The Saturday Night Live season may be over, but fans aren’t done talking about their favorite sketches of the year. Season 49 pulled out all the stops with top tier hosts and musical guests, hilarious sketches, and fan-favorite digital shorts that will likely become classics down the line. These pre-taped sketches have already racked up millions of views online, with the number one most-viewed being about Pete Davidson. However, fans think the number one Digital sketch should’ve been a different one from this season, and it’s a good pick.
“I’m Just Pete” Comes In At Number 1
After the box office success of Barbie last summer, it was no surprise SNL would do a sketch to honor the summer blockbuster. The iconic “I’m Just Ken” ballad from the movie was parodied on the beloved late night show, with Pete Davidson at the center.
The self-aware sketch fully recreates the Ken dream ballet from Barbie with incredible accuracy, however the SNL version featured Pete Davidson and all his high profile scandals at the center. It touches on Davidson’s public relationships, battles with mental illness and drug addiction, and even his infamous 2023 car crash. The rest of the male cast joins in the chorus, all dressed up as Pete Davidson.
The jokes made in the sketch all surround pretty lofty subject matters, however Davidson’s ability to parody himself and address public perception head on is incredibly endearing, making it no surprise that the sketch would be the most viewed of the season, according to SNL's own stats. Aside from addressing scandal head on, it also plays off one of the most beloved movies of the year.
Yet, a lot of fans still were hoping another sketch ended up coming at number one, and Ryan Gosling is involved.
"Papyrus 2" Starring Ryan Gosling Is Still The Fan- Favorite
Ryan Gosling has hosted SNL a number of times and is one of the funniest actors to do it. He has a number of favorite sketches in his repertoire, but the 2017 “Papyrus” sketch definitely has stuck with viewers. The sketch centers around an obsessive man, played by Gosling, who is beside himself that a movie as popular as Avatar would dare use the simplistic Papyrus font on its poster. The sketch follows him as he slowly descends into madness directed towards the graphic design poster artist. Once it hit YouTube, the digital sketch went mega-viral on the internet, so much so that James Cameron himself had to respond. It is absolutely hilarious, and a Part 2 was inevitable when Gosling came back to host this year.
"Papyrus 2" centers around the same idea, only this time, Gosling is irate that instead of modifying the font for the Avatar sequel, the artists only bolded the title, keeping the same generic Papyrus font. The whole thing makes him lose his mind once again, and the lazy font decision makes him angrier and angrier. What is so impressive, is that the sketch is incredibly cinematic, structured like a hilarious melodramatic short film, and Gosling is acting his heart out.
Fans absolutely loved the sketch, and the majority of the most popular comments on SNL's post about viral pre-taped sketches had to do with 'Papyrus 2' not getting the love it deserved. (Though one pointed out the Barbie/Ryan Gosling connection.)
- @macgirlie82: Papyrus 2 legit deserves an Oscar
- @iamtsoul: The Papyrus one sends me 😂😂😂
- @melaniearagone: "He just put it in bold." Still crying laughing.😂😂😂😂😂 Brilliant.
- @anisatheactor: The Papyrus saga needs to become a movie. The way my heart skipped when he clicked on the B and the logo changed into the new version… 😂 We NEED this in our lives!!
- @godglitterandgrace: Love that Ryan Gosling has influence directly/indirectly in at least 3 of those. Awesome season SNL!
I couldn’t agree more, and “Papyrus 2” was the sequel we didn’t think we needed. As a whole, the Season 49 SNL cast truly killed it, and each sketch kept getting funnier and funnier as the season went on. Hopefully, there’s a "Papyrus 3" in our future when the third Avatar movie finally hits the big screen, or maybe even a follow up to “I’m Just Pete” with even more Pete Davidson lore at the forefront. When it comes to SNL, the possibilities are endless.
Some of the most-watched YouTube clips from SNL ever are digital bits, and you can check out those as well as full episodes of SNL now with a Peacock subscription.
