Top 10 SNL Thanksgiving sketches
In my family, if we can’t decide what to watch, we watch SNL. It’s a homey classic! Their Thanksgiving sketches are top-tier holiday content. There’s no question! Here’s our list of the TOP 10 (*air horn sound*) SNL Thanksgiving Sketches (*SNL Goodnight music*).
Yes, they are in order; I’m not a hack! I’m not a people-pleaser! (Well, I am, but I still have takes!) The best one is at the bottom, so you have to work for it!
This year’s–and I’m talking LAST week–Thanksgiving sketches were very good. This wasn’t the best of the week (that’s a cheeky little teaser for what might be coming up on the list), but it was rock solid. There’s something nostalgic, if not “typical,” about this one. SNL and Target–it just works. The best bit, here? It’s gotta be Kyle lighting a cigarette with a long-nose lighter. But, there’s plenty of competition! (Ya’ know who died? Jeanie Feldman!)
But also can you buy cooked sides from Target? And why would we want to?
There’s plenty of Kristen Wiig on this list. How could there not be?! But, we’re lucky to kick it off with Aunt Sue! Surprise! It may not be the best of “Surprise Lady”‘s sketches, but if there’s a chance to watch Kristen do this bit–I’m GOING to watch. Every damn time!
Before there was Lonely Island, SNL was already making fun songs. This Fresh Prince-style 90’s hip hop romp is wacky as hell. My girlfriend has not stopped saying “puuuump it” since we watched this sketch–it’s sure to become a household favorite. So, pull up a chair and make your weird cousins watch this sketch.
I guess it’s Wiig’s holiday and we’re all just celebrating it! In contrast to the Surprise sketch, I think this is the very best Penelope sketch. Anne Hathaway plays a great woman-who-means-well (because of course she does!) to foil Penelope’s bragging. But there’s no better button in SNL history than “shrinks down and uses celery as a boat.”
Target is getting a lot of play on this list. I hear the note and agree, but both sketches are staying! This sketch puts me right back in 2016–maybe the worst holiday season of all time. We were all so sad, and this sketch encapsulates the relief that SNL was offering at the time. Plus, watch Aidy watch Cecily and just try not to laugh.
Debbie! What is a list of best sketches (any list!) without Rachel Dratch’s Debbie Downer. This is a great one. Maybe it’s not Disney Land Debbie Downer (ft. Lindsay Lohan and everyone breaking character), I’ll give you that. But, it’s solidly funny and still manages to tease out a little of the cast’s laughter. Plus, no spoilers, but something insane happens at the end that cracks me up!
An instant classic! For everyone that has ever even thought about going to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, this sketch is right in the pocket. Good views and discussing how much you pay for your apartment (two extremely New York things) lead right into the absurdity. The number of reasons to watch the SNL cast pretend to be giant balloons is “every.” “Every” is the number.
This is the definitive Thanksgiving sketch, to me. Were you alive when Hello dropped? If not, this is exactly what it was like. I was in college and we canceled my sketch group’s practice just to watch the music video on the projector for an hour. Fast forward to now, and Adele has a brand-spankin’-new, sad album (sadbum?) out. Time to recreate this to get away with not discussing cryptocurrency at the table.
I know, I know. It’s pretty dang bold of little me to put a brand new sketch as the second best. But, hear me out…it’s very funny. Like, honestly, it’s so funny! If you don’t believe that evidence, I guess you just have to watch it for yourself. I know you’ve been looking forward to it since I teased it early on. So, go ahead! It’s, as I already said in my official capacity as list-maker, “very funny”!
Duh. This sketch magically leaves being a “Thanksgiving sketch” behind and becomes something more. Back Home Ballers is one of the best song sketches SNL has. And it’s not just because of Leslie Jones’s “bowls bowls” break down, but that’s definitely part of it. Do yourself a favor and rewatch this one with the whole fam. It will make Thanksgiving better! It just will!