Not everything you see on Saturday Night Live is live and some may even claim that many of the long-running sketch comedy TV show’s funniest moments were recorded before they were broadcast. Sifting through some epic faux movie trailers, many enticing fake commercials, a few heartwarming short films, and, of course, The Lonely Island’s brilliant SNL Digital Shorts, we think we have compiled the absolute greatest hits in SNL’s pre-recorded history.
First CitiWide Bank (Season 14)
This classic fake commercial promotes a business that sounds all but effectively lucrative: a bank that does nothing but make change. A sales representative, played by the bit's creator Jim Downey, explains First CitiWide's purpose by listing all the various ways they can reimburse a certain amount of cash ad nauseum.
Almost Pizza (Season 37)
You know those products that are meant to be a substitute for common grocery items, such as margarine or veggie bacon? This fake ad for an item called “Almost Pizza" – the true contents of which are never actually revealed, outside of being inedible, distributed by Pfizer, and alive – puts a pretty terrifying spin on that concept.
Prose And Cons (Season 7)
One of Eddie Murphy's funniest quotes from SNL (let alone his entire career) originates from this short mockumentary called "Prose and Cons." It follows a prison poetry-writing program that puts the spotlight on Tyrone Green (Murphy), who demonstrates with his prize-winning poem that he may have the rhymes and the rhythm but he does not have the ability to spell.
SNL Digital Short: United Way (Season 32)
One of the funniest SNL bits featuring professional athletes stars Peyton Manning as a version of himself whom we strongly hope is nothing like he is in reality. The former Denver Broncos quarterback appears in a fake United Way ad in which he proves to be an absolutely terrible role model for children, from harshly taunting them during a friendly game of football to teaching them how to break into a car.
Please Don't Destroy - Three Sad Virgins (Season 47)
Years after The Lonely Island left Studio 8H and the era of SNL Digital Shorts ended, Please Don’t Destroy (made up of Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy) took over as the show's new purveyors of hilariously absurd miniature adventures. One of their best bits, "Three Sad Virgins," sees them initially excited to collaborate with Pete Davidson until it turns into a "humiliating" music video filled with childish insults about them, with some help from Taylor Swift, whom PDD never expected to star in the video.
Mom Jeans (Season 28)
The only thing funnier than SNL's fake ad for "Mom Jeans" is the story of how Tina Fey came up with the bit. She shared with Jess Cage on Sirius XM how she picked up a “really unfortunate pair of jeans” she found at J. Crew, brought them up to Studio 8H, and, through her regret, came up with this commercial meant to poke fun at suburban mothers' fashion sense.
Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey (Various)
From the mind of writer Jack Handey, "Deep Thoughts" was a series of memories or philosophical anecdotes that were not always very profound but certainly had the power to leave an impression. The bits ranged from such topics as Jack's cave-dwelling uncle who turned out to be a bear to his choice for the most dangerous animal being a shark riding on an elephant's back.
Don’t Look Back in Anger (Season 3)
Directed by Tim Schiller, "Don't Look Back in Anger" stars John Belushi as an elderly version of himself, revealing that he has outlived the rest of the Not Ready For Primetime Players. Because of his debaucherous reputation, this was a funny idea at the time but is now looked back more somberly as the actor (who made a huge impression on SNL in so little time) was, indeed, the first of the original cast to pass away.
Love Is A Dream (Season 14)
"Love is a Dream" is not a particularly funny video but an absolutely heartwarming one that features Jan Hooks as an elderly woman who opens a safe deposit box containing a tiara and vintage necklace. She is then whisked away into a colorful fantasy in which she is a young socialite courted by a man played by Phil Hartman, who also plays the bank's security guard.
White Like Me (Season 10)
Perhaps the single funniest SNL sketch starring Eddie Murphy aired after his tenure had ended when he returned as a host in 1984. The Beverly Hills Cop star takes inspiration from John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me to film a short mockumentary called "White Like Me," in which he gains a bizarre glimpse at what it is like to be a caucasian.
Lazy Sunday (Season 31)
While "Lazy Sunday" was not the first SNL Digital Short it saw the dawn of a new era for the series and would become a definitive moment in internet popularity. The music video follows Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell giving their all in a rap about hilariously mundane activities, particularly enjoying some Chronic - WHAT? - cles of Narnia.
New Disney Movie (Season 40)
We wish we could say that this was a real upcoming Dwayne Johnson movie because it would probably end up being the best live-action animated Disney movie yet. In this fake trailer, the professional wrestler-turned-actor takes on the title role of Bambi in a reimagining that sees him and his other woodland animal friends avenge his mother's death by giving hunters a taste of their own medicine.
Wayne's World With Madonna (Season 16)
A few of the best SNL sketches featuring famous musicians were also "Wayne's World" bits. For instance, this short film served as a flashback to when Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) had a romantic encounter with Madonna (starring as herself), which is so vivid that even Garth (Dana Carvey) has first-hand experience with the memory.
Papyrus (Season 43)
Academy Award nominee Ryan Gosling proved himself to be a top-notch host when he gave an Oscar-worthy performance in a short called "Papyrus." He plays a man driven insane by the fact that the logo for a successful movie like 2009's Avatar merely used the eponymous common font.
MacGruber (Various)
Easily Will Forte's most iconic character from his SNL days would have to be MacGruber, whose supposed skills in creating life-saving tools out of common materials still were no match against countless locked doors and explosive devices. The bumbling, MacGyver-style secret agent became so popular that he became the star of one of the most beloved SNL movies and his own spin-off series.
Homeward Bound (Season 1)
The short films that Gary Weis created for SNL were not always very funny but never failed to amuse, provoke, or tug at one's heartstrings, and the most potent example aired during the series’ first Valentine’s Day episode. It is a tear-jerking compilation of people reuniting with loved ones in an airport lobby that is named after the Simon & Garfunkle song that accompanies it: "Homeward Bound."
Mr. Bill (Season 1)
In its first season, SNL (which was still called NBC's Saturday Night at the time) asked viewers to submit their own home movies, and one winning entry would end up becoming a recurring character on the sketch comedy series. That character was Mr. Bill, whose horrible luck and catchphrase – "Oh no!" – has kept the accident-prone clay doll alive.
Happy Fun Ball (Season 16)
Like most advertising in real life, SNL's funniest fake commercials tend to lure you in with an enticing hook before pulling the rug right from underneath you with some shocking revelation about the product. Case in point, "Happy Fun Ball," which seems like any other harmless, shiny, red toy until a warning disclaimer explains that it should never be touched by a human hand.
Laurie Has A Story (Season 14)
Laurie Metcalf is among the handful of SNL actors with Academy Award nominations but we would not blame you if you completely forgot about her being at Studio 8H. In fact, one of the few pieces of evidence from her brief stint is a short film called Laurie Has a Story (also starring host Catherine O'Hara), which beautifully captures the struggle to finish a story at a dinner party when it seems like every interruption that could happen does.
Synchronized Swimming (Season 10)
One of the most underrated bits from a pretty polarizing time in SNL's history is a documentary-style short starring beloved comedy legends Martin Short and Harry Shearer. The duo plays a couple of aspiring synchronized swimming athletes who are not quite cut out for the sport.
La Dolce Gilda (Season 3)
If you somehow needed any other reason to miss Gilda Radner, take a look at this dazzling reminder of her versatility and the potential direction her career could have gone had she not passed away so young. In La Dolce Gilda – a black-and-white Federico Fellini homage by Tom Schiller – she plays a version of herself who appears to be an Italian film star overwhelmed by the attention she receives.
Saturday TV Funhouse: Charlie Brown Christmas (Season 28)
Robert Smigel's animated segment, "Saturday TV Funhouse," ran a reimagining of the magical moment from the end of It's Christmas Charlie Brown when the other Peanuts turn Charlie Brown's pitiful branch into a beautiful Christmas tree instantly. It helps them realize they can improve anything and anyone just by waving their arms around it, like turning Pig-Pen and Schroeder into the night's musical guests, Phish, and they soon create a lucrative business out of this "awesome power."
Don' You Go Rounin' Roun To Re Ro (Season 36)
Any American filmgoer who has ever watched a British gangster film (such as some of the early Guy Ritchie movies) and found themselves needing to put on the subtitles can certainly relate to this fake trailer. "Don' You Go Rounin' Roun To Re Ro" is a hilarious parody of U.K. crime dramas, complete with heavy accents and almost entirely indecipherable dialogue.
Open Heart Surgery (Season 1)
The first season of SNL showcased a series of short films by Albert Brooks but his tenure with the show would end prematurely with "Open Heart Surgery," which was much longer than Lorne Michaels had agreed upon. The 13-minute segment (which host Rob Reiner insisted be shown) sees the actor, filmmaker, and comedian struggling to perform the eponymous medical task without formal training.
Closet Organizer (Season 35)
What makes the "Closet Organizer" ad (starring Will Forte as a blue jumpsuit-wearing person hired to frantically assemble clutter for you) a unique entry in SNL's history of pre-recorded sketches is that it has a follow-up that was performed live on the same night. Host Jon Hamm later plays a bar patron who tries to figure out why he recognizes Forte until he finally realizes that he is "the Closet Organizer guy."
Dissing Your Dog (Season 37)
If it were not for his role as a Border Terrier named Reggie in 2023's Strays, we might have assumed that Will Ferrell was not much of a dog person, based on some of his SNL roles. For instance, in a fake ad called "Dissing Your Dog," he plays Dale Sturtevant, who demonstrates how using sarcastic put-downs can be an effective pet training tool.
That's When You Break (Season 40)
"That's When You Break" is a music video filmed specifically for SNL's 40th Anniversary special in which Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler sample Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" for a song about the sketch comedy series' history of cast members bursting into fits of laughter. It becomes especially hilarious when they make multiple references to Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz's many instances of breaking on air.
Bear City (Various)
"Bear City" was a series of short films by director T. Sean Shannon that popped up on SNL episodes from the early 2000s. It took place in a town populated by bears who had evolved into a more organized species after a meteor hit Earth, releasing a mysterious chemical that changed their brain chemistry.
Compulsion: Cologne (Season 13)
In the mid-1980s, Calvin Klein ran a series of ads for a fragrance called Obsession which were heavily inspired by the style of daytime soap operas at the time but even more over-the-top and cheesy. SNL took that same approach to craft a spot for an "indulgent" faux disinfectant product called "Compulsion."
Djesus Uncrossed (Season 38)
One of SNL's more plausible fake movie trailers is "Djesus Uncrossed," which imagines what a movie about the Son of Man (played by Christoph Waltz) would look like if made by Quentin Tarantino. Unfortunately, it proved to be one of SNL's most infamous moments as many religious audiences felt the idea of a bloody revenge epic about Jesus was crossing a line.
Saturday TV Funhouse: The Ambiguously Gay Duo (Various)
Easily the most famous recurring segment from Saturday TV Funhouse was "The Ambiguously Gay Duo." Ace (voiced by Stephen Colbert) and Gary (Steve Carell) – a pair of costumed vigilantes whose romantic preferences were put into question by their various enemies – pretty much became the faces of Robert Smigel's series of crude cartoon shorts.
Colon Blow (Season 15)
Phil Hartman stars in this ad for a cereal that contains 30,000 times the amount of fiber you would get from an average bowl of cereal. Of course, what really makes the bit a classic is the name of the product: Colon Blow.
