- 12 hours ago
When it comes to spot-on satire, "Saturday Night Live" has mastered the art of parodying TV shows and movies with uncanny accuracy. From the pirate antics of "Jack Sparrow" to the eerie grit of a "Wes Anderson Horror Movie," these sketches hit every detail, costume, and quip just right. Join us as we explore the SNL moments that perfectly captured the essence of beloved and iconic films and series alike.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Bridge to engine room, acknowledge.
00:01Scotty here, Captain.
00:05What in blazes is going on, Scotty?
00:07Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the SNL parody skits of movies and TV
00:13shows that were right on target.
00:15Some spoilers to come, of course.
00:17Hey, wow, we're saved.
00:21Who here are the murderers?
00:24Number 10, Jack Sparrow, Various.
00:27I'm really sorry I'm late, I just got caught up watching the Pirates of the Caribbean marathon.
00:31Have you seen those things?
00:32Oh, yeah, yeah, those are great.
00:34Well, I listened to your track, and I loved it.
00:36And I wrote you this big, sexy hook, I think you're gonna really dig.
00:39He wasn't lying about some big, sexy hook.
00:42In this sketch, Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Yorma Taccone hire singer Michael Bolton to write a chorus for their
00:49latest Boys in the Club song.
00:51Bolton's new obsession with the Pirates of the Caribbean films leads to his singing about the dashing Captain Jack Sparrow
00:57instead.
00:58He was born, he asked for adventure.
01:03Oh, Captain Jack, give him that one more.
01:08When the Lonely Island members try to get him on target, Bolton switches movies.
01:28What really sells the joke is the attention to detail in the costumes in the film scenes referenced, which are
01:34instantly recognizable.
01:35Even the lyrics are accurate.
01:37Bolton is a movie fan, alright.
01:39Turns out Michael Bolton is a major cinephile.
01:42You complete me!
01:45Number 9. Hobbit Office
01:47The Hobbit franchise and The Office franchise
01:50Saturday Night Live has always excelled at parody crossovers, and this one is no exception.
01:57Here, Martin Freeman reprises his role as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit trilogy.
02:02Except after his world-saving adventures, Bilbo is now an office employee.
02:07Many such cases.
02:08I became a bit of a hero.
02:13I did the noble thing and turned down loads of treasure.
02:18Yeah, so the brave Hobbit Bilbo Baggins now works at a paper company.
02:24Selling paper rings over the phone.
02:28And I drive a Jetta.
02:29There is excellent makeup and costuming for one thing.
02:32The Middle-earth characters and lore are also well-rendered.
02:36Taran Killam's Gollum voice being a highlight.
02:39Oh, ha, ha, hilarious.
02:41Very funny.
02:43We're very amused.
02:45Oh, okay.
02:46Oh, so lucky.
02:49Ring of the Jellia?
02:51Cranks?
02:52Are you gonna do something about this?
02:53That wasn't me.
02:55Then who was it?
02:56I have no idea.
02:57Oh, sure you don't.
02:58Combine that with The Office's deadpan humor and mockumentary style, and the skit is a winner.
03:04Also, the fact that Freeman was in the original Office series as Tim is the cherry on top of this
03:09sundae.
03:10Everybody!
03:11They've breached the walls!
03:15And apparently there's now giant spiders in the parking lot.
03:19It's right there.
03:21Number 8.
03:22Papyrus.
03:22Avatar.
03:24One of the most beloved SNL skits is also one of the most spot on.
03:28Avatar.
03:29The giant international blockbuster.
03:32Used the Papyrus font as its logo.
03:36Avatar, the movie from like nine years ago.
03:40Yeah, he just highlighted Avatar, he clicked the drop-down menu, and then he just randomly selected Papyrus.
03:49Ryan Gosling's Steven is tormented by a very distressing font choice for the logo of James Cameron's Avatar film.
03:56When Gosling hears they are making more Avatar movies, marketed with the exact same font, he goes off the deep
04:03end fairly quickly.
04:04And now here I am doing what I vowed to never do then.
04:08Sitting outside his house.
04:10Hoping to catch a glimpse of him.
04:12To see him do his little things.
04:14Live his insane little life.
04:16I think about it every time I see Papyrus.
04:19Okay, where else do you even see this font?
04:21The skit was so popular that a sequel was even released with Gosling's character trying to recover from his breakdown.
04:27For everyone who has ever had a trivial pet peeve, or was also annoyed at Avatar's lazy graphic design, this
04:35skit hits home.
04:35Tell them what you did.
04:40Tell them what you did!
04:43The Avatar logo's papyrus and bold!
04:46The Avatar logo's papyrus and bold!
04:50It's an afterthought!
04:52Number 7.
04:53Dear Sister
04:54The O.C.
04:56It's an oldie, but a goodie.
04:58What you doing?
04:59Nothing.
05:00Just, uh, writing a letter to my sister.
05:02Cool.
05:03Yeah, it's pretty crazy.
05:04I, uh, I haven't seen her in years.
05:07It's, uh, it's weird because...
05:10Do what you say!
05:12Few people know this Dear Sister skit involving several random dramatic gunshots was in fact a parody.
05:18This sketch was satirizing the season 2 finale of the teen drama The O.C., which also ends in a
05:24dramatic gun shooting.
05:25The genius is that SNL used the same song in the show, Imogen Heap's Hide and Seek, which became a
05:32meme all on its own.
05:33Dear Sister, by the time you read this...
05:36Mmm, what you say?
05:39Mmm, that you only meant...
05:41Mmm, what you say?
05:44Mmm, what you say?
05:46Mmm, what you say?
05:48Mmm, what you say?
05:51The exaggerated slow motion, the song restarting with every gunshot, and the ending letter detailing how everyone would shoot each
05:58other elevate the skit from knowing spoof to absurdist humor classic.
06:03That's what we've been saying.
06:04P.S., then two cops will read this letter and shoot each other.
06:08Now, isn't that the most ridiculous thing you...
06:10Mmm, what you say?
06:12Mmm, what you say?
06:15Mmm, what you say?
06:16Mmm, what you say?
06:17Mmm, what you say?
06:18Number 6.
06:19Hillary Actually
06:20Love Actually
06:21Who is it?
06:27It's Carol Singers.
06:29Give him a dollar and tell him to get lost.
06:32This 2003 romantic comedy is a controversial one, to be sure.
06:37Love it or hate it, Love Actually did give us iconic scenes perfect for parodying.
06:42Who is it?
06:47It's Carol Singers.
06:50Well, give him a quid and tell him to bugger off.
06:52SNL took its own shot with this skit about Hillary Clinton using cue cards to argue against certifying the 2016
06:59presidential election results.
07:01Of course, this is a neat spoof of the scene from Love Actually, where Mark confesses his love for Juliet
07:07through silent cue cards.
07:09The composition, the lighting, the boombox, the Christmas setting, the cue cards, and even the font are on point.
07:16Kate McKinnon's Hillary is also very convincing.
07:19This may not be Love Actually, but it comes close.
07:24Vagient keeps from thy holy place
07:30With the...
07:36Vagient keeps from thy holy place
07:50Vagient keeps from thy holy place
07:52menace, more terrifying than the flying parasites of Ingram B. More insidious, more insidious
08:01than the sandbats of Manarch 4. More bloodthirsty than the vampire clouds of Argus 10. I have a
08:09hunch. This legendary sci-fi show never wears us out with its infinite parodies. Even Trekkie fans
08:15can admit the original series' low-budget charms and earnestness are ripe for satire, so it's no
08:21surprise SNL's early years delivered a classic lampoon of the series that still holds up
08:26today. From the costumes to the sets to the acting, the skit was a well-informed spoof of
08:32both the show and its cancellation.
08:51We're still not working, Jim! We're still not working!
08:54Most peculiar, Captain.
08:56Chevy chases good quality Spock for one thing, but John Belushi's performance as Shatner's
09:01Captain James Kirk really impressed critics. Fans were also charmed, and it has since become
09:07a classic SNL skit. Live long and prosper.
09:10We have tried to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new civilizations. To boldly go where
09:17no man has gone before. And except for one television network, we have found intelligence everywhere in
09:25the galaxy. Live long and prosper. Promise.
09:31Number 4. Burn Your Enthusiasm. Curb Your Enthusiasm.
09:36SNL's celebrity and actor impersonations have always been the variety show's strong point.
09:42Larry David's eerily accurate impersonation of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders ventures
09:48into uncanny valley territory.
09:50What? That's okay.
09:52Well, what do you mean?
09:53You don't think so. Shake my hand.
09:54You, you, you coughed into your hand, then shake it after a cough.
09:58No, I didn't. Shake my hand.
09:59Oh, no. You specifically coughed into your hand. I saw it.
10:02No, I didn't. Come on, Mr. Sanders. Don't be rude. Shake my wife's hand.
10:05Sir, I am not being rude. She's the one who's being rude by offering a German-fested hand.
10:10This skit, Burn Your Enthusiasm, seamlessly blends both Sanders' real-life campaign and
10:16personality with David's own fictionalized persona from Curb Your Enthusiasm. The results
10:21are a stunning satiric energy that will make you question the nature of reality itself.
10:27Go to a hospital. I don't pop. I'm not a popper.
10:31What do you want? The polls close in an hour. If you want my vote, just pop it back in.
10:35I don't want it that bad. I've never popped in my life. I'm from Brooklyn. No, we don't pop in
10:40Brooklyn. I'm sorry. The twist? Bernie Sanders and Larry David are in fact distant cousins,
10:46which they discovered in the show Finding Your Roots. It honestly tracks.
10:50All right. Cousin Bernie.
10:52Cousin Bernie.
10:53People say to me, they talk about Larry David,
10:56and I say, he does a better Bernie Sanders than I do.
10:59Oh my god.
11:04Oh my god.
11:07Can you do a Larry David impression?
11:09Yeah, me. I'm doing it.
11:11Number three. Don't you go round and round to re-roll. Various.
11:14Sometimes it's not just one film parodied, but a whole film genre.
11:19Terry Donovan spent 17 years in an English prison.
11:23Do you really feel that you're rehabilitated, Mr. Donovan?
11:27Yeah, that's right.
11:28In this convincingly gritty fake trailer, SNL spoofs British crime dramas,
11:34particularly the ones directed by Guy Ritchie. There is also a strong whiff of 2008's Taken.
11:40But there are suggestions of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch as well.
11:54What really sells the sketch are the Cockney accents. Difficult to understand for anyone not
11:59from the area and a comic accent for Americans in general, the SNL alums nail it with only
12:05reasonable comic exaggeration. Let no one ask this bunch for a bo-o-vo-a.
12:25Number two. Wes Anderson Horror Movie. Various.
12:29Film directors have a style all of their own that makes it easy to imitate. SNL, however,
12:35went above and beyond for this skit.
12:37Wow, what the heck? There's a bunch of crazy people standing in our yard.
12:42Hey, hon, I think we're about to get murdered.
12:45And his terrified wife, Gwyneth Paltrow.
12:47You don't say.
12:49This fake trailer is for director Wes Anderson's latest project, this time a slasher horror film.
12:55The result is a delightful tonal clash that is true to Anderson's quirky, whimsical characters,
13:01humor, and style.
13:03We have to protect ourselves, or we'll die.
13:05Quick, let's gather all our weapons.
13:08Rock hammer, Swiss army knife, slingshot, firecracker, ship in a bottle, protractor,
13:13picture of Edith Piaf, assault rifle, little flag.
13:17Darn, we should have left sooner.
13:20As usual, SNL alums nail the actors, with Edward Norton's Owen Wilson a particular highlight.
13:27It's so spot on, in fact, one may easily confuse it for an actual Anderson film.
13:32Is it wrong to want this?
13:34Hey, they've sent us some kind of communique.
13:38Dear homeowner, can we kill you?
13:40The murderers.
13:42Dear murderers, no you may not.
13:45The homeowner.
13:47If you love games, be sure to check out WatchMojo's new game, Terrible Influence,
13:52just launched for purchase at TerribleInfluence.com.
13:55Terrible Influence is a satirical board game about the dark side of fame from the writer
13:59of the most popular girls in school and us.
14:01Watch Mojo.
14:02Boom.
14:03I can make an apology video.
14:05Oh, you so would.
14:06Click on the link in the description to check out the game and be the first to play Terrible Influence.
14:12Number one, Grouch, Joker.
14:15Damn, that smells straight like ass, man.
14:19I don't know.
14:22I kind of like it.
14:23You hear?
14:24You like trash so much, why don't you live in it?
14:27Why don't you fight me?
14:29Gritty origin stories of villains turned misunderstood anti-heroes are nothing new,
14:34but 2019's Joker was a particular watershed.
14:38SNL took this micro-genre to its logical conclusion with this fake film trailer,
14:43an unnecessarily adult origin story of Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street.
14:48Here, Sesame Street is a crime-ridden urban neighborhood.
14:51It's fuzzy-furred denizens, now criminals and ruffians.
14:56As a low-skilled worker, Oscar develops a fascination with trash itself, making his home
15:01his iconic trash can.
15:16The Joker acting style in certain scenes are faithfully captured.
15:20Even the Sesame Street characters retain their identity.
15:23The result is a hilarious spoof that is dead-on.
15:27We love this trash.
15:38Which SNL skit really captured the essence of a film or TV show?
15:42Let us know in the comments down below!
Comments