Saturday Night Live: 10 Best Sketches Of The 2020s So Far, Ranked

Saturday Night Live has a comedy legacy that spans decades, and the show is making some of its best sketches in the 2020s. Recent seasons of SNL have delivered some of its best sketches, with the series showcasing famous actors, artists, and comedians to keep the show exciting as it matures into its fifth decade of production. Heading into SNL season 50, the show is the longest-running variety and sketch comedy show in US history.

The hosts and musical guests of SNL season 50 help the series celebrate its massive anniversary season, with seasoned hosts like Arianna Grande and John Mulaney returning to the show. One of the most popular installments of the season is the return of Nate Bargatze's "Washington's Dream," which makes a comedy of America's system of weights and measurements through a monologue delivered by Bargatze as George Washington. The series will undoubtedly continue to provide great sketches throughout the decade.

10 Hotel Ad

SNL Season 47, Episode 8

"Hotel Ad" aired during the Christmas episode on December 11, 2021, during SNL season 47. The sketch featured Kate McKinnon with Billie Eilish, who did double duty as host and musical guest. The sketch even featured Eilish’s brother, Finneas, who is also her musical partner. Finneas was the chaotic bag boy who held multiple positions on the hotel staff.

McKinnon and Eilish posed as hotel staff in the skit at a non-luxurious hotel called Business Garden Inn & Suites & Hotel Room Inn. They wore matching hotel desk outfits and took turns delivering what kinds of amenities the hotel offered, including items like “tiny soap in plastic,” “phone that blinks,” and “Band-Aid colored blanket.” Eilish’s weird, deadpan delivery was made even better by McKinnon trying to get her to break character.

9 Please Don’t Destroy - Three Sad Virgins

SNL Season 47, Episode 6

"Three Sad Virgins" was a pre-taped musical sketch by Please Don’t Destroy featuring John Higgins, Martin Herlihy, and Ben Marshall. The November 2021 sketch featured SNL alum Pete Davidson, who approached the comedians about being in a music video in the sketch. Davidson originally suggested the video would make them out to be best friends, but instead, he talked about how the comedy group was just “three sad virgins.”

They hesitated when it dawned on the comedy group that the sketch was happening at their expense. However, Davidson assured them it was not about them despite calling them out by name. To worsen things, just when the guys were about to call it quits, Taylor Swift showed up to do the song's chorus, further humiliating the entertainers. The sketch was a hit for Please Don't Destroy, as "Three Sad Virgins" has amassed more than 17 million views on YouTube.

8 Sam Adams

SNL Season 46, Episode 2

With over 13 million views, the "Sam Adams" sketch is one of the most-watched SNL sketches of the 2020s. The pre-taped skit featured Bill Burr, a stand-up comedian and actor perhaps best known for his role as Patrick Kuby in Breaking Bad. In the sketch, Sam Adams samples their “Jack-O-Pumpkin Ale” to people at the grocery store in Boston, a tribute to Samuel Adams' home city.

Initially, the Bostonians who tried the beer thought it was refreshing until Burr’s “Sean” character got a taste. Sean, wearing a flannel/hoodie combo and his left arm in a cast, immediately spat out the beer, then likened it to a beer that a person would keep in the fridge for months before passing it on, and things devolved to Sean fighting his son. The sketch was a great spoof by the Massachusetts native.

7 HR Meeting

"HR Meeting" features a Human Resources meeting that has gone awry. Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman (who both joined SNL in 2019) led the meeting. As the pair attempted to detail the rules of a workplace relationship, the meeting was interrupted by a character played by Shane Gillis, a stand-up comedian and actor hosting SNL that week. The meeting devolved to Gillis making assumptions about the rules, such as the one-time policy for asking his co-workers out “resets at the end of the year.”

When one co-worker rejected him, he asked another one out, who accepted. Gillis then asks if he can “bank that yes” and use it on another co-worker. Ultimately, the sketch walked a fine line, joking about relationships in the workplace and the role of Human Resources, which Gillis teeters on the edge of without crossing. The sketch progresses as Kenan Thompson, Punkie Johnson, and Andrew Dismukes chime in, making a total mess of "HR Meeting," one of the most-watched live sketches of SNL season 49.

6 Protective Mom 2

SNL Season 49, Episode 2

"Protective Mom 2" was the October 2023 follow-up to "Protective Mom," a sketch featuring Pedro Pascal as a Latinx mom who scrutinizes his son’s choice to bring home a white girlfriend. The sequel to the original featured Bad Bunny and was one of the five most-watched live sketches of SNL season 48. Pedro Pascal joined Bad Bunny as he hosted SNL, bringing in the Puerto Rican rapper and singer as the aunt character, which perfectly rounded out the sketch.

"Protective Mom 2" followed the premise of the original, where Louise (Marcello Hernandez) brought home his girlfriend (Chloe Troast), who his family criticized for not being Latinx. Bad Bunny and Pascal alternated between fluent Spanish and short English phrases such as “Trader Joe's” and “Starbucks” to show their disapproval. Still, ultimately, they come around when Louise’s girlfriend says he doesn’t eat enough. It’s impressive how much humor the actors conveyed to an English-speaking audience in a Spanish sketch.

5 I’m Just Pete

SNL Season 49, Episode 1

In "I’m Just Pete," former cast member Pete Davidson delivered an “I’m Just Ken” spoof that rivaled the persistently catchy original with its alternative take. The sketch started when Pete overheard a group of SNL cast members discussing his failed TV show, inspiring the musical number that perfectly draws on all elements of Ryan Gosling's "I'm Just Ken" from Greta Gerwig's Barbie. The sketch was full of references to popular culture due to Davidson's viral personality.

The "I'm Just Pete" sketch featured Davidson's self-deprecating humor, using lines like "I'm just Ken, anywhere else I'd be a ten," and turning them into punchlines like "I'm just Pete, anyone else I'd be a three." The sketch had all the fun props and colors of the Barbie movie, making the sketch feel close to the real deal and selling the parody. It was great to see Davidson return to host SNL for the season 49 premiere, and his musical number has amassed over 15 million views on YouTube.

4 Uncle Ben

SNL Season 46, Episode 6

Dave Chappelle hosted SNL in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and appeared in a sketch in which Maya Rudolph, as Aunt Jemima, and Kenan Thompson, as Uncle Ben, get fired from their jobs. Three ad executives, played by Alec Baldwin, Heidi Gardner, and Mikey Day, explained to the characters that they are letting them go due to the current social climate. Maya Rudolph protests the development, reminding the executives that she's done nothing wrong.

When Rudolph questioned the job security of her counterpart, Uncle Ben, the execs explained they had to let him go, too. Upset by the loss of work, Kenan's Uncle Ben questioned why they couldn't keep their jobs, but the "Allstate guy" could. On cue, Chappelle appeared as a parody of the Allstate insurance spokesperson. With a deep voice, Chappelle made his case for employment, then called in Pete Davidson as Count Chocula, and the shenanigans continued.

3 Washington’s Dream

SNL Season 49, Episode 3

Nate Bargatze's "Washington's Dream" was a hilarious commentary on the senseless system of American weights and measurements. The Nashville comedian does clean comedy, which is appropriate for all ages, making his sketches truly creative since he can't rely on the more traditional comedy antics of comedy. Bargatze perfected the deadpan delivery of his dream for America, which included the freedom to use whatever systems they wanted to measure things, regardless of what the rest of the world does.

Nate Bargatze returned for "Washington's Dream 2" in SNL season 50, bringing back the character with all the comedic value of the original sketch. The installment followed an SNL trend of sequel sketches with just as much appeal as the original, such as Pedro Pascal's "Protective Mom 2" and Ryan Gosling's "Papyrus 2." Bargatze bringing the sketch back was so popular that some fans suggested he return the sketch every year, making an annual laugh of communication in the United States.

2 Beavis and Butt-Head

SNL Season 49, Episode 17

Ryan Gosling features in great sketches when he appears on SNL, and his "Beavis and Butt-Head" sketch with Mikey Day was no exception. The sketch occurred in the context of a serious talk about AI by Kenan Thompson. It was a serious matter, but he couldn't focus because someone in the audience looked exactly like Beavis from the cartoon Beavis and Butt-Head.

The sketch broke the composure of many involved, with Heidi Gardner breaking character to stop and laugh when Mikey Day appeared as Butt-Head. The sketch is undoubtedly one of the most popular of the 2020s, having amassed over 20 million views on YouTube. While many SNL sketches do well, few rival "Beavis and Butt-Head" in the 2020s, which was relatively simple, with Gosling delivering his lines seriously, but had everyone cracking up.

1 Rap Roundtable

SNL Season 46, Episode 8

"Rap Roundtable" is undoubtedly one of the most popular sketches of the 2020s, with over 30 million views on YouTube. The sketch featured Timothee Chalamet and Pete Davidson as TikTok rappers at a serious XXL Rap Roundtable interview. Chalamet and Davidson's characters were juxtaposed with legends in the rap music genre, like Queen Latifah (Punkie Johnson) and Questlove himself, moderated by Ego Nwodim.

The rappers took turns answering serious questions about the genre, which nose-dived when Davidson and Chalamet took the floor as Guaplord and SmokeCheddaThaAssGetta. The pair performed their hit song "Yeet," which had Chalamet cleverly hiding his face in his hands to cover up his laughter. The sketch had the perfect punchline, with Questlove slapping Chalamet to end their performance. SNL followed up "Rap Roundtable" with "Museum of Hip-Hop Panel" in SNL season 49.