TV

Most watched SNL skits from the last year

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February 19, 2018
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Most watched SNL skits from the last year

Despite the ups and downs of the week, many Americans look forward to the weekend — more specifically, watching Saturday Night Live. The beloved NBC variety show has been on-air for over three decades, and continues to delight audiences with its hilarious sketches, celebrity hosts and dynamic musical guests. It has also helped launch the careers of many of the most famous comedians in modern history, including Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, John Belushi, Eddie Murphy and Chevy Chase.

SNL has also had a history of not shying away from the more serious events of the day, openly making fun of politicians, breaching tough topics with both humor, and sometimes more severity.

Nonetheless, SNL is a much-needed outlet that continues to be a symbol of American humor and pop culture that will likely endure for more years to come. To celebrate its enduring legacy, Stacker ranked the SNL skits of 2017 by YouTube views, counting down to the No. 1 most watched sketch.

#50. E! New Line Up

YouTube views: 3.5 million
Uploaded: 4 months ago
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In this skit featuring Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot, E! announces a slate of new fall TV shows  for those who want to be “completely numb and turn your brain off” to the news of the day. Gadot plays Kendall Jenner, Kate McKinnon is Bella Hadid, Melissa Villaseñor is Gwen Stefani, Luke Null is Blake Shelton and Chris Redd is Kanye West.

#49. What Even Matters Anymore

YouTube views: 3.6 million
Uploaded: 3 weeks ago
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Veronica Elders (Jessica Chastain), hosts the game show, “What Even Matters Anymore,”  in which contestants (Cecily Strong, Kate McKinnon, Kenan Thompson) judge if what something the president did will matter to the public. The sketch poked fun at recent admissions by Trump, including his relationship with a porn star and a comment he made in which he called a handful of poor nations “shitholes.”

#48. Visit with Santa Cold Open

YouTube views: 3.6 million
Uploaded: 2 months ago
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In this cold open, a mall Santa (Kenan Thompson) and his elf helper (Kate McKinnon) entertain  Christmas present requests from children that aren’t toys, but political in nature. One child asks about the Al Franken and Roy Moore scandals, another asks about kneeling in the NFL and another asks about the president’s sexual misconduct allegations.

 

#47. Basketball Scene

YouTube views: 3.6 million
Uploaded: 9 months ago
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A director (Alex Moffat) tries to film an emotional scene involving a basketball player and his coach (Pete Davidson, Kenan Thompson), but background players (Jimmy Fallon, Mikey Day) are completely inept at playing basketball and end up being more distracting than anything.

 

#46. Dry Fridays

YouTube views: 3.7 million
Uploaded: 1 year ago
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College students (Kristen Stewart, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kyle Mooney) share drunken stories, but one student (Kristen Wiig) has stories that are so over-the-top they’re almost disturbing.

#45. Weekend Update on Donald Trump's Wiretapping Accusation

YouTube views: 3.7 million
Uploaded: 11 months ago
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Colin Jost and Michael Che, anchors on the “Weekend Update” segment of the show, get the audience up to speed on the big news of the week including President Donald Trump's accusation that President Obama wiretapped him, Senators wearing white in remembrance of the suffrage movement and the president’s Congressional address.

 

#44. Zoo Pornographer

YouTube views: 3.7 million
Uploaded: 11 months ago
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Reporters on a cable news show (Cecily Strong, Bobby Moynihan, Scarlett Johansson) keep accidentally calling an animal photographer (Mikey Day) an animal pornographer.

 

#43. Roy Moore & Jeff Sessions Cold Open

YouTube views: 3.8 million
Uploaded: 3 months ago
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Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore (Mikey Day) meets with Vice President Mike Pence (Beck Bennett) and Attorney General Jeff Sessions (Kate McKinnon) to discuss Moore’s allegations of sexual misconduct with minors.

 

#42. Translator

YouTube views: 4.0 million
Uploaded: 11 months ago
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Three scientists (Scarlett Johansson, Kyle Mooney, Mikey Day) invent a translator for pets, but are shocked to discover that their dog is a Trump supporter.

 

#41. Enhancement Drug

YouTube views: 4.0 million
Uploaded: 8 months ago
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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays a man desperate for an illegal male enhancement drug in an advertisement for “Xantrex.”

 

#40. First Date

YouTube views: 4.0 million
Uploaded: 4 months ago
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A woman (Gal Gadot) is oblivious to the fact that her date (Kenan Thompson) is O.J. Simpson.

#39. Donald Trump Trucker Rally Cold Open

YouTube views: 4.1 million
Uploaded: 3 months ago
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President Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) makes an address in which he checks in with Vice President Mike Pence (Beck Bennett) to make sure he’s leaving any sports game in which a player kneels, and takes shots at Senator Bob Corker and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for calling him a “moron.”

#38. Kristen Stewart Monologue

YouTube views: 4.3 million
Uploaded: 1 year ago
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Host Kristen Stewart recounts the time when President Trump tweeted about her relationship with Robert Pattinson 11 times.

#37. Natalies Rap 2

YouTube views: 4.3 million
Uploaded: 1 week ago
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Natalie Portman is back with another rap about the outrageous things going on in her life. Former SNL alum Andy Samberg makes a guest appearance.

#36. Come Back, Barack

YouTube views: 4.4 million
Uploaded: 2 months ago
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De-Von-Tré (Chance the Rapper, Kenan Thompson, Chris Redd) sing an R&B love ballad in the style of Boys II Men to President Barack Obama, pleading for him to come back to office.

#35. Olive Garden

YouTube views: 4.5 million
Uploaded: 11 months ago
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Actors (Scarlett Johansson, Mikey Day, Leslie Jones, Kenan Thompson) film reaction shots for an Olive Garden commercial, but the director has the crew do extra, outlandish things to get “alternative” shots.”

#34. Where'd Your Money Go?

YouTube views: 4.6 million
Uploaded: 11 months ago
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Rob Gronkowski (John Cena), Conor McGregor (Alex Moffat) and John Daly (Bobby Moynihan) compete on Where'd Your Money Go?, hosted by Charles Barkley (Kenan Thompson). Each contestant is a rich celebrity who is notorious for spending their money frivolously. They are asked whether they’d spend money in different scenarios.

#33. Donald Trump Phoenix Rally Cold Open

YouTube views: 4.7 million
Uploaded: 5 months ago
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President Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) holds a rally in Arizona, and talks about the solar eclipse, and tries to set the record straight about his reaction to the racist events in Charlottesville.

 

#32. Jake Tapper

YouTube views: 4.7 million
Uploaded: 1 year ago
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Kellyanne Conway (Kate McKinnon) tries to appeal to Jake Tapper (Beck Bennett) and gain his trust by showing up unannounced in his apartment.

#31. Morning Joe Michael Wolff Cold Open

YouTube views: 4.9 million
Uploaded: 4 weeks ago
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Mika Brzezinski (Kate McKinnon) and Joe Scarborough talk about the President’s remark in which he called some African countries “shitholes.” They interview author of “Fire and Fury” Michael Wolff (Fred Armisen), Steve Bannon (Bill Murray) and Oprah Winfrey (Leslie Jones).

#30. Pepsi Commercial

YouTube views: 4.9 million
Uploaded: 10 months ago
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The writer (Beck Bennett) of Kendall Jenner's (Cecily Strong) Pepsi commercial shares the premise with family before the shoot, and is warned that his concept is a bad idea. The satire is based on true events in which people criticized the Pepsi commercial for being “tone-deaf.”

#29. Trump's People

YouTube views: 5.0 million
Uploaded: 10 months ago
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President Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) fields questions with supporters (Mikey Day, Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, Aidy Bryant) in Boone County, Kentucky, but the residents find that the president's answers don’t exactly address their problems.

 

#28. Paul Manafort's House Cold Open

YouTube views: 5.0 million
Uploaded: 3 months ago
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President Trump (Alec Baldwin) checks in on Paul Manafort (Alex Moffat) before Manafort is taken to prison, and concocts a plan to pardon him with the help of Jeff Sessions (Kate McKinnon). This is alluding to Manafort’s indictment after information about his collusion with Russian officials was revealed by the Mueller probe.

#27. Totinos with Kristen Stewart

YouTube views: 5.1 million
Uploaded: 1 year ago
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It starts out as a run-off-the-mill Totino’s commercial, in which a woman (Vanessa Bayer) is ordered to serve the snack to her husband and his friends while they watch a football game. But when a stranger (Kristen Stewart) offers, to help her, they start an over-the-top romance while nobody is watching.

#26. Hallelujah Cold Open

YouTube views: 5.1 million
Uploaded: 8 months ago
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Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin), Kellyanne Conway (Kate McKinnon), Mike Pence (Beck Bennett), Eric Trump (Alex Moffat), Donald Trump Jr. (Mikey Day), Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Aidy Bryant), Melania Trump (Cecily Strong) and Ivanka Trump (Scarlett Johansson) perform "Hallelujah.” This harks backs to when Kate McKinnon reprised her role as Hillary Clinton and sang the song after Clinton lost the presidential election — this served as a sort of swan song for the end of the season and Baldwin’s impression of the president.

 

#25. Another Close Encounter

YouTube views: 5.2 million
Uploaded: 4 months ago
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A sequel to the famous “Close Encounter” sketch with the same cast, three people (Ryan Gosling, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong) come back to CIA headquarters to recount their second alien adbuctions.

#24. Themyscira

YouTube views: 5.3 million
Uploaded: 4 months ago
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Two gay women (Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon) find themselves on Themyscira (the mythical island inhabited by Amazons in Wonder Woman), they assume that those who live there (Gal Gadot, Leslie Jones, Melissa Villaseñor, Heidi Gardner) all seem to be straight.

 

#23. Lester Holt Cold Open

YouTube views: 5.4 million
Uploaded: 8 months ago
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President Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) sits down with Lester Holt (Michael Che) to discuss his decision to fire FBI director James Comey. The bit harps on the fact that Trump never saw repercussions for admitting that he obstructed justice.

#22. Welcome Video

YouTube views: 5.5 million
Uploaded: 1 year ago
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SNL cast members edit the U.S. Customs video to reflect the changes that President Trump planned to enact with his travel ban. This pokes fun at the U.S. claiming that its borders are open to many.

#21. George W. Bush Returns Cold Open

YouTube views: 5.7 million
Uploaded: 2 weeks ago
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Will Ferrell reprises his role as former President George W. Bush to remind the nation that aspects of Trump’s presidency are not as bad as his were.

#20. White House Christmas Cold Open

YouTube views: 5.8 million
Uploaded: 2 months ago
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Around the Christmas holiday, in satire of A Christmas Carol, President Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) sees the ghosts of Michael Flynn (Mikey Day), Billy Bush (Alex Moffatt), Vladimir Putin (Beck Bennett) and Hillary Clinton (Kate McKinnon).

#19. Morning Joe Cold Open

YouTube views: 6.2 million
Uploaded: 9 months ago
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On a parody of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough (Alex Moffat) and Mika Brzezinski (Kate McKinnon) speak with John Miller (Alec Baldwin), who says he’s a spokesman for President Donald Trump, but is just Trump impersonating someone else.

#18. Papyrus

YouTube views: 6.2 million
Uploaded: 4 months ago
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A dramatic montage shows Steven (Ryan Gosling) a man who, years later, still hates that the logo for Avatar was written in the Papyrus font.

#17. Donald Trump Cold Open

YouTube views: 6.3 million
Uploaded: 9 months ago
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President Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin), along with Vice President Mike Pence (Beck Bennett),  reflects on his 100 days in office then decides which of his advisors Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner (Jimmy Fallon) to keep.

#16. Welcome to Hell

YouTube views: 7.0 million
Uploaded: 2 months ago
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A comment on the ongoing revelation of sexual misconduct by men in many industries (the most notable being Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein), women (Saoirse Ronan, Cecily Strong, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Leslie Jones, Melissa Villaseñor) sing a satirical pop song about how this kind of climate has been something women have been dealing with all along.

 

#15. Jeff Sessions Gump Cold Open

YouTube views: 7.2 million
Uploaded: 11 months ago
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A take on the famous bus top bench scene in the film Forrest Gump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions (Kate McKinnon) reveals to various strangers (Octavia Spencer, Leslie Jones, Kyle Mooney, Aidy Bryant, Beck Bennett) at a bus stop that he’s been colluding with Russia.

#14. Weekend Update: Tina Fey on Protesting After Charlottesville

YouTube views: 8.2 million
Uploaded: 5 months ago
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On Weekend Update, Colin and Michael explain super orgasms and cover the marriage of two 90-year-olds. After Neo-Nazi and white supremacy groups marched on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, SNL alum (and UVA grad) Tina Fey comes on the show to explain her protest plan, which she called “sheet-caking.”

#13. Complicit

YouTube views: 8.8 million
Uploaded: 11 months ago
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Ivanka Trump (Scarlett Johansson)’s new fragrance is called “Complicit,” in a spoof commenting on what some see as her failure to push back against some of her father’s policies.

#12. The O'Reilly Factor with Donald Trump

YouTube views: 8.9 million
Uploaded: 10 months ago
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Bill O'Reilly and President Donald Trump (both played by Alec Baldwin) address the sexual harassment accusations surrounding O'Reilly.

 

#11. Alien Attack Cold Open

YouTube views: 9.7 million
Uploaded: 11 months ago
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President Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) tries to give a rousing speech to the military (Kenan Thompson, Kyle Mooney, Aidy Bryant, Leslie Jones, Sasheer Zamata, Beck Bennett, Alex Moffat, Kate McKinnon) during an alien attack, but instead uses the time to tout his platform.

#10. The Chaos President Cold Open

YouTube views: 10.6 million
Uploaded: 4 months ago
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President Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) and Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Aidy Bryant) speak with Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz (Melissa Villaseñor) of San Juan about giving aid to Puerto Rico after the hurricane. Jeff Sessions (Kate McKinnon) and Senator Chuck Schumer (Alex Moffat) also make an appearance.

 

#9. Kellywise

YouTube views: 10.8 million
Uploaded: 3 months ago
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In a satire of Stephen King’s It, Kellyanne Conway (Kate McKinnon) plays “Kellywise” the clown, who tries to pull Anderson Cooper (Alex Moffat) into a gutter.

#8. Easter Message from Sean Spicer (Melissa McCarthy)

YouTube views: 11.3 million
Uploaded: 9 months ago
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During an Easter address, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (Melissa McCarthy) explains and apologizes for his use of the term “Holocaust Centers” during a recent press briefing.

#7. Sean Spicer Returns (Melissa McCarthy)

YouTube views: 11.9 million
Uploaded: 8 months ago
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Sean Spicer (Melissa McCarthy) addresses rumors of collusion with Russia, and rides his podium to the White House to confront Trump (Alec Baldwin) about replacing him with Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Aidy Bryant).

#6. Amazon Echo

YouTube views: 13.4 million
Uploaded: 8 months ago
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A commercial for “Amazon Echo Silver,” Amazon’s new Echo designed for older consumers (Kenan Thompson, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Kyle Mooney, Aidy Bryant) shows elderly users mispronouncing Alexa in hilarious ways. 

 

#5. Oval Office Cold Open

YouTube views: 13.7 million
Uploaded: 1 year ago
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President Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) is urged by Steve Bannon to call and declare war on Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (Beck Bennett), Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (Alex Moffat) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Kate McKinnon).

 

#4. Celebrity Family Feud: Super Bowl Edition

YouTube views: 13.9 million
Uploaded: 1 year ago
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Eagles fans Justin Bieber (Kate McKinnon), Samuel L. Jackson (Leslie Jones), Paula Deen (Aidy Bryant) and Roger Goodell (Beck Bennett) are up against Patriots fans Gisele Bündchen (Kristen Stewart), Bill Belichick (Bobby Moynihan), Casey Affleck (Alex Moffat) and Lady Gaga (Melissa Villaseñor).

#3. Trump People's Court

YouTube views: 14.7 million
Uploaded: 1 year ago
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On an episode of People’s Court, President Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) goes against the Ninth Circuit Court judges (Kyle Mooney, Vanessa Bayer, Pete Davidson), who rule his travel ban unconstitutional.

#2. Sean Spicer Press Conference Cold Open (Melissa McCarthy)

YouTube views: 17.5 million
Uploaded: 1 year ago
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Sean Spicer (Melissa McCarthy) and Jeff Sessions (Kate McKinnon) conduct a press briefing (Bobby Moynihan, Mikey Day, Vanessa Bayer, Sasheer Zamata, Cecily Strong,  Kyle Mooney) after news that the travel ban has been blocked by Ninth Circuit Court judges. Spicer explains the travel ban using dolls.

#1. Sean Spicer Press Conference (Melissa McCarthy)

YouTube views: 30.7 million
Uploaded: 1 year ago
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White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (Melissa McCarthy) and Secretary of Education Nominee Betsy DeVos (Kate McKinnon) address the media during a press briefing (Bobby Moynihan, Kristen Stewart, Cecily Strong, Vanessa Bayer, Alex Moffat, Mikey Day), tackling the president’s new supreme court nominee, the Muslim travel ban and Steve Bannon’s role on the National Security Council.

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