SNL’s Top 10 Sketches of 2017: Spicey and Totino’s Lead The Way In An Uneven Year

A terrific blend of a forward-thinking premise, a political right turn, and the physical comedy of an unpredictable canine actor, this sketch finds host Scarlett Johansson as a scientist presenting an experiment where she discovered a way to communicate with her dog. The problem? She learns at the worst possible time that her dog is a Trump supporter. The ensuing dialogue is hilarious, as Johansson’s delight at her achievement is demolished by the pup’s opinion and reasoning. Voiced by Beck Bennett, the dog presents seemingly rational arguments for his preference. Trump’s opposition to a woman’s right to choose? The dog has little sympathy, since he wasn’t given a choice when she had his balls cut off. At a time when Trump overload made finding new ways of covering him essential, this sketch took funny swipes at both Trump and The Resistance.

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A hilarious take by Vanessa Bayer on a woman who is, let’s face it, a lot. Playing off the fidget spinner craze —we’re done with that now, right?— this ad adorns it with diamonds and declares it a way to occupy the time of the rich, dense, and spoiled. How to pacify someone who is absolutely awful? Here, SNL has the answer.

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Brutal. Oftentimes, and especially with Baldwin’s Trump, the show dances around the real subjects of its parodies, taking light shots rather than attacking full force. Here, they took the direct route, calling out Ivanka Trump as a fake feminist who fooled portions of the public into believing she would stand up for their rights. Amidst the golden glamour of her everyday life, Trump, this fake ad exclaims, “knows what she wants and what she’s doing” in supporting her father’s agenda. “A feminist, an advocate, a champion for women,…, but, like, how?” SNL is at its best when it holds nothing back, and this fake ad certainly fits that bill.

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How, in a season mired by cold opens featuring Alec Baldwin’s dull, increasingly laughless take on the president, has the show not brought this back? Kate McKinnon and Alex Moffat were brilliant here, perfectly depicting the bizarre on-air chemistry, ever-shifting between flirting and frustration, of MSNBC co-anchors and engaged-to-be-married couple Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. McKinnon’s Brzezinski is her best new character since Kellyanne Conway, and at a time when the subjects of her highlight reel have faded from relevance, the return of this pair would be a shot of adrenaline for the show as it runs out of ways to creatively skewer politics and media.

Watch the Chris Pine/LCD Soundsystem episode of SNL on Hulu

Personal injury attorneys Broderick and Ganz are here to let you know that when you need a lawyer to fight for a big settlement, you can count on Broderick – but whatever you do, do NOT hire Ganz. Bobby Moynihan showed us why he would be so direly missed with his portrayal of the dimwitted attorney who got his job by donating both of his kidneys, grabbed a bailiff’s gun in court, and called squatter’s rights in client Aziz Ansari’s home. Sheer silliness, Ansari’s frustration and Moynihan’s incompetence made this one a winner.

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A rare sketch where the entire cast was used, and everyone was funny. This, a take on hip-hop songs with too many MC’s, allowed the entire cast, host, musical guest, and a surprise guest as well to create fake personas for quick visual laughs, adding up to a sketch that was pure breakneck fun. Among my favorites: Kate McKinnon’s Pregnasty, Cecily Strong’s Hawt Clown, Alex Moffat’s Lil Nitwit (“Keep it greasy, y’all”), Colin Jost and Michael Che’s 2 Black Guys (“Bad name”), Beck Bennett’s ridiculous Essentially Simon, and of course, Tom Hanks’ David S. Pimpkins.

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I hear the cry in my nightmares still – the insistent bellow of “Keely! Keely!” Mikey Day was a physical revelation as the eccentric 106-year-old theater donor whose medical needs throw a play into chaos. The insanity of the details —a self-disinfecting chair? medical yogurt?— added to Day’s enthusiastic squirming to create a highlight. When Kate McKinnon can’t stop cracking up, you know you’ve got a hit on your hands.

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There were many potential ways to mock Pepsi’s cluelessness after the release of their ad that featured Kendall Jenner solving America’s racial divide by giving a police officer a can of soda. This, having the horror of a bad decision slowly unfold in the mind of the ad’s director, played by Beck Bennett, let the stupidity of it really sink in, while highlighting the ad’s specific indignities along the fringes. Cecily Strong’s Jenner, having a similar conversation but without the self-awareness, was the perfect button on the parody’s point.

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Vanessa Bayer is missed this season, and her absence hurts for no greater reason than her inability to continue this series. Three years in a row, Bayer played the put-upon football wife in this commercial parody for the show’s Super Bowl episode. After the first found her infantilized and the second, terrorized, this third and, presumably, final installment shows the series was a feminist tale of empowerment all along, as Bayer’s housewife finally gets to live her own best life, by way of a torrid romance with host Kristen Stewart, instead of merely subsuming herself to the rituals and desires of her hungry guys.

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SNL’s unquestionable triumph of the past year. Melissa McCarthy’s Sean Spicer not only nailed all that was surreal and horrid about our temporary spinmaster-in-chief, but provided the show with a rare comedic gem – a moment of genuine enthusiastic surprise for the studio audience, as the sound of McCarthy’s voice alerted them to her identity under the Spicer makeup. It was the sort of thrill rarely experienced on the show these days, and the perfect set-up for an immaculate piece of comedic writing and performance.

Larry Getlen is the author of the book Conversations with Carlin. His greatest wish is to see Stefon enjoy a cheeseburger at John Belushi’s diner. Follow him on Twitter at @larrygetlen.

Watch the Kristen Stewart/Alessia Cara episode of SNL on Hulu