Saturday Night Live wrapped its 49th season last week, and it produced some great sketches that will go down in the history books. The NBC mainstay boosted some all-star hosts and musical guests during Season 49, and it kept fans laughing, with sketches finding life on YouTube. There were many highlights this season, including a hilarious segment in which Sydney Sweeney and Bowen Yang play Hooters waiters at Hooters. But, even with the sketch’s viral popularity, it apparently didn’t even crack the top five when it comes to most popular SNL sketches on YT this year.
What Happened In Sydney Sweeney's Hooters Sketch?
The Sydney Sweeney sketch in question takes place at a Hooters restaurant, where the waitresses are comparing their tip earnings for the evening. Sweeney's character ends up making an insane amount of money compared to her colleagues. The joke of the whole skit is what goes unsaid, as none of them can figure out why Sweeney's hostess makes the most money despite not being as good of a waitress. However, it's painfully obvious that it’s because the customers are attracted to her. Check it out:
The sketch went viral on YouTube, with many calling it hilarious and complimenting the Anyone But You star on her sense of humor. However, it apparently takes more than having the starlet in a Hooters uniform for a sketch to become one of the most popular bits of the season. According to Decider, the Hooters act only landed at No. 8 compared to other popular moments from Season 49.
Let's Talk About The Top 5 SNL Sketches Of Season 49
Coming in at No. 5 was a political cold open that parodied President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. While Mikey Day’s Biden impression was stellar, and the recreation was pitch perfect, it was Scarlett Johannson that stole the show. She played Senator Katie Britt, who gave the Republican response to the SOTU. She was absolutely hilarious, and her performance made the satirical piece one of the best political sketches of the season. This sketch was only slightly behind “Protective Mom 2,” which featured Bad Bunny in drag, and Pedro Pascal hilariously reprising his role as Marcello Hernandez’s over-the-top mother.
The top three sketches all went viral for the right reasons: being flat-out clever. The “Washington’s Dream” skit sits at No. 3, and it featured host Nate Bargatze playing George Washington establishing a nonsensical measurement system for the United States. It's observational humor with perfectly timed comedy and jokes. This segment is a comedy writer’s dream, and it resonated with the public as well. This sketch is behind Pete Davidson's "I’m Just Ken” parody, in which the lyrics of the Barbie movie ballad are replaced by scandalous details from Davidson’s personal life. "I'm Just Pete" is just another example of how SNL plays to fans' love of self awareness.
And, probably unsurprising to anyone, coming in at No. 1 on the list most popular SNL sketch of the year was the hilarious Beavis and Butt-Head sketch. The skit sees Keenan Thompson play an AI expert giving an informational talk for NewsNation, before he's quickly distracted by the presence of Ryan Gosling and Mikey Day, who play Beavis and Butt-Head look-alikes. The randomness and ridiculousness is absolutely hysterical, and gets even better when Heidi Gardner loses it completely and the whole sketch goes off the rails. People love to watch the SNL cast break, and this sketch will be in the pantheon of breaking character moments on the sketch show.
Though it didn't make it into the Top 5, Sydney Sweeney should still be proud that the "Hooters Waitress" sketch managed to strike a chord with viewers and go viral. Considering her performance on the show, one might wonder if she'll give hosting another try and aim to produced yet another hilarious piece of work. In the meantime, you can stream full episodes from this season of Saturday Night Live now with a Peacock subscription.
