one size smaller and the bit went from huh? to hilarious. Blue Oyster Cult nixed the movie since the band can no longer perform without the audience shouting MORE COWBELL! — Medium

4

THE REPLACEMENTS JANUARY 18, 1986 SATURDAY CRACKED.COM They were literally Replacements (for the Pointer Sisters), performing drunk, on drugs, and out of tune. Blame pre-show boozing with host Harry Dean Stanton. — Variety

3

MICHAEL PHELPS SEPTEMBER 13, 2008 SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Critics say he looked pained to be there. His Michael Phelps Diet sketch featuring a cameo fro — Last Night On

2

Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase once tried his hand at late-night talk. He flopped spectacularly. Chase's early work hosting Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live seemed

1

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