It is around this time every year that I get especially excited for the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live. Like many a child who grew up in the 90s, this late night staple was time recorded on VHS to be viewed the following Sunday afternoon.
It was a consistent ritual whether we were living stateside or abroad. Decades later when my own family lived in Asia, Armed Forces Network, aka AFN, aired Saturday Night Live the following Sunday at six pm. Again it was our routine to watch it before the then-Pamper Pirate / now-Petit Garçon’s bedtime routine.
While my favorite overall Saturday Night Live era is that of the latter nineties, specifically the Spartan Cheerleaders, Mary Katherine Gallagher, and The View, my favorite skits PERIODT are relatively recent.
These are the sketches that I think about when discussing standout SNL. I am not going to write about each one beyond the first and the funniest, suffice to say that each make me laugh out loud.
What I will say is that I cannot get through Bowen Yang’s Iceberg on Update without dissolving into laughter within the first 45 seconds. Before he joined the cast, he served as a staff writer with The over twenty show credits to his name in that season alone. I stand by Yang being the best cast addition since Kate McKinnon. Don’t believe me? Rewatch Iceberg. I challenge you not to laugh.