CREDIT: NBC/Screenshots

For the second summer in a row, I made a guest appearance on the Saturday Night Network podcast during a countdown of the best of SNL. Last year, it was the 50 greatest episodes of all time, and for 2026, it was the 100 greatest sketches of all time. I eventually unveiled my picks for the top episodes, and now I’m presenting my submissions for the most commendable sketches.

The biggest challenge with my episode ranking was managing to stretch it out to 50, but with sketches, the struggle was the exact opposite. I could have easily kept going to make it a top 200 or even 300 and not have to worry about there being any duds. So it was perhaps inevitable that almost instantly after submitting my list, I remembered some terrific sketches that I had neglected to include. In the interest of time, I won’t go too deep into any honorable mentions, save for a quick mention of my 2017 Halloween costume inspiration, Kevin Roberts.

A couple ground rules set by Saturday Night Network that I also followed: monologues, Weekend Update segments, and musical guest performances do not count as sketches; individual instances of recurring sketches are considered separately and only the top-ranking instance of a recurring sketch can make the countdown.

In case the sketch titles don’t sound familiar to you, I’ve also provided the season and episode numbers that they appeared in, so you can look them up on the SNL Archives.

100. Poland Spring Delivery Men (S32E1)
99. Suel Forrester: Trial / Southern Lawyer (S24E6)
98. Sports Century / Boxer (S26E14)
97. Thanksgiving Song Auditions (S22E7)
96. Subway Musician (S19E3)
95. The Kevin Franklin Show (S21E12)
94. Olympia Cafe (S3E10)
93. Sassy’s Sassiest Boys (with Christian Slater, Joey Lawrence, and Andrew McCarthy) (S19E5)
92. Sprockets (Germany’s Most Disturbing Home Videos) (S16E1)
91. Wave Starter (S19E3)
90. Job Interview (S23E17)
89. Dylan McDermott Or Dermot Mulroney? (S38E9)
88. Schmitt’s Gay (S17E1)
87. Raz P. Berry (S43E19)
86. The Ambiguously Gay Duo – The Dark, Clenched Hole Of Evil (S36E21)
85. …and a Pizza Place (S25E1)
84. Experienced Lawyers / Billson & Lieberman (S51E2)
83. Beers (S43E4)
82. The Nude Talk Show (S15E18)
81. Daily Affirmation (with Charles Barkley) (S19E1)
80. Kobayashi (S32E5)
79. North Pole News (S45E10)
78. Bull & Bear/Bill Brasky (S24E9)
77. Taco Town (S31E2)
76. Bird Family (S25E12)
75. Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer (S21E16)
74. Romano Tours (S44E19)
73. SNL Digital Short – Laser Cats! (S31E16)
72. First Citiwide Change Bank (S14E1)
71. Quiz Masters (S12E1)
70. The Original Kings Of Catchphrase Comedy (S36E17)
69. Jackie Rogers Jr.’s $100,000 Jackpot Wad (S10E16)
68. James Brown’s Celebrity Hot Tub Party (S9E4)
67. Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood (S9E5)
66. All Aboard The Freedom Train: The Duets of Neil Diamond & Bigfoot (S27E17)
65. Homebots / Robots (S32E15)
64. Mango & J. Lo (S26E11)
63. Blizzard Man (with Ludacris) (S32E6)
62. Dancing in the Dark (S3E18)
61. Buh-Weet Sings (S7E2)
60. Passing Notes (S51E14)
59. SNL Digital Short – Ronnie and Clyde (S36E5)
58. Maraka (S32E16)
57. Debbie Downer at Disney World (S29E18)
56. Japanese Game Show (S20E8)
55. SNL Digital Short – Jizz In My Pants (S34E10)
54. The Tonight Song / Not Gonna Phone It In Tonight (S17E9)
53. Jacuzzi Lifeguard (S21E20)
52. SNL Digital Short – Natalie’s Rap (S31E13)
51. SNL Digital Short – Ariel & Efrim / Testicles (S31E17)
50. Art Dealers (with Jason Sudeikis as Jeff) (S31E13)
49. Family Flix / Rocket Dog (S34E18)
48. Nightline / Teve Torbes (S21E17)
47. Jimmy Tango’s Fat Busters (S21E20)
46. The Time Traveling Falconer (S31E19)
45. Puppetry Class (S38E1)
44. History Class / World War II 101 (S17E19)
43. The Chris Farley Show (with Paul McCartney) (S18E13)
42. Common Knowledge (S13E1)
41. Chippendales (S16E4)
40. The Nude House of Wacky People (S15E5)
39. Synchronized Swimming (S10E1)
38. Jeopardy 1999! (S2E5)
37. Wake Up and Smile (S21E8)
36. SportsCenter (S24E15)
35. Bill Swerski’s Super Fans (with Michael Jordan) (S17E1)
34. Game Beaters – Mr. Short-Term Memory (S16E8)
33. Wayne’s World (with Aerosmith) (S15E13)
32. Consumer Probe (S2E10)
31. Coneheads Family Feud (S3E9)
30. National Anthem (S32E4)
29. What Up With That? (with Al Gore, Monday Kaling, and Lindsey Buckingham) (S35E7)
28. Choppin’ Broccoli (S12E1)
27. Motivational Speaker (S18E19)
26. Christmastime for the Jews (S31E9)
25. Doctor’s Office (aka “Dr. Poop”) (S25E10)
24. Closet Organizer (S35E13)
23. SNL Digital Short – Two Worlds Collide (S35E7)
22. Word Association (S1E7)
21. Festrunk Brothers (S3E18)
20. Right to Extreme Stupidity League (S2E10)
19. Black Jeopardy! (with Tom Hanks as Doug) (S42E4)
18. Moleculo (S26E14)
17. Macgruber (Racist Macgruber) (S35E11)
16. Darrell’s House (S38E19)
15. First Presidential Debate: Bush v. Gore (S26E1)
14. The Global Warming Christmas Special (S16E8)
13. Fly High Duluth (S31E10)
12. Haunted Elevator (David Pumpkins) (S42E4)
11. The Delicious Dish / Schweddy Balls (S24E9)
10. ABC Campaign 88 (S14E1)
9. Dick in a Box (S32E9)
8. Stand-Up And Win (S17E18)
7. Behind the Music: Blue Oyster Cult/More Cowbell (S25E16)
6. Lazy Sunday (S31E9)
5. White Like Me (S10E9)
4. Census Taker (S25E16)
3. Spelling Bee (S31E9)
2. Potato Chip Thief (S35E8)
1. Celebrity Jeopardy!: Sean Connery, Burt Reynolds, French Stewart (S25E3)