My Thoughts on the Top 5 SNL Skits of the Season

The 2023-2024 season of Saturday Night Live is over. As for how good this season was in comparison to all others…opinions vary.

I make it now secret. I am a Saturday Night Live fan and never miss an episode. Well, I might watch it on DVR on Wednesday but, still, big fan here. As for those who say, “SNL hasn’t been good since season four”, I say…”Go back and watch those seasons again. They do NOT hold up”.

Several sources have ranked the best sketches of Season 49…from The Guardian who called the season “dire even by low standards” to Vulture which called a few of the sketches “phenomenal”.  What I’ve tried to do here is synthesize all of these sources opinions into a concise Top 5. For instance, YouTube says the Sydney Sweeney Hooters sketch had the most views…but that was because it was Sydney Sweeny in a Hooters girl outfit. That’s a metric I chose to overlook.

The good news is that this article has ALL of the Top 5 sketches, plus some of my personal alternative favorites.

5.) Biden State of the Union / Katie Britt

This has veteran cast member Mikey Day doing a very decent Biden, but the genius of this bit is Scarlett Johannson and her dead-on, breathy impression of trad-wife Katie Britt giving the Republican rebuttal.

I have no argument with this being #5. Even Katie Britt said she was flattered by Johannson’s portrayal and Ted Cruz said he was jealous.

4.) Protective Mom 2

This sketch was actually a sequel to the Pedro Pascal sketch from LAST season.  This one features Bad Bunny along with a Pascal cameo.

I’ll level with you. I didn’t like the original bit or the sequel. The whole premise seems to be “hot guy with beard cross-dresses”. I mean, an obvious guy in women’s clothing is one of the oldest premises in television history.  To be clear, it’s not because it’s “politically incorrect” or “insensitive to members of the LGBTQ+ community” or anything like that. It’s just…kind of played out.

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For a funnier sketch from the Bad Bunny episode, I recommend the “Please Don’t Destroy” skit. His world-weary delivery of the line “Yeah, I’m Shrek” made me a fan of Benito.

3.) General Washington’s Dream

Host Nate Bargatze plays George Washington inspiring his men with a speech about freedom, democracy…and our own system of weights and measures?

Bargatze is a comedian, not an actor which actually makes this sketch funnier. And every time Kenan brings up “freeing the slaves” Washington immediately pivots back to his weights and measures talking points.

ANOTHER great skit from the Bargatze episode that DIDN’T even make the Top Ten is “Lake Beach”. Maybe it’s because this looks EXACTLY like the party scene at the lake in my own hometown.  This is what you get when you’re in a land-locked state nearly 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean.  Also, Dave Grohl cameo…

2.)  Pete Davidson’s “I’m Just Ken” Parody

Pete Davidson really plays just one character: Pete Davidson. The sketch ACKNOWLEDGES this exact point.  Then, it chronicles the daily tabloid fodder that has been Pete’s life the last few years.

1.)   Beavis and Butthead

The wonderful Heidi Gardner is about to break from the first second she looks at Ryan Gosling’s Beavis.  Kenan’s A.I. expert is the only one who’s ever heard of Beavis and Butthead. This was also the bit that got Mikey Day some long-deserved recognition.

Hands down, the greatest skit from Season 49.