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38 Random Bits of ‘Saturday Night Live Trivia’ That Are Like ‘Chopping Broccoli’ to the Ears

November 23, 2024

When the Cracked higher-ups asked us to perfectly sum up five decades of SNL in one list, we smiled and nodded along while sweating profusely on the inside. What an impossible task! Managerial types love doling out ridiculous requests, don’t they?

Our people-pleasing traits had us trying harder than ever, but 50 years of weekly shows was a bit much to encapsulate. We know they’ll be disappointed in us, but here’s a little something to hopefully please everyone else.

38

Phil Hartman vs. Rob Schneider

phil rob HARTMAN SCHNEIDER CRACKED.COM Hartman helped a young female friend of his family land an internship on Weekend Update. Schneider's girlfriend didn't like the competition and convinced Rob to fire her. According to David Spade, Hartman threw Schneider up against a wall and said I'll put a bullet in your head. Yikes. — The Wrap

37

Lettuce

CRACKED THE LONELY ISLAND'S LETTUCE SKETCH HAD A $20 BUDGET. The guys didn't even use SNL equipment-they just borrowed a camcorder from Bill Hader's wife. — NBCUniversal
15 Trivia Tidbits About The Lonely Island

36

Church Lady

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: Behind-The-Scenes Beginnings Of 14 Iconic SNL Characters

35

Wally the Cue Card Guy

Recurring at Late Night Seth Meyers vs. Wally the Cue Card Guy After 30 years of SNL cue cards, Wally Feresten joined Late Night with Seth Myers. Ribbing from Seth snowballed into recurring bits where Wally read creepy poetry or went field reporting. Myers says that fans stop to tell him, We want more Wally! SETH, TO ME YOU ARE PERFECT! CRACKED — NBC
The Herald News

34

Gilda Radner

THE EVOLUTION OF EMILY LITELLA GILDA RADNER CRACKED.COM THE OH, THAT'S VERY DIFFERENT NEVER MIND ENDING WAS CUTE FOR ABOUT A YEAR, SAYS WRITER ALAN ZWEIBEL. BUT HE AND GILDA WANTED TO TRY SOMETHING NEW. ON LITELLA'S NEXT APPEARANCE, JANE CURTIN ATTACKED, CALLING HER AN INSULT TO THE INTEGRITY OF F JOURNALISM. EMILY LITELLA'S ONE-WORD REPLY: BITCH. — Live from New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests

33

Drunk Uncle

DRUNK UNCLE BOBBY MOYNIHAN CRACKED Moynihan spent hours on a sure-fire sketch about a suit salesman, the best character in SNL history. Colin Jost a — Rolling Stone

32

JB Smoove

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

31

The Original Lonely Island

Andy Samberg The Lonely Island was the name of their apartment. In 2001, Samberg shared a tiny apartment with his friends Jorma and Akiva in Los Angeles - which they called The Lonely Island. Is that the apartment from the legendary Perfecto sketch? CRACKED.COM — Source: Biography

30

Colin Jost

COLIN JOST + SCARLETT JOHANSSON ORAGKEDCON Like many romances, it began when Jost wrote a sketch where ScarJo plays a pregnant teen. Seeing sparks, Ka — Insider

29

Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM IN THE '90S, SNL AIRED A SKETCHTHAT KIND OF SHADED INTO BODY SHAMING. It was a Chippendales audition sketch that starred Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley, both shirtless, and Farley getting called fat and disgusting at the end - apparently, that sketch really fed into his insecurities. — Source

28

Garth

GARTH ALGAR DANA CARVEY CRACKED.COM Carvey based Wayne's pal Garth on his nerdy genius brother Brad. Both Brad and Garth share a love for videos, drums, and red licorice. Carvey was afraid Wayne's World would be seen as a Bill and Ted rip-off, but no one seemed to mind the similarities. — Source: Behind-The-Scenes Beginnings Of 14 Iconic SNL Characters

27

Chance the Rapper

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM CHANCE THE RAPPER PUT TOGETHER A BUNCH OF SNL SKETCHES THAT DIDN'T PAN OUT. They included GentriFried chicken, Hillary Clinton tries odd jobs, Kwanzaa sketch, plus one about Kanye. One of his ideas did get made, though -Jingle Barack. — Source: 13 Rejected Saturday Night Live Sketches We'll Never Get To See

26

Andy Samberg

CRACKED.COM Andy Samberg Seth Meyers was one of his groomsmen. The two met on SNL, and became close enough that Meyers was a groomsman at Samberg's wedding. Samberg still makes regular appearances in Late Night With Seth Meyers. — Source: Scoop Byte

25

Phil Hartman

Brynn Omdahl SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE CRACKED CO Phil Hartman was murdered by his wife, Brynn, who appears for a second in his SNL intro sequence. Her earr — 7 Times Movies And Shows Hid Real Murders Behind The Scenes

24

The Lonely Island

CRACKED.COM ... L'OCC EN FC C EL Andy Samberg All three members of The Lonely Island auditioned for SNL. While only Samberg was chosen to appear on the show, Jorma and Akiva remained as writers. Andy wrote and stood in the background, slowly gaining prominence. — Source: Biography

23

Jeopardy!

ALEX TREBEK- told Lorne he loved the sketch CRACKED.COM On Will Ferrell's final SNL show, the real Trebek made a surprise appearance during the Celebrity Jeopardy sketch, giving Darrell Hammond's Sean Connery a bust in the chops for good measure. — The Laugh Button

22

The Nerds

GILDA RADNER -+ BILL MURRAY The Nerds sketch was a love barometer, says writer Rosie Schuster. Todd and Lisa became a medium for Gilda and Billy to w — Live from New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests

21

Christoph Waltz

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

20

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

19

Bill Hader

CRACKEDCON Bill Hader's most memorable moment on Saturday Night Live was playing in a punk band with Dave Grohl. In a sketch about aging rock stars, H

18

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

17

The Groundlings

Comedy hotbeds THE GROUNDLiNGS CAR GROUNDLINGS 7807 The L.A based sketch & improv theater began in 1974. Will Ferrell, Will Forte, Phil Hartman, Lisa Kudrow, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Dax Shepard, and many others got their start here. CRACKED — Gary Minnaert/Wiki Commons
CBS News

16

Maya Rudolph

COMEDY of NERD CRACKED.COM Maya Rudolph Rudolph, a stalwart star of a certain era of SNL, never won during her tenure on the show. However, she rectified that with back to back wins in 2020/21 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her hosting and guest roles.

15

Target Lady

TARGET LADY WAS BASED ON AN ACTUAL... TARGET LADY KRISTEN WIIG Fan oz OX Fan CRACKED.COM WIIG CREATED THE CHARACTER FOR THE GROUNDLINGS. SHE DIDN'T LEAVE WHILE SHE WAS CHECKING ME OUT BUT IT WAS JUST HER VOICE, SAYS WIIG. THERE WAS JUST SOMETHING EGGY ABOUT IT. LIKE SHE HAD EGGS IN HER THROAT. NO WORD ON WHETHER SHE ATE HALF AN ALMOND FOR ENERGY. — Source: 13 More Behind-the-Scenes Beginnings of Iconic SNL Characters

14

The Californians

CALIFORNIANS FRED ARMISEN CRACKED.COM Whenever he returned from the west coast, Armisen would discuss L.A. directions with castmates Bill Hader and Kenan Thompson. The inane talk about best driving routes became a running Californians joke, though Armisen says he doesn't mind the Cali traffic. — Source: Behind-The-Scenes Beginnings Of 14 Iconic SNL Characters

13

Michael Phelps

GRACKED MICHAEL PHELPS HOSTED SNL In 2008, his monologue was under 4 minutes, and was carried by Amy Poehler and Will Forte. Не robotically read cue cards, and NBC doesn't show the full episode on their site or the SNL app. — Youtube / Sportscasting

12

Andy Samberg

CRACKED.COM are PRO Andy Samberg Не supports projects from other SNL cast members. Always the team player, Samberg takes part in projects from former SNL mates. Не has been with Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation, Tina Fey in 30 Rock, and Fred Armisen in Portlandia. — Source: Factinate

11

Kristen Wiig

COMEDYG 06 NERD CRACKED.COM Thanksgiving Foods w/ Kristen Wiig Joining what turned out to BE a miniseries of cut for time sketches featuring a creepy narrator going through a collection of holiday goodies was this Thanksgiving gem. Giving Kristen Wiig some strange things to say, a sweater, and turning the camera on is never a bad idea.

10

Tim Herlihy

COLLEGE ROOMIE CO-WRITER 25 CRACKED.COM Writer Tim Herlihy met Adam Sandler at NYU in 1984, and when Sandler landed SNL, he got Herlihy on as a writer. They went on to write Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and many more together, mostly forgetting exactly whose joke was whose, but Herlihy takes credit for, I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast. — Source: esquire

9

George Wendt

Uncle & Nephew Jason Sudeikis, of SNL and Ted Lasso fame, shares a funny bone with his uncle George Wendt, who played Norm on Cheers. — Source: EW

8

Amy Poehler

COMEDY DE NERD CRACKED.COM Amy Poehler Another cornerstone cast member that would only reach Emmy heights upon return as a host, Amy Poehler won as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2016 for her work hosting alongside long-time collaborator Tina Fey.

7

Miley Cyrus

MILEY CYRUS IS A HOST, A GUEST, AND A CHARACTER VIDE AWA ROOKLYN 13 In addition to hosting the show three times, Miley was a recurring character thanks to Vanessa Bayer and The Miley Cyrus Show. I've got guests, and a show, and I'm ready to go! So I guess that's pretty cool! She was also the musical guest on the infamous Elon Musk episode. — Source: NBC
Watch: ‘Poetry Class’ (Youtube)

6

Jan Hooks and Kevin Nealon

JAN HOOKS + KEVIN NEALON CRACKED CO Jan Hooks and Kevin Nealon were dating when they were cast on SNL in 1986, but their romance only lasted a season. — Time

5

Mango

AN EX + A DOG + AN ORLANDO STRIPPER = MANGO CHRIS KATTAN CRACKED COM ONE INSPIRATION WAS AN ANGRY RUSSIAN GIRLFRIEND WHO WOULD SHOUT KATTAN, I KILL YOU! A SECOND WAS KATTAN'S DALMATION, WHO PERFECTED A COY, OVER-THE- SHOULDER GLANCE. THE MONIKER 'MANGO' CAME FROM A STRIPPER KATTAN OGLED IN ORLANDO--HE JUST LIKED THE DANG NAME. — Source: 13 More Behind-the-Scenes Beginnings of Iconic SNL Characters

4

Leslie Jones

CRACKED Comedy Late Bloomers Leslie Jones booked SNL at 47. Her first professional gig was opening for Jamie Foxx in 1987, but her big break came in 2014 when she joined SNL. Hired as a writer, she soon joined the cast as well. — NBCUniversal
Goalcast

3

Canteen Boy

CANTEEN BOY ADAM SANDLER Sandler specialized in characters that were losers. Canteen Boy's having a rough day today. I feel like people will respond — LA Times

2

Jason Sudeikis

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM JASON SUDEIKIS PITCHED A SKETCH CALLEDJUGGLING FLYERTO SNL. A They never filmed it, but we ultimately did get to see it thanks to Late Night with Seth Meyers (it got made for its Second Chance Theatre segment, ultimately). — Source

1

Adam Sandler’s Tribute to Chris Farley

Adam Sandler's Chris Farley Song. Sandler said he couldn't even get through the first few performances, and he even gets choked up while performing it on his Netflix special 100% Fresh, and a 2019 SNL episode. CRACKED — Saturday Night Live/YouTube,
Paramount Pictures
CNN

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