“‘Live from New York it's Saturday Night’:
The Evolution of Humor as Rhetorical Statement
in the 35 Years of Saturday Night Live
By
Maggie Rulli
A Senior Honors Thesis Submitted to the
Department of Communication
Of Boston College
May 2010
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
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Chapter 2: Literature Review .
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Chapter 3: Just Humor Me . .
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Chapter 4: Methodology .
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Humor is Innate and Varied .
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Humor as Rhetorical Argument .
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Three Theories of Humor .
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Superiority
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Incongruity
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Relief .
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Modern Complementary Theory .
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Thirteen Comic Devices .
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Logical implausibility .
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Slapstick .
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Surprise
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Misunderstanding .
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Irony .
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Satire .
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Parody
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Socially Inappropriate humor .
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Gross .
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Clownish .
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Self-deprecation .
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Invective .
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Wordplay .
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Prior Knowledge Variations .
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Knowledge of general society
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Knowledge of specific information .
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Chapter 5: Analysis
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Representative Episodes .
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The use of simple humor forms .
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Slapstick .
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Surprise
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Clownish .
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Mid-Range Humor Types with Little Variation .
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Logical implausibility .
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Misunderstanding .
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Gross
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Self-deprecation .
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Use of Sophisticated Comic Devices .
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Satire
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Irony
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Parody
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Other Major Differences in Humor Use .
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Socially Inappropriate humor
Invective .
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Wordplay .
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Knowledge of general society versus specific information
Season one
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Knowledge of General Society
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Knowledge of Specific Information .
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Chapter 6: Implications
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Season thirty-five .
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Some Humor Never Changes .
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Varying Degrees of Simple Humor .
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Self-Deprecation in 1975 and 2010 .
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Satire and Socially Inappropriate Humor .
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Parody and Invective .
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Prior Knowledge of General Society and Social Commentary .
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Prior Knowledge of Specific Information and How We Get It .
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Chapter 7: Conclusion.
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Appendix
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Works Cited
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Abstract
Humor is a rhetorical device that is innate to all humans regardless of culture,
origin, or generation. This article examines the use of humor in Saturday Night Live by
using a comparative analysis of the comedy in SNL season one contrasted with SNL
season thirty-five. Thirteen comedic devices are utilized as tools for analytic assessment:
clownish/silly, logical implausibility, slapstick, surprise, misunderstanding, irony, satire,
parody, socially inappropriate humor, gross humor, self-deprecation, invective, and
wordplay. In addition, two types of previous information are required for audience
appreciation and amusement: prior knowledge of general society and prior knowledge of
specific information. It is revealed that satire and socially inappropriate humor dominate
season one, while parody and invective are common to season thirty-five. The viewers of
season one must have a broad prior knowledge of general society, while season thirtyfive’s audience must have a detailed prior knowledge of specific information. Season one’s
high occurrence of socially inappropriate humor coupled with its need for prior knowledge
of general society suggest controversial issues of culture and tradition are important to the
SNL audience of 1975. Season thirty-five’s frequent use of parody in addition to its
dependence on prior knowledge of specific information imply that the SNL audience of
2010 has access to large amounts of ubiquitous information. The following comparative
analysis of SNL season one to season thirty-five reveals that the humor of each season
reflects the cultural values of that generation.
1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
It is 11:35 on Saturday night. Your local news has just ended and your TV is tuned
in to NBC. Suddenly, Chevy Chase is sitting at a desk reading letters, or Fred Armisen is
addressing the American people as President Obama, or perhaps Garret Morris is asking if
he can be the one who welcomes the audience to Saturday night. Whether it is the cast of
1975 or 2010, every Saturday night for the past thirty-five years, a sketch comedy group of
“not ready for prime time players” has entertained millions of Americans. The ever
evolving comedy of Saturday Night Live reflects the changes in societal beliefs and reveals
what each generation values as humor.
Humor provides rhetorical argument under the guise of comic relief. When the
audience laughs, they are making a choice to positively respond to the rhetor’s humorous
argument. Superiority theory, incongruity theory and relief theory offer various
explanations for people’s reactions to comedy, as well as providing justification for
humor’s rhetorical power.
The following offers a framework for humor analysis. Comedy is comprised of
thirteen comedic devices: slapstick, clownish, surprise, logical implausibility,
misunderstanding, parody, satire, irony, wordplay, gross, socially inappropriate, invective
and self-deprecation. In addition, two types of previous information are required for
audience appreciation and amusement: prior knowledge of general society and prior
knowledge of specific information. Both methods of examination are used to conduct a
comparative analysis of Saturday Night Live season one to season thirty-five.
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This analysis revealed multiple variations in the use frequency of the thirteen
comedic devices, as well as a discrepancy in the types of prior knowledge needed in each
season. Satire and socially inappropriate humor dominate season one, while parody and
invective are common to season thirty-five. The viewers of season one must have a broad
prior knowledge of general society, while season thirty-five’s audience must have a detailed
prior knowledge of specific information. These incongruities have grand implications on
each generation’s society and culture.
Season one’s high occurrence of socially inappropriate humor coupled with its need
for prior knowledge of general society suggest controversial issues of culture and tradition
are important to the SNL audience of 1975. Season thirty-five’s frequent use of parody in
addition to its dependence on prior knowledge of specific information imply that the SNL
audience of 2010 has access to large amounts of ubiquitous information. The following
comparative analysis of SNL season one to season thirty-five reveals that the humor of each
season reflects the cultural vlaues of that generation.
Chapter 2 contains a brief review of relevant literature on humor and its various
effects on society. Chapter 3 includes background information about Saturday Night live,
its cast members, its structure and its history is provided. Chapter 4, the methodology
chapter, supplies an in depth explanation of humor, humor theories, the thirteen comedic
devices and the two categories of required previous information. Chapter 5 uses this
framework as the structure for a comparative analysis of three episodes from season one
and three episodes from season thirty-five. Chapter 6 examines possible implications and
provides a conclusion.
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
To best understand the rhetorical significance of SNL’s humor, it is important to
examine past comedic literature and humor research. Humor is an essential element to the
human condition, and several scholars have studied the pervasiveness and impact of humor
on society. In the chapter “The Rhetoric of Humor” from their book, Communication
Criticism: Approaches and Genres, Rybacki and Rybacki discuss humor as a universal yet
culturally and “time-bound communication genre. It evaluates, critiques, and interprets
contemporary events” (Rybacki 313). Comic devices, such as word play, invective, irony,
parody and satire are used as comic devices within three theories of humor. Superiority
theory stems from ancient Greek assertions that “laughter expresses a person’s feeling of
superiority over others” (Rybacki 321). Freud’s relief theory suggests that people laugh as a
way of releasing the energy that builds up from forbidden thoughts and feelings” (Rybacki
323). Lastly, incongruity theory claims that people use humor to try to “understand things
that do not appear to make sense” (Rybacki 323). Even with this structured framework for
humor, comedy can still fail. Humor is unsuccessful if the audience can find no use for the
argument the joke contains, they cannot understand the joke’s topic because they do not
know the necessary information the comic assumed they knew, they feel the humorist has
taken the joke “too far,” or generational differences disrupt the meaning of the comedy
(Rybacki 325). Humor is a commutative genre that is equally dependent on a rhetor to
deliver a message, and an audience to receive and understand the intended message.
Superiority, relief and incongruity are further analyzed as distinct yet interdependent
theories of humor in Monick Buijzen and Patti M Valkenburg’s article, “Developing a
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Typology of Humor in Audiovisual media.” In addition to these theories, seven humor
categories were identified: Slapstick, Clownish humor, surprise, misunderstanding, irony,
satire, and parody. (Buijzen 162). Clownish, surprise and misunderstanding characterize
the simplest form of humor and can be explained by incongruity theory. Satire and irony are
generally defined by superiority theory, while relief theory justifies slapstick humor, yet
many categories can be explained by multiple theories (Buijzen 162). These humor
categories and corresponding humor theories were applied to various stages of human
development. Early childhood was marked by simple forms of incongruity humor, such as
clownish behavior, visual surprise and physical humor (Buijzen 150). Slightly more
complicated forms of humor, such as wordplay, sarcasm and incongruity humor,
characterize Middle childhood, although slapstick and invective remain popular (Buijzen
151). In adolescence, more sophisticated comedy such as puns, irony, absurdity and sexual
allusion are favored. Irreverent behavior and gross humor that express social taboos and
disgust are also prevalent (Buijzen 151). Adulthood is distinguished by diversity. Gender,
culture and socioeconomic status become more important at this stage, although puns and
slapstick remain widely popular (Buijzen 152).
In his article, “Humorous Communication: finding a place for humor in
communication research,” Owen Lynch further analyzes the three theories of humor and
discusses the importance of humor on a societal level. He focuses on comedy’s impact on
and function within society (Lynch 423). Identification or differentiation humor “occurs
when humor creates an internal perception that increases an in-group cohesiveness and
validates commonly held perceptions. Simultaneously, this humor excludes individuals or
groups who do not have knowledge of the in-group’s references” (Lynch 434). Only those
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who understand the joke are allowed to partake in the group. Identification humor can
reinforce the boundaries of social groups. As a result, this humor can be used as a means to
control certain minority groups. Conversely, it can also be used as a function of resistance
by releasing tension within an oppressed group (Lynch 435).
Nora Schulman depicts humor as a mode of resistance in “The House that Black
Built: Television Stand-up Comedy as a Minor Discourse.” Schulman asserts that comedy
nurtured the creation of a subculture by aiding in the formation of a minor discourse: “a
system of blatantly stylized communication that is perpetuated by an oppressed group to
cement its own distinctive identity” (Schulman 1). Comedy can establish certain codes in
the form of wordplay, double entendres, hand gestures, slang, pitch and tone of voice that
are then attributed only to the comedy of a particular minority group. This minor discourse
emphasizes the contrast between minority and non-minority because only members of the
minority group understand the humor (Schulman 1). Those who understand the minor
discourse become members of the “in-group,” while all non-minority audiences become
outsiders (Schulman 2). This role reversal is directly opposite the power balance most often
found in society.
Multiple variances beside differences in discourse affect one’s ability to understand
a particular type of humor. In “Regional Variation in the Use of Sarcasm,” Megan Dress
discusses differences in the use and comprehension of sarcasm in diverse regions of the
county. Dress surveyed more than 200 college students in the North and the South and
asked them to complete scenarios with varying degrees of sarcastic results (Dress 73).
Dress found that the northern sample provided “significantly more sarcastic completions”
than students from the South (Dress 79). Other noteworthy findings on sarcasm use include
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the fact that males use slightly more sarcasm than females, people in the North find the use
of sarcasm to be more humorous than people in the South, and most people from the South
do not like statements with ambiguity (Dress 79). Clearly, different regions of the country
view sarcasm and verbal irony very differently.
Gender also has the ability to affect one’s views on humor. In her article, “Gender
and Humor: The State of the Art,” Helga Kotthoff claims that “in all cultures, people joke
about sex. Jokes are particularly suitable for dealing with such taboo topics… sexually
explicit jokes play an important culture-transcending role” (Kotthoff 16). Since these
sexual jokes often reference women, Kotthoff finds gender’s role in humor especially
compelling and examines women comedic role across four factors: status, agressivity,
social alignment and biting. Humor gives status and power to the person who makes others
laugh. It provides the comic with high situational status and dominance in the hierarchical
social structure (Kotthoff 8). In the 1950s, it was observed that women rarely told jokes in
the workplace. A woman’s attempt at humor would be seen as act of aggression and taken
as a competitive challenge to the men in the office (Kotthoff 9). This challenge would offset
the office’s social hierarchy and was viewed as un ladylike. Aggression through humor is
associated with men and also seen as not womanly. Humor is a socially acceptable way to
humiliate others, and as early as age three, boys are seen using humor as an invective tool
to a much higher degree than women (Kotthoff 13). Women tend to use humor to produce
intimacy and familiarity. Women often joke about “shared experiences of disappointment,
of having to deal with difficult people, and of overcoming the constraints in their lives”
(Kotthoff 15). Lastly, biting humor, such as teasing, further emphasizes gender boundaries.
Contact with the opposite sex is often the topic of teasing at a young age and enforces
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gender differences (Kotthoff 16). The use of humor creates a separation between what
society views as “lady like” and culture finds funny. Women often find themselves at the
crossroads of this divide.
Differences in group distinction, regional location and gender are only a few factors
that cause an audience to not understand certain humor. Nancy Bell reacts to instances of
failed humor by outlining reactions to failed jokes in her article, “Responses to failed
humor.” Bell and her colleagues “focused solely on responses to attempts at humor that
failed because they were not amusing to the audience” (Bell 1827), by studying how people
responded to the arguably not too funny joke: “What did the shoe say to the other shoe?
Nothing, shoes can’t talk” (Bell 1827). They found that the top seven responses to failed
humor in order of frequency were: laughter as a means to recognize the speaker’s attempt at
humor, metalinguistics that commented on the joke itself, functions of interjections such as
“okay” or “mmm,” evaluations that assessed the joke in some way, rhetorical questions that
often functioned as a challenge to the speaker, sarcasm in the form of facetious evaluations,
and nonverbal responses such as eye rolling and head shaking (Bell 1829). Most striking to
these findings is that the “Prototypical reactions to a failed joke, groaning and laughter,
were among the least frequent reactions” (Bell 1825). Bell also studied the type of person
that responded in each way. It was recorded that factors such as age and gender had little
influence on responses, “however, social relationship was highly significant, suggesting
that responses to failed humor among intimates will be most direct and negative, while
strangers and acquaintances will tend to use more neutral responses” (Bell 1825). Social
relatedness is a key factor in determining the outcome of failed humor.
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Steps to avoid failed humor and achieve comedic success can be taken. Andrea
Greenbaum enumerate one such step in “Stand-up comedy as rhetorical argument: An
investigation of comic culture.” Greenbaum asserts that “comic narrative is rhetorical in
nature; it is inherently designed to persuade an audience to adapt a particular world view,
and by working within a classically rhetorical framework” (Greenbaum 45). Working
within this basic rhetorical framework, a comedian must establish his or her ethos as a
rhetor in order to persuade the audience. In comedy, this ethos is the basis of a comic
authority, or stage persona (Greenbaum 45). The comedian can achieve comic ethos by
practicing self-deprecating humor in order to connect himself with the audience, changing
his dialogic style to portray himself as a common man and fit in with the audience, or
talking about topics that both the comedian and the audience have in common in order to
identify with the audience (Greenbaum 41). In addition to ethos, the rhetor can further
employ the classic rhetorical framework by observing the “standard narrative tools of
comedy – incongruity, exaggeration, sexual hyperbole, mockery, reversal, mimicry,
punning – comedians used their comic voices to control the rhetorical dimensions of their
speech” (Greenbaum 34). By creating a stage persona and employing standard narrative
tools, the comedian can establish ethos, ascertain credibility as a humorist, and achieve
comedic success.
Mark Feldman elaborates on the rhetorical styling of comedy in his interview with
Marvin Diogenes, “Marvin Diogenes: Funny Guy, Aristotelian Joker, and Administrator
Extraordinaire.” Diogenes, the author or, Laughing Matters, wants to “situate comedy
squarely in the rhetorical tradition” (Feldman 1). Humor is such a central element of
rhetoric, it should be considered “a fundamental rhetoric appeal, alongside ethos, pathos
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and logos… humos – the humorous appeal” (Feldman 1). Society uses humor, and laughter
in particular, as a form of social corrective. When one observes behavior that is immoral or
wicked, one uses laughter to correct the behavior and warn others not to behave in this
manner. Comedy is “persuasive in that it exposes behavior that is not admirable” (Feldman
1). Humor is a fundamental, necessary and essential part of rhetoric.
Humor’s persuasive capabilities have been studied and revered by advertisers for
years. In the article, “Effects of Humor on Presence and Recall of Persuasive Messages,”
Paul Skalski, Ron Tamborini, Ed Glazer and Sandi Smith study the affects of the
amusement that results from humor’s use. They studied 58 students and analyzed their
responses to a PSA intended to be humorous, and another PSA with no humor. The results
found that the “use of humor in a PSA increased positive emotion. Positive emotion
predicted diminished psychological reactance. It also predicted increased perceived
credibility” (Skalski 147). This conclusion asserts that the use of humor in persuasive
messages increased the degree of perceived credibility of the message. It also reduced
psychological resistance, a state in which one responds to a persuasive message by taking
an opposing position to the advocated one in an attempt to restore personal freedom
(Skalski 138). Ultimately, humor has positive effects on persuasive messaging.
Advertisers continue to be concerned with humor’s ability to persuade. With
roughly 30% of the $150 billion annually spent on advertising going to the placement of
humorous ads, advertisers have invested much time and money into humor (Spotts 1).
Harlan Spotts, Marc Weinberger and Amy Parsons study the effectiveness of these
humorous ad placements in “Assessing the Use and Impact of Humor on Advertising
Effectiveness: A Contingency Approach.” In their study, Spotts analyzed whether
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advertisers’ use of humor is warranted by the resulting influence humor had on advertising
performance. Spotts identified five humor types: comic wit, sentimental humor, satire,
sentimental wit, full comedy (Spotts 19). These humor types are utilized within the three
mechanisms that govern humor. Affective Mechanisms are similar to Freud’s relief theory
and involve the release of energy (Spotts 18). Interpersonal Mechanisms relate to the social
context or setting within which the humor occurs and is comparable to superiority theory
(Spotts 18). Cognitive mechanisms parallel incongruity theory and relate to the structure of
the message (Spotts 18). Spotts also recognizes that these theories coexist with the typology
of the relatedness of humor. Intentional relatedness refers to how the humor is connected to
message type and message processing. It reflects whether it is the humor or the message
that is dominant in the statement (Spotts 18). Structural relatedness represents the
relationship between humor and the message. It studies if the humor is integrated with the
core elements of the message (Spotts 19). Lastly, thematic relatedness, is the relationship
between humor and message content (Spotts 19). Spotts and his colleagues concluded that
the use of humor in persuasive advertising should be limited to expensive but functional
products, as well as inexpensive everyday products. Extravagant, flashy items and
functional tools do not show any large degree of benefit from humor (Spotts 21).
Incongruity humor and message dominance were found to be generally most successful
(Spotts 21). Humor has varying effects on message effectiveness.
While many studies have analyzed humor’s persuasive effect on advertisements,
humor’s important role in television programming has not been studied to the same degree.
Jesse Teel, William Bearden and Richard Durand compare daytime and late night radio and
television audiences in “Psychographics of Radio and Television Audiences.” They found
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that daytime TV watchers were more old fashioned, while fringe, late night TV audiences
were less old-fashioned, more outgoing and individualistic, more concerned with servicequality considerations, and more fashion conscious than non-late night TV viewers” (Teel
55). This type of person generally favors the comedic content featured on late night
television programming.
The content of late night programming has also been analyzed. In his article,
“Serious as a Heart Attack: Health-Related Content of Late Night Comedy Television,”
Josh Compton studied late night programming’s portrayal of former Vice President Dick
Cheney’s heart condition. Compton researched jokes from Jay Leno’s, David Letterman’s
and Conan O’Brien’s monologues and analyzed all humor that referenced Cheney’s heart
condition. These jokes portrayed Cheney as frail, near death and destined for frequent
hospitalizations (Compton 149). The medical community promotes the message that heart
patients can live healthy, long, productive lives. Yet these late night monologues suggest
the message that heart patients are “frail, weak, and living on borrowed time” (Compton
149). The content of late night humor has the ability to alter messages and persuade an
audience.
Incredibly prevalent amid late night humor research are studies analyzing the use of
political humor and its effects on public awareness. Young Min Baek and Magdalena
Wojcieszak investigate political humor on late night programming in their article, “Don't
expect too much! Learning from late-night comedy and knowledge item difficulty.” Baek
acknowledges the debate among scholars in which some groups argue late night comedy
increases political knowledge, while others argues it only increases the public’s ignorance
(Baek 733). Baek studied late night comedy’s effect on political knowledge by using a
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meta-analysis across 35 political items, and found that late night comedies increase
knowledge (Baek 735). In particular, this increase in comprehension was noted among
those citizens who previously knew very little about politics, and primarily involved easy
political items (Baek 755). Late night comedy’s role in the political landscape has
remained a common debate among rhetoric scholars.
Among this research on late night humor, some studies have specifically analyzed
the television show “Saturday Night Live.” In “The Production Process and Environment of
NBC’s ‘Saturday Night Live,’” Robert Pekurny provides a detailed outline for the
production process of Saturday Night Live. By studying the process by which television
programs take form, Pekurny hopes to eventually develop a theory to explain the content of
these culturally important television programs (Pekurny 91). Pekurny also critiques
“Saturday Night Live’s” unique relationship with the censors of programming. Pekurny
asserts that NBC’s Broadcast Standards Department (BSD), many staff members and
various NBC executives agreed that “SNL “went further” in dealing with topics such as
sex, religion, current events or discussion of pending legal cases and was freer in its
language than any other network program” (Pekurny 96). “Saturday Night Live” has a
distinctive production process and a rare relationship with the censors.
Other studies have taken a deeper look into “Saturday Night Live” and have studied
individual segments of the sketch program. In his article, “’Saturday Night Live’ and
Weekend Update,” Aaron Reincheld examines the reoccurring segment, “Weekend
Update,” which has been a regular institution of “Saturday Night Live” since its first year.
Reincheld claims that “Saturday Night Live” has “played a pivotal role in cultivating
American TV satire,” and “Weekend Update” is a critical element in this satire (Reincheld
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190). Since its beginnings in 1975, “Weekend Update” was part of our country’s
“counterculture, and those who anchored and wrote for the show viewed it as a way to
voice an opinion about the world around them to a mass audience” (Reincheld 192).
“Weekend Update” is made to look as much like a real news broadcast as possible. The
actors who play the anchors use their real names, the stories are truthful headlines ripped
off the front page, and actors mimic actual broadcaster’s catch phrases. Executive producer
Lorne Michels intended for “SNL and weekend update especially to be considered a serious
voice in the American political landscape and to serve an informational purpose”
(Reincheld 191). By taking their work as satirist seriously, the cast and crew of “Saturday
Night Live” has given a “mainstream voice to alternative points of view” and questioned
“publicly the system and governmental leaders” (Reincheld 196).
Saturday Night Live has provided social commentary on current cultural events,
people, and traditions for over thirty-five years. The following sections discusses the
creation of Saturday Night Live, the writers’ creative processes, and its continued
domination of late night comedic programming.
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CHAPTER 3
JUST HUMOR ME
“Saturday Night Live” (SNL) first aired on October 11th, 1975. For the past thirtyfive years, SNL has pioneered an edgy, satirical comedy program that combines the aspects
of traditional, live television from the 1950s with raw, current events that pushes the
envelope. It has permeated our country’s culture and become a staple of late night
television programming across generational lines. Every Saturday night, millions of
households across America tune in to hear: “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
(www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live)
The first season of SNL began in 1975. The National Broadcast Company (NBC)
sought to capitalize on its popular late night franchise, “The Tonight Show”, by featuring
late night programming on Saturday nights. The Saturday night time slot was originally
filled by reruns of “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.” After a decade of reruns, NBC
executives asked producer Disk Ebersol to create something new. In 1974, Ebersol
approached Lorne Michaels, a writer on the hit TV show “Laugh In,” to develop an original
program for Saturday night. Michaels sought to create an entirely innovative and unique
television show that radically departed from all other television shows of its time. This new
show would be edgy, raw, politically conscious, and challenge conventions. Besides a brief
five-year hiatus when he left NBC, Michael’s presence has remained one of the few stable
and unvarying factors in the show’s otherwise turbulent cast (www.nbc.com/saturdaynight-live). Moreover, Michaels’ vision for SNL has remained the one constant throughout
the shows storied thirty-five year history.
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In accordance with Michaels’ original vision, SNL has continued to push the
boundaries of what is acceptable. The most unique aspect of SNL is its live taping. Since its
first episode, SNL has been taped live, without a tape delay, at 11:29:30 EST from studio
8H in 30 Rockefeller Center. While radical in 1975, live television was common in the
television of the 1950s. SNL represents a retreat to the traditional production of television,
while incorporating the controversial and extreme themes of modern times. Live taping
creates a tension filled, action packed environment (www.NBC.com/saturday-night-live).
Over the years, this pressure cooker atmosphere has produced moments of immense
creativity, flashes of actors out of character, and classic comedy sketches. It has also
generated sketches that are dull, run dry, and lack comedic inspiration. It is this sense of the
immediate and unforeseen that drives SNL towards the edge, creating raw and original
programming that has stood the test of time.
SNL’s live taping creates authentic programming, yet it also can provide the ability
to surprise producers with unrehearsed performances that ignite controversy. Two such
incidents involved Sinead O’Connor in 1992 and Ashlee Simpson in 2004. Dressed in all
white and baring a bald head, the Irish pop singer Sinead O’Connor was a striking sight as
she sang acapella to the Bob Marley song, “War.” At the end of her set, O’Connor revealed
a photo of Pope John Paul II, and proclaimed, “fight the real enemy,” as she preceded to
slowly tear up the photo of the pope. Her controversial action set shockwaves throughout
the nation. NBC phone lines received over 4000 complaints, and the Federal
Communication Commission fined the network
(www.nytimes.com/1992/10/05/nyregion/chronicle-408292.html). In 2004 America was
talking about another SNL controversy. While performing her second song, Ashlee
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Simpson began mouthing the words to one song as another played on a recording.
Simpson’s lip synching controversy questioned the authenticity of her abilities as an artist,
and of SNL as a live program (www.nytimes.com/2004/10/26/national/26snl.html). SNL’s
live taping creates unrefined, original and exciting programming every Saturday Night, yet
it also creates the foundation for controversial actions.
Defined as a comedy and variety show, SNL utilizes various types of humor, but it
is best known for its sharp wit and satire. Common topics for SNL’s humor include current
events, pop culture, political commentaries and contemporary celebrities. SNL is comprised
of multiple sketches, pre-recorded comedic shorts, and the news segment “Weekend
Update.” In addition to the SNL resident cast, every episode features a guest host who
delivers an opening monologue and appears in many of the show’s sketches. The show also
features a musical guest who generally performs two or three songs. Before the guest host’s
opening monologue, SNL begins with a cold open. This open highlights a major event from
the previous week and generally lasts for three to five minutes. At the end of the cold open,
one cast member will break character and deliver SNL’s most famous line: “Live from New
York, it’s Saturday Night!” (www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/about)
The general tone and attitude of SNL is best expressed in one of the first big battles
between the producers of SNL and NBC network executives. In 1775, network executives
wanted the first SNL host, George Carlin, to dress in formal attire. SNL producers asserted
this dress would contradict the show’s relaxed and laid back quality. Heated arguments
lasted the entire week leading up to the first show. Ultimately, SNL’s producers agreed to
have Carlin wear a jacket, but remained adamant about him wearing just a plain T-shirt
(snltranscripts.jt.org). Today, guests are able to dress however they want, and casual clothes
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are widely expected and accepted by the audience. The renegade move of wearing a simply
T-Shirt led to the destruction of other restrictions previously established by the networks.
Jokes about sex, drugs, religion, politics and ethnicity became the foundation of SNL
humor. The provocative humor featured on SNL infiltrated late night comedy, and has
become a mainstay of late night humor.
The cast of SNL is as unique as the show itself. Comprised of roughly eight
repertory players who appear in most skits, there are an additional four or five featured
players who appear occasionally. Since its creation in 1975, this distinctive group of ever
changing comedians have become better known by their group name: “The not ready for
prime time players.” The SNL cast was originally created as a place for rising comedians
to hone their craft for a few years before moving on to prime time television and feature
film. This system mirrors the farm system of major league baseball, and has proven to be
incredibly successful over thirty-five years. Famous SNL alum who used the late night
show as a stepping stone are Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Jane
Curtin, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Joan
Cusack, Jon Lovitz, Damon Waynes, Dennis Miller, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Kevin
Nealon, Mike Myers, Chris Rock, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, David Spade, Norm
McDonald, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Poeler and many notable others.
(www.Museum.tv).
While innovative and clearly successful, some critics argue that the revolving door
of cast members creates an omnipresent doubt over SNL’s success ever year. Without
consistent cast members, it is difficult to predict the likability and success of each new and
different staff. Yet after 35 years and 88 cast members, it appears America loves the
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excitement and originality of each fresh SNL cast. The rotating cast of SNL is the one of
the show’s most innovative and prominent features, and it is something that the audience
has come to love and expect.
Chevy Chase is a perfect case study for the success of SNL’s rotating cast structure.
Chase was hired as a writer and appeared as the anchor on Weekend Update during the first
season of SNL in 1975. Chase was arguably the biggest star of SNL season one, and
became SNL’s first break out star. Chase ventured into films and soon gained critical
acclaim and success in films such as Caddyshack, the National Lampoon’s Vacation series,
and Fletch (http://snl.jt.org). Chase’s career path is a perfect example of the success of
SNL’s revolving cast system.
Cast members of the first season of SNL (1975-76) include: Chevy Chase, John
Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, George Coe, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, and Laraine
Newman. Chevy Chase stayed at SNL for one season and is best known for his role as the
first anchor of SNL’s reoccurring segment, Weekend Update. John Belushi. remained at
SNL for four seasons. During 1979, Belushi is credited with starring in the number one film
in the U.S., Animal House, having the number one album in the U.S., The Blues Brothers:
Brief Case full of Blues, and being on the highest rated late night television program,
Saturday Night Live. Dan Aykroyd stayed with SNL for four seasons and is best
remembered for his talented impersonations, as well as his sketches of the “Coneheads” and
“Blues Brothers”, both of which were made into films. During her five year stint at SNL,
Laraine Newman created the characters Sheri The Valley Girl, Connie Conehead, and
multiple others (www.tv.com). Gilda Radner remained at SNL for five seasons, and is best
known for her sketches of “Roseanne Roseannadanna”, as well as her spoof of Barbara
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Walters as “Baba Wawa.” Jane Curtin stayed at SNL for five seasons, and was successful
in her roles as a straight comedian opposite the outrageous characters of Bill Murray and
John Belushi. She is also well known for her role in the famous “Conehead” sketches.
Garrett Morris was with SNL for five season and portrayed the well known character Chico
Escuela, a Dominican baseball player who spoke limited English. Morris is often cited as
being uphappy with his tenure at SNL, claiming the show stereotyped him as a black
performer (www.tv.com). The first group of “not yet ready for prime time players” was a
dynamic cast that forever changed the way the world viewed late night television.
Cast members of the most recent season of SNL (2009-10) include: Fred Armisen,
Will Forte, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson and
Kristen Wiig. Fred Armisen has been wirh SNL for six seasons. His impersonations of
President Barack Obama as well as New York governor David Patterson have garnered
much attention and criticism. Will Forte has worked with SNL for eight seasons and is
recognized for his impersonation of President Bush. He also stars in the sketch, MacGruber,
which has been made into a film. After four seasons with SNL, Bill Hader has developed
various memorable characters including Nitro from Laser Cats and co-host of the
Hollywood Dish segment. Seth Meyers has been with SNL for nine seasons and is currently
a cast member, anchor of “Weekend Update,” and co-head writer of SNL. He is a talented
impersonator and can be recognized as John Kerry, Ryan Seacrest, Anderson Cooper,
Prince Charles, Brian Williams, Donald Trump Jr., Tom Cruise and Peyton Manning
among others. During Andy Samberg’s first season with SNL in 2005, he appeared in the
SNL digital short, “Lazy Sunday.” Both Samberg and his rap parody quickly became
Internet sensations. Other Samberg digital shorts include, “Dick in a Box”, “Jizz in My
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Pants” which has over 74 million views on youtube, and “I’m on a Boat” which was
nominated for a grammy. Jason Sudeikis has worked with SNL for six seasons and is best
known for his impersonation of Taylor Hicks and Jimmy Stewart, as well as for his role as
“Male A-hole” in the skit, “Two A-holes.” Kenan Thompson has been with SNL for seven
seasons and is known for his over the top characters like Deandre Cole, a talk-show host
whose entire show is an extended musical number. He also impersonates Al Roker, Aretha
Franklin, Bill Cosby and Whoopi Goldberg among others. Since her 2005 debut, Kristen
Wiig has become a break out star of SNL. Her multiple reoccurring characters have become
well known staples of SNL programming and include: Penelope the one-upper, Gilly the
impish schoolgirl, Sue the excited girl, Judy Grimes the nervous travel agent and the Target
Lady. The featured players of SNL’s current cast include Jenny Slate, Bobby Moynihan,
Nashim Pedrad and Abby Elliot. Interestingly, seven current SNL cast members were born
after the show’s premier in 1975. Bobby Moynihan was born in 1977, Kenan Thompson
was born May in 1978, Andy Samberg was born August 1978, Nashim Pedrad was born in
1981, Jenny Slate was born in 1982, Bill Hader was born in 1978, and Abby Elliot was born
in 1987 (www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live). Unlike the unknown cast of the first season of
SNL, current cast members of SNL season thrity-five are immediately thrust into the
spotlight. Audiences eagerly await the arrival of new cast members and fan bases quickly
emerge. Ultimately, SNL still serves as a foundation of comedic growth and continues to
find and develop the talented comedians of tomorrow.
A show as radical as SNL requires an equally unusual production schedule.
Preparation for the show begins on Monday during meeting in which the biggest news
stories of the week are discussed as potential topics for the show’s cold open. This meeting
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is followed by a free-form pitch meeting with Michaels, producers, writers and the guest
host. Writers spend the time between 9 p.m. on Tuesday night and 7 a.m. on Wednesday
morning writing scripts. Up to fifty scripts are typically written per week, with only a
handful being actually seen on air. A pitch meeting with the musical guests is also held on
Tuesday, in which the guest and the producer discuss which of their current songs should be
preformed on the show. At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, the cast, writers, producers, Michaels
and the host read through the scripts. After the read-through, which typically lasts three
hours, Michaels and the host have the final say on what sketches are developed further. On
Thursday, sketches are reviewed, revised and rewritten. Larger, more elaborate sketches are
blocked on set, as well as the musical acts for that week’s show. The host, musical guests,
and typically some cast members shoot two to four promotional videos for NBC in order to
promote Saturday’s show. Thursday is also the day that the writers for Weekend Update
began to craft the segment. Much of Weekend Update must be written towards the end of
the week in order to ensure the news stories are as current and up to date as possible. On
Friday, the remainder of the show is blocked. During this time, the writer of each sketch
acts as the producer and organizes the set design, costumes, and props for that sketch. On
Saturday afternoon, the cast and crew of SNL are still far from producing a finished
product. At 1 p.m., all sketches are run-through on set in front of Michaels. A dress
rehearsal in front of a studio audience occurs at 8 p.m. During this time, Michaels and other
producers watch the show and listen to reactions from the audience. They use this dress
rehearsal as a way to gage the humor of each sketch, and to cut, rewrite, or reorder skits
where necessary. Typically, twenty minutes of material is cut after the dress rehearsal. Cast
and crew learn of all last minute changes when they are posted on a large bulletin board
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outside of Michael’s office. Finally, after a long week, the show begins its live taping at
11:35:00 EST. (Pekurny). Cast and crew must work all week to deliver 90 minutes of live
comedy.
While the general production outline and concept for SNL has remained stable over
the years, studio 8H has seen chaotic and turbulent times. Citing creative differences and
contract disputes, Micheals left SNL after its fifth season and brought the remainder of the
cast with him. Multiple producers attempted to reinvent SNL, yet ratings continued to
plummet. SNL lost its satirical wit and raw edge, and many critics believed it was the end.
After being absent for five years, NBC enticed Ebersol back as producer, and eventually,
Micheals was persuaded to return as well. Micheals is often credited with ushering in the
second golden era of SNL that occurred during the 1980s. Cast members Dana Carvey, Jon
Lovitz and Phil Hartman marked this era of classic comedy. The return of Micheals to SNL
brought back its satirical and edgy roots (www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live).
SNL has survived power struggles, budget cuts and changing cultural trends.
Clearly, SNL has proven to be an incredibly successful television program. SNL has
broadcasted over 700 episodes in 35 years, making it one of the longest running network
television programs in the United States. It has won multiple awards, including 21
primetime Emmys, a Peabody award and three Writers Guild of America awards. It is
ranked tenth on TV Guide’s “fifty greatest TV shows of all time,” listed 69th on Time
Magazine’s “100 best TV shows of all time,” and in 2000, SNL was inducted into the
national association of broadcasters hall of fame (www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live). After
35 successful seasons, SNL has become an institution of the American culture.
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SNL has led to the creation of multiple spin-off movies, further reinforcing its
popularity and notoriety. SNL sketches have inspired over ten movies, including: Blues
Brothers, Wayne’s World, Wayne’s World, 2 Coneheads, It’s Pat!, Stuart Saves His Family,
A Night at the Roxbury, Blues Brothers 2000, Superstar, and The Ladies Man. While some
films have been box office flops, most SNL films follow the path of SNL itself and are very
successful. The biggest grossing and arguably the most influential film created by SNL was
Wayne’s World in 1992. Raking in over 120 million, its success spurred Wayne’s World 2
in 1993, and ushered in an era of lucrative SNL inspired films (www.nbc.com/saturdaynight-live).
Perhaps the best was to emphasize the great impact SNL has had on society is its
recognition throughout pop culture and its influence on modern language. The writers and
cast of SNL have brought us hundreds of well-known catch phrases that are used by
millions. Some of the most famous catch phrases include: “I’m Chevy Chase and you’re
not” by Chevy Chase as himself on Weekend Update, “yeah, that’s the ticket” by Jon
Lovitz as the pathological liar, “we’re two wild and crazy guys” by Steve Martin and Dan
Aykroyd as Czech playboys, “you look mah-valous” by Billy Crystal as Fernando, “well
isn’t that special” by Dana Carvey as the Church Lady, “schhhhhhhhhhwing” by Mike
Myers and Dana Carvey as Wayne and Garth, “we just want to pump, you up” by Kevin
Nealon and Dana Carvey as Hanz and Franz, and “Jane, you ignorant slut” said by Dan
Akroyd to Jane Curtain (www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live.com). If you have lived in
America over the past thirty years, chances are you have heard one, if not all, of these catch
phrases before. Clearly, SNL has permeated our culture and language.
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SNL has become an institution of American culture. Its humor and subject matter
reflect the attitudes and beliefs of the society. The following section depicts a method of
analysis from which the humor and structure of SNL will be analyzed.
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CHAPTER 4
METHODOLOGY
Humor is a rhetorical device that is innate to all humans regardless of culture,
origin, or generation. Superiority, incongruity, and relief are the three main theories of
humor that attempt to explain society’s intrinsic need for comedy. Yet cultural and
generational distinctions create discrepancies in what a specific person finds humorous. The
next section describes thirteen comedic devices that are utilized in the expression of humor.
The frequency of these comedic categories reflects the rhetor’s attempt at humor and what
that specific person finds humorous. These thirteen comedic groups will be outlined and
used as the method from which SNL will be analyzed. The frequency with which each
comedic device is utilized in the first season of SNL in 1975 compared to its most recent
season in 2010 reflects what each generation finds funny and highlights the change and
consistency of humor over thirty five years.
Humor is Innate and Varied
Humor has been a part of society throughout every generation. It is ubiquitous and
“has no boundaries – it permeates every social context. Undoubtedly, humor and laughing
are essential parts of what it is to be human” (Lynch 423). Humor is used within the
individual to discover oneself and is utilized within society to facilitate interactions with
others (Lynch 425). Many societies construct humor forms and create “a structured way of
laughing, and all groups utilize and often institutionalize humor within their social
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structure” (Rybacki 310). Humor is inherent to what it means to be human, and this
intrinsic comedic core influences and effects the organization of societal interactions.
While humor is innate and omnipresent, it is also extremely dependent on both
culture and time. The comedic rhetor must relate to the experience of the audience, and the
audience must “get” the humor used by the rhetor. What is considered hysterical in one
culture may be thought odd or even offensive in others. This essential mutual understanding
underscores the fact that humor is a “time-bound communication genre. It evaluates,
critiques, and interprets contemporary events” (Rybacki 313). Comedy reflects the changes
in cultural trends over time. The standards of comedy vary and expose what that particular
generation deems comical.
Humor as a Rhetorical Argument
While many people accept that humor is both prevalent and varied throughout
cultures and times, humor is often demeaned as a passing and insignificant communicative
device. However, humor is an extremely cognitive process that holds much rhetorical
significance through its use of argument and power shifts. Many forms of humor, such as
irony and satire, are intellectual and require a high degree of aptitude to comprehend.
Humor is a rational process that is best understood by those with great cognitive abilities
(Rybacki 311). The logical process of humor is presented by a rhetor as a comical joke. The
combination of a setup and a punch line creates an argument. The punch line should unravel
the incongruity of the joke for the audience, and if the audience understands the punch line,
then they comprehend the argument. As a result, the rhetorical process created by the rhetor
has been successful. (Rybacki 311) The outcome of the argument persuades the audience to
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react, either with laughter if the rhetor is successful, or with silence and disapproval if the
audience does not accept the joke.
When the audience does not accept the comedic rhetor’s wit, the joke is considered
a failure. The humor has not elicited the response of laughter that the rhetor intended from
the comedic argument. Yet the audience’s response of silence or groans of disapproval are
equally significant reactions to the argument. Humor fails for multiple reasons: the
audience may find no use for the joke’s argument, they may not understand the joke’s topic,
or they may believe the humor is too inappropriate (Rybacki 325). Regardless of the
rhetor’s success in making the audience laugh, a joke persuades an individual to react a
certain way by creating a rhetorical argument.
When humor is used as an argument, it creates shifts in power. When one person
makes another person laugh, that person “has momentary control of the situation… humor
in formal contexts is linked to high situational status and can affirm one’s dominance in the
hierarchical social structure” (Kotthoff 8). Humor can be used as a communicative weapon
to gain power, persuade an audience, or convince a culture. The best example of humor as a
communicative power tool is political humor in presidential election campaigns. During
these campaigns, humor is often used to parody the opposing candidate and satirize the
opposing political party (Lynch 430). This form of comedy is a clear attempt to gain both
power and control over the political opponent. In this manner, humor is used as a rational
argument to persuade a group of people to change their beliefs. As a result, humor is an
influential and significant form of rhetorical communication.
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Three Theories of Humor
When discussing humor as a rhetorical argument, it is important to acknowledge the
three main bodies of humor theory: superiority, incongruity, and relief. Each theory
attempts to justify human’s innate need for humor and to explain why a society finds
certain jokes funny.
Superiority Theory
Superiority theory dominated the Greek view of humor. Aristotle, Plato and
Aristophanes asserted that in its simplest form, “laughter expresses a person’s feeling of
superiority over others” (Rybacki 321). The audience laughs when the comedic rhetor
makes them feel better than whomever or whatever the joke is about. Laughter is a direct
result of “seeing oneself as superior, right, or triumphant, in contrast to another who is
inferior, wrong, or defeated” (Buijzen 147). Humor is an emotional function that helps the
recipient build self esteem and confidence. Derision, derogatory comments, and general
ridicule are all example of superiority humor. Superiority humor accounts for one’s
intrinsic need to belong to a group. People use comedy as a mode of rhetoric to solidify
their group status as members of the superior group (Rybacki 322). According to
superiority theorists, laughter at its core is merely as a tool to differentiate oneself as a
superior member of society.
Incongruity Theory
Incongruity theory emphasizes humor as a cognitive function. For incongruity
theorist, humor is a rational process in which people try to “understand things that do not
appear to make sense” (Rybacki 323). Laughter stems from the audience’s “recognition
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that something is inconsistent with the expected rational nature of the perceived
environment” (Lynch 428). The comedic rhetor cues the audience to a previously held
belief; he then uses humor to persuade the group to look at this belief in a new or innovative
way (Rybacki 323). In this manner, humor is used as an “audience-cueing mechanism that
helps them recall information they already possess and a vehicle that affords them the
opportunity to consider other possible meanings for that information” (Rybacki 323).
Absurdity, nonsense, surprise, paradoxes, inappropriate jokes and irrational situations are
examples of incongruity humor that ask the audience to respond to the ambiguity within its
environment (Buijzen 147). According to incongruity theorist, laughter occurs when a
comedic rhetor highlights inconsistencies and uncertainty.
Relief Theory
The psychologist Sigmund Freud established relief theory as a way to explain why
humans respond with amusement to messages of aggression and disgust (Rybacki 323).
Relief theorists claim that laughter is “a way of releasing the energy that builds up from
forbidden thoughts and feelings” (Rybacki 323). At its core, humor is a release mechanism
for people’s inner fear. When people respond to political humor, they laugh because they
fear the power and authority that the government commands (Rybacki 324). In addition to
fear, relief humor also uncovers hidden physiological tensions from within the individual.
Humor is mainly used to reveal “suppressed desires and to overcome sociocultural
inhibitions” (Buijzen 147). Sexual and aggressive themes are often expressed through relief
humor. These inappropriate themes are generally the punch line of “socially inappropriate”
jokes or comedy that goes beyond the boundaries of good taste. When the audience
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responds to this type of joke, they realize its socially inappropriate nature and reaffirm the
existence of good taste (Rybacki 324).
Modern Contemporary Theory
While each theoretical belief has served as the focal point of humor study at one
time, “current humor researches often consider the three theories as complementary”
(Buijzen 147). Humor is no longer strictly limited to the boundaries of a particular theory.
Instead, each theory is often used as an element in the overall analysis of a joke. By
combining all three theories, one is able to gain a more in depth understanding of how a
particular joke persuades an audience to laugh.
In the article, “Humorous Communication: Finding a Place for Humor in
Communication Research”, Owen Lynch uses a classic Woody Allen joke to underscore the
collaboration of theories in current humor study. The humor of the following Woody Allen
joke can be explained by the superiority, incongruity and relief theories of humor.
“I wouldn’t want to join any club that would have me as a member”
Woody Allen
Superiority Theory
Allen’s self-deprecating joke evokes an emotional response from the audience and
allows them to laugh at his inferiority. In superiority humor, “a person can be found
comical, and therefore inferior, if he or she is inadequate according to a set of agreed-upon
group or societal criteria” (Lynch 426). Society has decided upon an established set of
conditions for club membership, and, clearly, Allen does not meet these distinctions. By
determining himself as a person not worthy of membership, Allen presents himself as a
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member of the out-group and the audience as a member of the superior group. Therefore, he
is someone who is inferior and someone who should be laughed at. Allen’s joke creates an
imbalance of power and therefore expresses the theory of superiority humor.
Incongruity Theory
Allen’s paradoxical joke stimulates the cognitive process and plays on the accepted
beliefs of club membership prevalent in our society. Club membership is generally thought
of in a positive manner. Typically, if a club were to ask one to join, that person would be an
ideal fit with the club and happily accept the membership. Allen flips this assumption and
asserts the opposite. In doing so, the audience recognizes “that something is inconsistent
with the expected rational nature of the perceived environment” (Lynch 428). Allen’s joke
alerts the audience to their previous convictions regarding club membership and then
inverts these beliefs in order to highlight ambiguity within their environment. This
inconsistency conveys the theory of incongruity humor.
Relief Theory
Allen’s joke takes a different tone when the audience has prior knowledge of his
Jewish heritage. Throughout history, many clubs have not allowed Jewish members to join
their institutions. His rejection of club membership may be an attempt “to purge himself of
the tensions of being a minority” (Lynch 427). His humor is a tool to reduce tension and is
therefore a method of release. Allen’s joke provides the function of relief and therefore
correlates to the theory of relief humor.
The above analysis demonstrates that the humor of a single joke can be interpreted
by the three theories of humor. Each theory provides a different insight into why the joke is
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funny. By utilizing the theories of superiority, incongruity and relief in a collaborative
manner, one is able to interpret the joke from multiple angles and gain a greater analysis of
the joke’s humor.
Thirteen Comic Devices
Based on the three main theories of humor as rhetorical argument, this study
develops thirteen comic devices that comedic rhetors use to create humor. The humor in
every joke and sketch can be explained by at least one and more often multiple examples of
these thirteen methods of humor. The thirteen comic devices are: clownish/silly, logical
implausibility, slapstick, surprise, misunderstanding, irony, satire, parody, socially
inappropriate humor, gross humor, self-deprecation, invective, and wordplay.
Clownish
Clownish humor is the simplest form of comedy. It is comedy that is ridiculous and
nonsensical. An example of clownish humor is when a character uses impractical gestures,
behaves in a wacky manner and portrays an overall zany attitude. This humor obeys the
rules of good taste and is not offensive (Buijzen 150). Little cognitive ability is necessary to
understand and appreciate this comedy. Clownish humor is common and serves as the
foundation for much comedy.
Logical implausibility
Logical implausibility involves the occurrence of an event that is not feasibly
possible. An example of logical implausibility is when an animal behaves outside of its
given characteristics, such as a bee that is as large as a man, a shark that walks on land, or a
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bird that eat sandwiches. The audience of this humor must have a high enough cognitive
capacity to recognize the absurdity of the situation and to find humor in its improbability.
Slapstick
Slapstick is comedy that is purely physical in nature. Little rational processing is
necessary to enjoy slapstick humor. It is a favorable humor type among children and
remains extremely popular throughout the duration of one’s life (Buijzen 151). Examples of
slapstick include falling down, slapping, tripping, and hitting others. The audience laughs at
the simple physical acts of slapstick comedy.
Surprise
Surprise occurs when the outcome of an event or process is not what the audience
expects. Surprise is a common favorite among children, and it continues to be utilized as a
humor tool throughout adulthood (Buijzen 157). Surprise may occur in two forms: verbal
and visual. Surprise in verbal form is often associated with wordplay and depends on the
creative use of speech to twist the outcome of an event. Surprise in visual form relies on the
imaginative manipulation of traditional images. Examples of surprise include a character
responding to a question with an unexpected answer or a character jumping from behind a
wall and appearing out of nowhere. In either verbal or visual surprise, the audience is
moved to laugh due to an unexpected occurrence.
Misunderstanding
Misunderstanding occurs when a character misinterprets either the words or
intentions of another character or organization. An example of misunderstanding is when
two characters are having a conversation and each person believes the conversation is
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actually about something else. The audience is aware of this misunderstanding and finds
humor in the fact that they have knowledge of the truth while the two characters do not.
Irony
Irony is a “factual or embellished statement in which the opposite of what is stated
is really meant” (Rybacki 314). The comedic rhetor uses irony to present multiple,
opposing meanings in language or action. The contradictions in these double meanings
underscore the absurdity of the given situation (Rybacki 317). The use of irony requires a
great deal of prior knowledge from the audience. In order for a joke that relies on the comic
device of irony to be successful, the audience must not only be familiar with both of the
opposing meanings that are presented, but also have the cognitive ability to interpret the
paradox (Rybacki 317). An example of irony is if a lawmaker was arrested for breaking a
law. Irony creates humor by highlighting contradiction.
Satire
Satire finds “humor in the human condition and holds up the vices, practices, and
customs of a culture to comic scrutiny” (Rybacki 319). No original work is directly
mimicked, but rather, satire highlights the particular customs and traditions of a society. In
doing so, satire emphasizes the beliefs held by that culture and presents them for criticism.
This criticism provides social commentary and questions current cultural traditions
(Rybacki 320). Examples of satire include humor that highlights race relations, sexual
discrimination and non-specific examples of pop culture. Satire creates humor by
constructing social commentary.
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Parody
Parody mimics, impersonates or imitates a specific person, event or thing. It
exaggerates or distorts “the original work while preserving its essential or identifiable
elements” (Rybacki 317). It is the original work deconstructed and reconstructed with a
humorous twist (Rybacki 317). Parody is entirely dependent on the audience’s prior
knowledge of the person or thing being parodied. The viewer must know the original work
well enough to recall its details and then apply these specifics to identifiable characteristics
in the parody. Examples of parody include impersonations of celebrities and politicians,
imitations of television shows and movies, and new interpretations of popular songs.
Parody distorts an original, often non-humorous work and makes it humorous.
Socially Inappropriate Humor
Socially inappropriate Humor refers to inappropriate topics that are outside the
boundaries of accepted good taste. Socially inappropriate humor makes the audience
uncomfortable and self-conscience. Laughter results as an escape from their feelings of
discomfort and uneasiness. Examples of socially inappropriate humor are death, racism,
disabilities, disasters, accidents and sex. Socially inappropriate humor constantly straddles
the line between inappropriate humor that the audience still finds humorous, and jokes that
are simply tasteless and inappropriate. When an audience disapproves of the comedian’s
topic, they will reject the socially inappropriate joke and claim that the rhetor has ‘gone too
far’ (Rybacki 325). Socially inappropriate jokes emphasize controversial topics that make
the audience self-conscience and elicit laughter as an uncomfortable release.
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Gross Humor
Gross humor utilizes disgusting and revolting topics as the foundation for its humor.
A classic example of this category is bathroom humor. Other examples of gross humor
include poor hygiene, dysfunctional human bodies and eating unappetizing foods. People
are simultaneously repulsed and intrigued by gross humor. This dualism makes the
audience uncomfortable and as a result, they utilize laughter as a release. Gross humor
creates humor by coupling human’s innate curiosity with topics of disgust.
Self-Deprecation
Self-deprecation occurs when rhetors use humor to downgrade themselves and make
themselves inferior to the audience. Examples of self-deprecation include highlighting the
flaws on one’s body, speaking of past failures, and acknowledging one’s mistakes. Selfdeprecation is common among stand up comedians and during monologues. When
comedians perform this type of comedy, they must be able to intimately relate to the
audience and to have the audience like them. By using self-deprecation, comedians are able
to make themselves inferior to the audience while simultaneously making the audience feel
superior. The viewers’ sense of superiority results in laughter and ultimately success for the
comedian (Greenbaum 41).
Invective
Invective is “abuse, ridicule, or insult in humorous guise” (Rybacki 314).
Specifically, comedic invective “challenges the character of a person without real hostility
of intent to destroy them” (Rybacki 314). Most importantly, the audience must accept the
invective as a good-natured comedic insult. If the audience views the ridicule as too mean,
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invective will not be accepted as humor (Rybacki 314). This humor category is often used
in political humor as well as with jokes that poke fun at celebrities. Invective creates humor
by making fun of others.
Wordplay
Wordplay is a “game of language played between rhetor and audience” (Rybacki
314). Examples of wordplay include riddles, double entendres, puns, meaning shifts and
word twists. Malapropisms, the misuse of terms, and spoonerisms, the transposition of
phonemes, are also common illustrations of wordplay (Rybacki 314). Wordplay is a popular
form of comedy from childhood through adulthood, yet the cognitive process required for
wordplay varies greatly across these age groups. Children are amused by simple word
twists and straightforward riddles, while adults are entertained by double entendres, puns
and more complicated riddles (Buijzen 152). Wordplay uses the manipulation of language
to generate humor.
Prior Knowledge Variations
In addition to comparing the use frequency of each comedic device, the amount of
assumed prior knowledge utilized in each season is also analyzed. All jokes require some
level of previous familiarity. When rhetors make a joke, they present a phrase to the
audience for interpretation. This expression becomes rhetorical when the recipients of the
joke share a mutual understanding of the humor’s content with the rhetor and are able to
find rhetorical argument in the comedy (Rybacki 312). If the recipients have no prior
knowledge of the joke’s subject material, they will not be able to participate in the humor
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process and they will find no comedy in the joke (Rybacki 325). Previous information is
necessary and vital to an audience’s understanding and acceptance of the rhetor’s humor.
Prior knowledge is one of the most significant factors in a joke’s ultimate success or
failure. Yet, not all humor requires the same types of previous information. In general,
there are two categories of prior knowledge that each entail different types of previous
information: knowledge of general society and knowledge of specific information.
Knowledge of General Society
Knowledge of general society involves broad cultural issues and trends. No specific
details are necessary, but rather, all necessary information is simply gained through life
experience. The audience must have a broad knowledge of cultural issues and an open
mind, yet no direct knowledge of exact concepts is obligatory.
Knowledge of general society is most often associated with social commentary and
typically makes a statement about various cultural issues. Examples of social commentary
include race relations, gender discrimination, homosexuality, immigration, drug use and
assumed stereotypes. The audience has knowledge of these broad societal issues by having
simply lived and observed life.
Knowledge of Specific Information
In contrast, knowledge of specific information requires precise information in
regards to particular people, places, events or things. It is assumed that the audience has
vast knowledge of a specific subject and will be able to relate this previous information to a
given joke. Comedic rhetors that utilize knowledge of specific information present the
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audience with a fraction of the information and assume the audience is able to infer the rest.
If the audience is not aware of the joke’s particular details, the humor will fail.
Knowledge of specific information is most directly affected by topical humor and
political humor. Both categories require the audience to have a high level of background
information in order to find the joke entertaining. In topical humor, the comedic rhetor
relies on current cultural events as the bases of his jokes. The comedian “supplies part of
the material, and the audience fills in the rest based on their knowledge” (Rybacki 312).
The audience must supply some of their own knowledge to complete the joke and find
meaning in the humor. Political humor is a specific subcategory of topical humor that has
become increasingly popular in recent years. Political humor uses the government and
prominent political figures as the bases for its jokes. For an audience to understand political
humor, they must have prior knowledge of politics and current political events (Rybacki
313). Both topical humor and its subcategory political humor require the audience to
possess an intensive amount of prior knowledge in order to fully comprehend and
appreciate the comedy.
Humor can be broken into thirteen comedic devices and two categories of required
prior knowledge. Both methodologies are applied to Saturday Night Live and are used as to
create a comparative analysis of SNL season one to season thirty-five.
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CHAPTER 5
ANALYSIS
The following section analyzes Saturday Night Live’s use of the thirteen comic
devices previously outlined. Each device’s frequency of use in season one is compared to
that same device’s frequency of use in season thirty-five. The application of this comedic
method to each season aids in the examination of humor discrepancies across time and
helps to highlight what each generation uses as their tools of humor.
Representative Episodes
Saturday Night Live was chosen as the rhetorical artifact of study because of its
huge impact on our society’s comedic landscape, as well as its evident staying power. SNL
has been a comedic institution for the last thirty-five years. Clearly, SNL has produced
popular comedy that appeals to the masses of each generation. Season one of SNL was
chosen as a season of study due to the fact that it is the earliest record of SNL humor.
Season one supplies data from 1975-1976 and provides the widest scope of study.
Similarly, season thirty-five was chosen as a season of study because it provides the most
recent examples of humor from the 2009-2010 season. By examining the type of humor
used in the first season of SNL compared to the most recent season, one is able to illustrate
a broad selection of humor and its changes over time.
Within each season, three episodes were chosen as representative samples of that
season. For season one, these episodes include: Episode 1.4, original airdate November 8,
1975, hosted by Candice Bergen, Episode 1.7, original airdate December 13, 1975, hosted
by Richard Pryor and Episode 1.16, original airdate March 13, 1976, hosted by Anthony
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Perkins. The representative episodes of thirty-five include: Episode 35.3 original airdate
October 10, 2009, hosted by Drew Barrymore, Episode 35.13, original airdate January 30,
2010, hosted by John Hamm, and Episode 35.16, original airdate March 6, 2010, hosted by
Zach Galifinakis. These episodes were chosen primarily based on the guest host. The guest
host for each episode appears in the majority of the sketches, and often, many sketches are
written for the guest host and his or her characters. Since the celebrity hosting dominates
the humor of each episode, it is important to choose representative episodes that reflect the
guest host’s importance and character types. To create this equilibrium, one female actress,
one male actor, and one comedian serve as the three representative hosts for each season. In
doing so, gender is balanced between the male and female hosts, and style is balanced
between the dramatic actor and the comedian. This broad sampling of hosts provides
comprehensive coverage for the humor of the whole season, as well as a balanced variety of
guest hosts from each season.
In these six representative episodes, certain sketches were excluded from analysis.
To provide a non-biased assessment of each season, it is important to insure that each
sketch can be analyzed in the same manner. Only skits with members of the cast were
included in the study. This excludes many of the films submitted by outside sources from
the first season. Also left out of the first season are in studio advertisements and any jokes
that appeared as text on the screen before or after commercial breaks. Sketches that did not
include members of the SNL cast were excluded from analysis because this study focuses
exclusively on SNL and the cast members of that season. In addition, all Weekend Update
jokes were prohibited from the analysis. These jokes were excluded because they did not fit
the format of the rest of the sketches. Although the jokes were left out, sketches that
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appeared within the Weekend Update segment and used cast members were included in the
analysis. Only examining sketches that feature SNL cast members and omitting jokes that
do not follow SNL’s sketch format creates a consistent method for analyzing each season.
These specific sketches are analyzed based on the use frequency of the thirteen comic
devices: clownish, satire, surprise, logical implausibility, irony, wordplay, socially
inappropriate, misunderstanding, parody, invective, gross, self-deprecation and slapstick.
Chart 1 illustrates the utilization of each comedic device across the six
representative episodes. Beneath each host’s name is the count of sketches that were
analyzed in that particular episode. The number in the box vertically beneath the name and
horizontally across from the comic device corresponds to the number of sketches that used
that form of humor. For example, in the episode hosted by Drew Barrymore, surprise was
used in 6 of the potential 13 sketches.
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CHART 1
PRYOR
Sketch
Count:
(16)
BERGEN
Sketch
Count:
(15)
PERKINS BARRYMORE HAMM GALIFINAKIS
Sketch
Sketch Count:
Sketch Sketch Count:
Count:
(13)
Count: (10)
(15)
(13)
Clownish/
Silly
Satire
1
5
4
3
2
2
9
4
4
5
5
2
Surprise
6
4
4
6
9
7
Logical
1
implausibility
Irony
3
4
3
2
2
1
6
2
3
4
0
Wordplay
4
4
8
8
6
7
Socially
inappropriate
Humor
9
2
1
2
1
1
Misunder.
2
0
2
2
1
0
Parody
1
3
5
10
7
4
Invective
0
0
3
6
4
3
Gross
0
0
1
0
2
1
SelfDeprecation
Slapstick
0
1
2
3
1
2
7
6
4
3
4
1
Chart 2 demonstrates the use frequency of each comic device in season one and
season thirty-five. 46 sketches were suitable for study in season one, and 36 sketches were
appropriate for analysis in season thirty-five. The use of each comic device was then
compiled for each season and divided by the total number of sketches in that season. For
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example, Slapstick occurred in 17 of the 46 sketches in season one. This figure translates
into slapstick occurring .37 times in every sketch, or in roughly 37% of the sketches in
season one.
CHART 2
Slapstick
Clownish/ Silly
Satire
Logical Implausibility
Misunderstanding
Self Deprecation
Irony
Parody
Socially inappropriate
Gross
Invective
Wordplay
Surprise
SEASON 1
Sketch Count: (46)
Count: 17
Frequency: 37%
Count: 10
Frequency: 22%
Count: 17
Frequency: 37%
Count: 8
Frequency: 17%
Count: 4
Frequency: 09%
Count: 3
Frequency: 07%
Count: 11
Frequency: 24%
Count: 9
Frequency: 20%
Count: 12
Frequency: 26%
Count: 1
Frequency: 2%
Count: 3
Frequency: 7%
Count: 16
Frequency: 35%
Count: 14
Frequency: 30%
SEASON 35
Sketch Count: (36)
Count: 8
Frequency: 22%
Count: 7
Frequency: 19%
Count: 12
Frequency: 33%
Count: 5
Frequency: 14%
Count: 3
Frequency: 08%
Count: 4
Frequency: 11%
Count: 7
Frequency: 19%
Count: 21
Frequency: 58%
Count: 4
Frequency: 11%
Count: 3
Frequency: 08%
Count: 13
Frequency: 36%
Count: 21
Frequency: 58%
Count: 22
Frequency: 61%
Chart 1 and chart 2 depict the frequency of each comic device in both seasons and
clearly illustrate the similarities and discrepancies in the humor of the two seasons. The
following sections analyze each comic device in detail and provide an example of that
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specific humor from each season. Refer to the appendix for a detailed description of each
sketch.
The Use of Simple Humor Forms
The simplest forms of humor are surprise, slapstick and clownish. These humor
types develop in early childhood and are common in general humor (Buijzen 150). The first
season of SNL utilizes more slapstick but less surprise than season thirty-five. Both seasons
uses similar amounts of clownish humor.
Slapstick
Season one uses 15% more slapstick humor than season thirty-five. Slapstick is
found in 37% of season one’s sketches and 22% of season thirty-five’s skits. An example of
slapstick in season one occurs during the opening sketch of episode 1.7. Akroyd and
Curtain are out to dinner when their waiter, Chase, trips and crashes into their table causing
a huge commotion. At the climax of his fall, Chase breaks character, looks into the camera
and yells: “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” In the introduction of each episode,
Chase always falls or crashes. In doing so, slapstick is frequently utilized as a comedic
device and serves as the foundation for every episode’s opening sketch in season one.
In season thirty-five, slapstick appears during the sketch, “cooking alfresco” in
episode 35.3. Barrymore and Samberg act as Fran Jones and Phil O’Brien as they satirize a
stereotypical cooking show that happens to take place outdoors. Moynihan is their cooking
sidekick and parodies real life celebrity chef, Guy Fiori. Barrymore and Samberg begin to
cook chicken parmesan and take out the secret ingredient, bread crumbs. Immediately, a
flock of birds swarm the hosts, eat the bread, and cause general disorder. Food is thrown
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around the stage, birds fly into people, and the actors are hit in the face. General physical
humor is used to create disorder and chaos.
Surprise
Surprise humor is used twice as much in season thirty-five as it is in season one.
Surprise is found in 30% of season one’s sketches and 61% of season thirty-five’s skits. An
example of surprise in season one occurs during the Weekend Update sketch, “land
scarcity,” in episode 1.16. The commercial begins on a close up of a bald man’s head. The
man’s head is marked in red circles and a voice over is heard as the image rotates around
the screen. The message begins, “this is your nasal center, this is your sinus center” and the
audience assumes that the sketch is an advertisement for a pharmaceutical drug. The head
continues to rotate and the viewers are expecting for the commercial to continue in this
medical fashion. Then, to the surprise of the audience, the voice over reveals, “ and this is
your shopping center, this is the Lincoln center.” In this shocking manner, it is revealed that
the sketch is not a medical advertisement, but in fact, a message for land scarcity of the
human brain. This pun is unexpected by the audience and functions as a surprise.
In season thirty-five, Surprise is present during the skit, “Zach drops by the set,” in
episode 35.16. Zack Galifinakis is seen in the background of many famous NBC television
shows where the audience would not typically expect to see him. He appears in the window
behind Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News. Zach is then caught on camera in the
audience at ‘Showtime at the Apollo.” Next, the viewers see Zach on set with Dr. Oz during
a fat demonstration. He then appears in the middle of a scene on an episode of 30 Rock, and
interrupts: “Are you guys doing a TV show or something?” Cut to Zach in a home video
with unknown people. Next, Zach is seen carrying his groceries in the background of an
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episode of Law & Order. He disrupts the episode by taking a picture of the actors on his
cell phone. Lastly, a young Zach Galifinakis is seen in the audience of an episode of SNL
from 1983. Galifinakis’ multiple unanticipated appearances surprise the audience.
Clownish
Clownish humor is used in roughly the same frequency in season thirty-five as it is
in season one. Clownish is found in 22% of season one’s sketches and 19% of season
thirty-five’s skits. An example of clownish in season one occurs when John Belushi appears
dressed as a bee during Candice Bergen’s opening monologue of episode 1.4. While she is
speaking, Belushi as a Bee stands next to Bergen and places his head on her shoulder.
Chase appears and declares: “You have a bee on your shoulder.” He then swats the bee and
attempts to “shoo” him away. In response, the bee says, “shoo” back. A man dressed as a
large, talking bumble bee is purely silly humor.
In season thirty-five, Barrymore and Armisen act as Brenda and Shaun, professional
entertainers, during “an SNL digital short” in episode 35.3. They are dressed in identical
white wardrobes with matching haircuts and magenta silk ties knotted around their necks.
1980s synthesized pop music plays as they dance, mime, and play with glowing thumb
shaped orbs. Brenda and Shaun specialize in entertainment for any occasion, including:
birthday parties, graduations, engagements, eye exams, medical emergencies, meeting your
biological father, eviction, family meals, making new friends and road trips. The
entertainers’ costumes and general behavior are ridiculous and simply asinine, resulting in
clownish humor.
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Mid-Range Humor Types with Little Variation
Logical implausibility, misunderstanding, gross and self-deprecation are mid-range
comedic devices that are neither base nor highly sophisticated forms of comedy. Most of
this humor shows little to no variation between season one and season thirty-five.
Logical Implausibility
Logical Implausibility is found in 17% of the sketches in season one and 14% of the
sketches in season thirty-five. An example of logical implausibility in season one occurs
during the “police line up 2” sketch in episode 1.7. The scene portrays a criminal line up in a
police station. The three possible culprits are a nun, Richard Pryor and a refrigerator. Most
people would assume a nun would not commit a crime, and therefore her presence in a police
line up is logically implausible. In addition, an inanimate object can clearly not be the
criminal. To draw further attention to the rational impracticability of a refrigerator being
guilty, the victim asks for the police officer to “open the fridge” in order to get a better look.
Clearly, neither the nun nor an inanimate object is the culprit, and therefore, this situation is
logically impossible.
In season thirty-five, there is a commercial for “the closet organizer” in episode
35.13. Played by Forte, The ZipCo closet organizer is a man dressed in a spandex, blue suit
who lives in one’s closet. The housewife, Wigg, begins to throw things in her closet and the
closet organizer catches them and puts them away. At first, the items are normal closet
items, such as shoes, sweaters and belts. As the commercial progresses, the articles become
more absurd and include: water, trophies, marbles, phone books, additional water, loose
peanut butter, pie, important papers, animal feathers, dirt and cheese. The advertisement
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concludes by stating: “available at Bergdorf Goodman and the gift shop at the Vatican.”
The prospect of a closet organization system that is actually just a man living in your closet,
as well as the claim that this system is available at the Vatican gift shop, are both logically
implausible.
Misunderstanding
Misunderstanding is found in 9% of the sketches in season one and 8% of the
sketches in season thirty-five. An example of misunderstanding in season one occurs during
the sketch “dominatrix maid” in episode 1.16. Radner is a housewife who wants to learn
how to clean more efficiently. She responds to an advertisement in the Village Voice that
claims to offer maids who are “clean freaks,” “very strict,” and will help with “S&M.”
Rader believes these statements mean the maid is adamant about cleaning, a stern teacher,
and great at “scrubbing and mopping.” When Curtin arrives at Radner’s house as the
“maid,” it is clear to the audience that instead of a cleaning service, Radner has hired a
dominatrix. Radner remains oblivious, and continues to ask Curtin how to clean
appropriately. Curtin responds as a dominatrix and yells at, verbally assaults, and physically
harms Radner. During the skit, Radner believes the maid will teach her how to clean well,
while the maid thinks Radner wants to become a dominatrix. The audience is aware of the
misunderstanding, but the characters in the sketch remain clueless.
In season thirty-five, misunderstanding occurs in episode 35.3 during the sketch,
“Tampax to the max tournament of champions.” The skit portrays a women’s billiards
competition in which Barrymore and Wigg act as the billiard professionals “Nina Wilkes
Booth” and “Gretta Milwaukee.” The tournament is announced by Greg Stink, Forte, and
Pete Twinkle, Sudekis. Throughout the script, Stink and Twinkle focus on the Tampax
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sponsorship and not the billiards tournament. During their discussion, Twinkle will ask
Stick about the competition, yet Stink continuously misinterprets the question and responds
with a fact about Tampax. Twinkle announces that Tampax is sponsoring the event, and
then asks Stink: “What are they thinking right now.” The audience recognizes that these
two men are announcers and infers that Twinkle’s question refers to the players of the
tournament. Stink misunderstands the question and responds: “They are probably thinking
how happy they are to be sponsoring this event.” Stink’s misunderstanding continues when
Twinkle asks Stink to comment on Booth’s strategy. Stink thinks Twinkle is referring to
Tampax’s strategy and responds: “Just sponsoring an event. Get the product name out there
and corner that tampon market!” The audience comprehends Twinkle’s questions, yet Stink
constantly misinterprets the subject matter. This confusion results in misunderstanding.
Gross
Season one and season thirty-five both utilize very little gross humor. Gross humor
only occurs in 2% of the sketches in season one and 8% of the skits in season thirty-five. In
season one, episode 1.16, gross humor occurs during Perkin’s opening monologue. During
his monologue, Perkins attempts to convince the audience he is not as bizarre as the
characters he portrays. Near the end, he references his lucky pair of women’s panties. When
he discovers that he cannot find the underwear, Perkins begins to yell, scream, and accuse
the audience. Finally, a pair of panties is thrown on stage and Perkins catches them. He
grabs the underwear, shoves it in his face and smells the panties. Seeing a man put his face
in underwear is vulgar, unsettling gross humor.
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In season thirty-five, gross humor occurs during “the bidet” skit in episode 35.16.
Galifinakis and Wigg are looking at a hotel room and constantly reference the bidet in the
bathroom. They ask multiple questions about use of the bidet to the attendant, Samberg.
Their incessant questioning of the bidet includes: “There’s no additional chare for using the,
bidet? No per use fee?”, “There’s a sturdiness to the bidet? It can accommodate a fairly
heavy carriage?”, “is there an adjustment that can be made to possibly increase the pressure
substantially?”, “should it break, is there a bidet repairman on site?”, “he can handle even
the most extreme bidet problems?”, and “do you offer a roll away bidet?” Perhaps the most
extensive example of gross humor from “the bidet” sketch occurs when Wigg hands
Samberg a tip and the dollar bill is soaking wet. Galifinakis admits: “it involves the bidet.”
This bathroom humor is a common example of gross humor.
Self-Deprecation
Self-Deprecation is used in 7% of the sketches in season one and 11% of the skits in
season thirty-five. While common to both seasons, it is important to note that while selfdeprecation is used in all three representative episodes from season thirty-five, it only
appears in one of the three representative episodes from season one.
In season one, Perkins uses self-deprecation during his monologue in episode 1.16.
He attempts to convince the audience he is nothing like the strange characters he portrays in
films. Yet he parodies these outrageous characters and therefore, undermines his claim to
sanity. During his monologue, he calls to his mother in reference to his infamous character,
Norman Bates, from the film Psycho. Similarly, a fly is seen constantly buzzing around
Perkins in reference to his film, The Fly. During a monologue,. By referencing both of these
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outrageous characters, Perkins highlights and pokes fun at the extreme characters he has
portrayed.
In season thirty-five, Barrymore parodies herself in her monologue during episode
35.3. She begins to speak in exaggerated ‘Valley girl’ speak and accentuates her slight lisp.
Barrymore then speaks about her acting past, and references her many unknown family
members who were once famous actors and actresses. She then cuts to a rare clip featuring
Ethal Barrymore, played by Wigg. Wigg imitates Barrymore’s way of speaking, the tone of
her voice, and her mannerisms. She even talks out of the side of her mouth just as
Barrymore speaks. It is clear that Wigg has mimicked Barrymore, and that Barrymore’s
exaggerated monologue is in fact a parody of herself. The imitations continue, as
Barrymore cuts to more footage from her family’s acting history. These clips include:
Hader as John Barrymore in Hamlet, Elliot as Gertrude Barrymore and Samberg as Cecil
Barrymore in a World War II epic, and Kenan as Darius Barrymore in a 1970s stereotypical
black film. These various parodies mimic Barrymore’s facial expressions, her voice and her
favorite phrases such as “this rocks!” Barrymore uses self-deprecating humur by
functioning as a parody of herself.
Use of Sophisticated Comic Devices
Satire, Irony and Parody are more sophisticated types of humor that are typically
developed later in life (Buijzen 150). While the use of satire and irony remains relatively
stable, the use of parody varies greatly between seasons.
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Satire
There is slightly more satire use in season one than in season thirty-five. Satire was
present in 37% of the sketches in season one and 33% of the skits in season thiry-five. An
example of satire in season one occurs during the “police line up” sketches in episode 1.7.
During three “police line up” skits, Pryor is clearly set up by the police to be chosen out of
the police line up. In “police line up 1,” Pryor is positioned next to Chase in a business suit,
Belushi as a Doctor and a boy scout. To make matter worse, Pryors is wearing handcuffs. In
“police line up 2,” Pryor stands in between a nun and a refrigerator. Lastly, in “police line
up 3,” Pryor lines up in the middle of four cops who are all pointing their fingers at him. In
each of these scenarios, Pryor is set up as the obvious culprit. The victim will choose Pryor
as the criminal because the police have set up the line up to frame him as such. These
sketches satirize corruption in the police force and highlight racial injustice and racial
profiling.
In season thirty-five, episode 35.3, the commercial for “The University of Westfield
Online” features a fake advertisement for an Internet based college. The sketch begins as a
serious advertisement for an online university until one woman, Pedrad, reveals: “The
University of Westfield Online gave me the skills I need to get the job I want! Skills like:
Not mentioning in a job interview that I went to an Internet college.” Characters continue to
discredit online educational systems. Their claims include: “The University of Westfield
Online taught me that going to an Internet college is not a thing that would make people
want to hire me,” and “They taught me the names of other colleges that I could say that I
went to. Great, believable names -- like Rutgers, or U.C. Santa Cruz… They also taught me
that you could just say the name of a place, like Michigan. People will draw their own
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conclusions.” This sketch satirizes online educational practices and questions their
authenticity and merit. It highlights our current society’s obsession with well known
universities and questions our trust in and reliance on the internet.
Irony
Irony is used in 24% of the sketches in season one and 19% of the skits in season
thirty-five. These numbers highlight that there has been little change in the use of irony
between seasons. An example of irony in season one occurs during the “looks at books”
sketch in episode 1.7. During this skit, Pryor appears on a talk show to discuss his new
book, “White Like Me.” He claims that the inspiration for his book originated from his
belief that “the only way to understand a white man's problems was to actually become a
white man, get white skin, and live like a white man in a white's man world. ” When asked
what his experiences were like as a white man he responds: “it was spooky! I was walking
around with the credit cards bulging out of my wallet, you know? And I'd apply for jobs,
get accepted 8 out of 10 times.” He then continues to impersonate a stereotypical white
person by mimicking one’s walk and polite manners. Pryor’s statements are the opposite of
what he believes. By emphasizing these contradictory statements, this sketch uses irony to
highlight racial injustice.
In season thirty-five, irony is present when Supreme Court Justice Soto Sotomayor
is parodied during the Weekend Update segment in episode 35.13. Played by Slate,
Sotomayor speaks with Weekend Update host, Meyers, about her position on the Supreme
Court, her childhood in Brooklyn, and her life as a female Latina. During this conversation,
Sotomayor states: “the Supreme Court is a diverse group of people.” She then describes the
members of the Supreme Court and reveal that its members are practically all white males.
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Sotomayor’s statement that there is diversity on the Supreme Court is clearly the opposite
of the truth. In asserting this paradoxical statement, the skit uses irony to highlight the lack
of diversity on the Supreme Court.
Parody
Parody is used more than twice as much in season thirty-five as it is in season one.
Parody is found in 20% of season one’s sketches and 58% of season thirty-five’s skits. This
discrepancy is the biggest difference between seasons in the use of a comedic device. An
example of parody in season one occurs during the opening skit of episode 1.4 when Chase
mimics the then current President Gerald Ford. Chase portrays Ford as an accident-prone
klutz who stumbles through his speech. Ford’s clumsiness is established immediately when
Chase staggers onto stage, bumps into the flag, and spills his papers onto the floor. Ford is
depicted as dim-witted and unintelligent when Chase pours a glass of water but proceeds to
drink from the empty glass sitting right next to it. When he realizes his glass is empty,
Chase looks around confused and drinks from the empty pitcher. Another example of
Ford’s ineptness and general lack of charm occurs when Chase falls behind the podium. He
then stands back up and proclaims: “Uh-oh! No problem. No problem, no problem. Okay.”
In this parody, Chase mimics Ford’s general awkwardness and oblivious naivety.
In season thirty-five, parody occurs during the opening sketch of episode 35.13.
Armisen impersonates President Barack Obama during an imitation of “the state of the
union address.” During his address, Armisen first address Nancy Pelosi, Wigg and Vice
President Joe Biden, Sudekis. He then mentions the recent death of Senator Edward
Kennedy and the resulting senate race in Massachusetts in which his candidate, Martha
Coakly, lost. After defaming Coakly, Armisen discusses the horrid state of the White House
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when he entered office. After mentioning the economy and war, he refers to the White
House’s messy kitchen, unwashed sheets and spoiled food. Next, Armisen claims that his
cabinet is working tirelessly in response to the resent increase in unemployment throughout
The United States. He offers three specific jobs that become available today: a member of
Mike’s Burger World’s kitchen staff in Washington state, part time book keeper in Illinois,
and a construction worker in New Jersey. Next, Armisen announces his plan to end the ban
on homosexuals in the military. He says this “will create 30,000 jobs in our Armed Forces - as well as two new series on BRAVO.” Next, Armisen reveals he is tired of talking about
health care reform and is ambivalent to its success. Lastly, throughout the sketch, real life
shots of republicans and democrats in the actual State of the Union address were
interspersed. During this skit, multiple parodies are evident. Most obvious is Armisen’s
imitation of Obama. He mimics Obama’s speaking habits, mannerisms and general
presence. In addition, many current events were also mentioned and parodied. The current
unemployment situation was ridiculed, as well as BRAVO and the White House.
Other Major Differences in Humor Use
The discrepancy between satire and parody use in each season led to variations in
the use of socially inappropriate humor and invective as well. The use of slightly more
satire in season one leads to more social commentary and ultimately, more socially
inappropriate humor that made the audience uncomfortable. The presence of much more
parody in season thirty-five leads to the impersonations of specific characters, and
therefore, invective ridicule of particular people. Wordplay also fluctuates in use between
season one and season thirty-five.
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Socially Inappropriate Humor
Socially inappropriate humor is used twice as frequently in season one as in season
thirty-five. It is used in 26% of the sketches in season one and 11% of the skits in season
35. An example of socially inappropriate humor in season one occurs during the skit,
“Perkin’s new horror films” in episode 1.16. During this sketch, Perkins previews the
trailers for his three new, low-budget horror films that he is starring in post Psycho. One
movie is titled: “Dressed to Kill.” In this trailer, a woman, Newman, arrives home to her
husband, Perkins, and wants to show him her new dress. She removes her coat to reveal a
dress that is completely covered in sharp knives pointed out. Perkins then stands to give his
wife a huge hug and inadvertently gets stabbed in the process and dies. The audience finds
humor in his death because it is socially inappropriate and it makes them uncomfortable.
In season thirty-five, socially inappropriate humor occurs in episode 35.13 during
the skit, “Randy and Greg sports talk show.” Randy, played by Thompson, and Greg,
played by Hader, host a sports talk show. Greg’s behavior is bizarre. He rarely speaks,
mostly grunts, and generally looks disturbed. In response to caller’s concerns that Greg is
an alien, Randy must state: “Greg is not an alien.” During the show, Greg is sent to do a
live field piece on location in a football stadium. As he is interviewing the teams head
coach, Hamm, Greg attacks Hamm and bites him. Later in the studio, it is revealed that
Greg has now turned Hamm into an alien. As the show continues, Greg continues to turn
various people into aliens until there are nine aliens standing behind Greg’s desk. Greg’s
brutal attack on the football coach is aggressive and socially inappropriate. The audience
laughs at this hostility because they are uncomfortable with violence.
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Invective
Invective humor is seen at a five times greater rate in season thirty-five than in
season one. It is used in 7% of the sketches in season one and 36% of the skits in season 35.
An example of invective in season one occurs during the “president’s view on marijuana”
sketches in episode 1.16. These skits portray the president ineptly attempting to smoke
marijuana. In “president’s view on marijuana 1,” the president tries to roll a joint and fails.
In “president’s view on marijuana 2,” the president uses a rolling device and still fails. In
“president’s view on marijuana 3,” the president attempts to smoke a joint and is once again
unsuccessful. These sketches portray the president as inept, stupid and brainless. This
depiction is invective, and it ridicules and derides the president.
In season thirty-five, invective is used to mock former President Bush during the
opening sketch of episode 35.3. President Barack Obama speaks in response to his recent
Nobel Peace prize. He refers to the awards past winners and what they had to accomplish in
order to receive the prize. He then comments on his own win and states: “I won it for not
being George Bush. To be perfectly honest, this award was a complete surprise as I have
only not been George W. Bush for nine months. But I am deeply honored nonetheless.” By
claiming that he won the Nobel Prize for not being Bush, Armisen indirectly states that
Bush is the opposite of the Nobel Peace Prize. The message of this statement is a direct
invective insult to President Bush.
Wordplay
Wordplay is present in 35% of the sketches in season one, and 58% of the skits in
season thirty-five. An example of wordplay in season one occurs during the Weekend
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Update segment in episode 1.7. The reoccurring character Emily Litella, played by Radner,
appears on Weekend Update with Chase to give her editorial comments. She begins to rant
about the injustice of “busting school children.” She claims “busting school children” is
inhumane, irresponsible and ineffective. She continues on her tirade until Chase interrupts
to inform her that it is not “busting school children,” it is “bussing school children.” Litella
has accidentally changed the word “bussing” students to “busting students.” This simple
word switch is an example of common word play.
In season thirty-five, wordplay is evident in the skit, “La Rivista Della Televisione
con Vinny Vedecci” during episode 35.3. An Italian talk show host named Vinny Vedecci,
played by Hader interviews the actress Drew Barrymore, played by Barrymore. Hader
begins the talk show in Italian until Barrymore interrupts and informs him that she only
speaks English. As the interview continues, he continues to struggle with words and
pronunciation. He asks a question about Barrymore’s first film and inquires: “So, when you
were seven years old you starred in the classic movie, Et?” Barrymore must correct him
with the film’s correct pronunciation, E.T.. E.T. is arguably Barrymore’s most famous and
well-known films, and nearly every viewer knows the correct title of the film. The audience
finds humor in the mix up between the two-letter articulation of her film’s name and
Hader’s monosyllabic sound, et. This simple play on words and sound creates humor.
Knowledge of General Society Versus Specific Information
As previously discussed, there are two types of previous information required for
the understanding of humor. Season one and season thirty-five both contain sketches that
require prior knowledge of general society and prior knowledge of specific information,
yet, the degrees to which these two types of previous information occur vary greatly
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between the seasons. Season one predominantly features the need for knowledge of general
society. Social commentary and relevant cultural issues also mark season one. In contrast,
season thirty-five is dominated by the need for knowledge of specific information. Highly
detailed parodies of people, things and events are common in season thirty-five. The types
of previous information needed vary greatly between season one and season thirty-five.
Season One
The majority of season one’s sketches require knowledge of general society. Broad,
life experience, not specific details, is necessary to find humor in the jokes. However, jokes
that require specific knowledge are still present in season one.
While in the minority, some sketches from season one depend on knowledge of
specific information. The sketch, “commercial for the Norman Bates School of Hotel
Management,” from episode 1.16, is one example of a skit that necessitates precise former
knowledge. In the skit, Perkins plays the role of Norman Bates from his film, Psycho. The
advertisement portrays Bates as the founder of a hotel school of management and
continuously references the character of Bates as well as the film Psycho. He proclaims:
“Best of all, you learn at home, right in the privacy of your own shower.” He tells the
viewer they will learn the tricks of the trade like how to change the linen, how to determine
room rates, and how to improve customer relations by giving them a complimentary
newspaper in the morning. He then holds up the newspaper to reveal the headline: “Los
Angeles Times: Slasher Strikes Again!" He continues by giving the audience a quiz to see if
they are hotel management material. Each question is multiple choice and contains one
answer that refers to Norman Bates and Psycho. Question 1 asks: “A guest loses the key to
her room. Would you…” and Question 2 asks: “Which of the following is the most
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important in running a successful motel?” The answer for both questions is, “C) Hack her to
death with a kitchen knife.” When Perkins begins to ask the audience his third question, he
is interrupted by his “mother”, who calls to him. Perkins places the newspaper over his face
and yells in a female voice to imitate his mother calling to him. In closing, he informs the
audience: “There's no obligation whatsoever… and-and-and no salesman will call.. so-so yy-y-y-you don't have to b-b-bo-bother to lock your door, you know-you can-you can leave
it off the latch.” His “mother” calls to interrupt once again, and Bates responds: “coming
mother!”
The sketch, ‘commercial for the Norman Bates School of Hotel Management,” is a
parody of Perkin’s character Norman Bates and the film Psycho. Without specific prior
knowledge of both the man and the movie, the audience would not understand and
appreciate the skit’s humor. Bates mentions learning from the “privacy of your own
shower.” Recipients of this joke must identify the shower illusion as a direct reference to
the scene in Psycho where Bates murders a women in the shower. When Bates holds up a
newspaper that reveals the ominous ‘slasher’ headline, viewers must know that is is actually
the character Norman Bates who is the murderer. When Norman Bates calls to his
“mother” off screen and then covers his face so he can respond as his mother, he direct
references the fact that in Psycho, Norman Bates has killed his mother but lives with and
speaks to her dead body. Insinuations of murder are featured during the question and
answer portion of the interview, further alluding to the fact that Bates is a murderer. Lastly,
Bates’ closing line, “coming mother,” is a direct quote from perhaps the most infamous line
in the film, Psycho. If the viewers are unaware of these details from the movie, they will be
unable to comprehend the jokes and find no humor in their meanings. For this sketch to be
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humorous, the audience must have a high degree of prior knowledge of specific
information.
Knowledge of General Society
The majority of season one’s sketches demand knowledge of general society for
understanding. Three examples of this broad knowledge include: the ‘police line up’
sketches from episode 1.7, Bergen’s conversation about ‘insecurities’ from episode 1.4, and
the skit ‘black perspective’ from episode 1.4.
There are three “police line up” sketches in season one, episode 1.7. Each skit is
roughly 30 seconds long and all feature Pryor as a member of the criminal line up. In
“police line up 1,” Pryor is positioned in the line up next to Chase in a business suit,
Belushi dressed as a doctor, and a boyscout. To make the situation more extreme, Pryor is
also seen wearing handcuffs. The police officer then asks the victim to identify the criminal,
and she states: “He’s the one in the handcuffs.” In “police lineup 2,” The line up consists of
Pryor, a nun and a refrigerator. The victim responds, “could you open the icebox?” In
“police lineup 3,” Pryor stands in the lineup with three policemen who are all pointing at
him. He is wearing a bandage and appears to have been recently beaten up. Clearly, all
three police lineups have been rigged.
The “police lineup” sketches are ripe with social commentary. Issues of racial
profiling, race relations, prejudices and police brutality are highlighted. These societal
concerns are broad and involve non-specific details. In order to find humor in this satire,
one must have an open mind, a basic life experience, and be somewhat well informed. A
person who is living in the racial turmoil of the times, who is open to new experiences and
who knows general information about the world would have sufficient previous information
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to think the “police lineup” sketches are comical. To comprehend and find humor in these
sketches one must have a prior knowledge of general society.
During episode 1.4, Bergen sits on stage with Radner and has a conversation in
which they discuss their multiple “insecurities.” The women talk extensively about being
self-conscience, their lack of confidence, and their bodies. Radner begins the conversation
by stating: “I want to talk to you about you being so pretty.” She admits that “every time I
am with a pretty girl like that, you know, part of me just wants to wait on you. Polish your
earrings or something.” Then she further confesses that “another part of me just wants to
look at your face and find something wrong with it, ya know? Like I wish you had
something in your teeth, or something hanging out of your nose.” She then makes the bold
acknowledgment: “when I am with you, I feel less feminine.” Bergen responds to Radner’s
truthful statement by saying that everyone has moments of insecurity. The discussion
continues and the women talk about the recent trend of severely skinny women. Bergen
divulges that she “feels awkward around the new little, skinny types. The real tiny ones
with the body shirts and the silky hair, the ones you could break in half.” Radner then
begins to dicuss how difficult and confusing it is to act feminine. She shares an anecdote
from her dating life in which her friends convince her that in order to be feminine on a date,
she must never open up for the door for herself. This advice leads to an awkward encounter
between Radner, her date, and a half closed car door. Bergen responds by asserting that
women need to stop forcing feminine ideals upon themselves and to instead accept
“themselves for who they are.” The sketch concludes with a discussion of the recent ERA
vote. Radner asks Berrgen about the ERA vote that failed to pass, and Bergen uses this
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opportunity to expand upon what the ERZ vote means and how it could have affected
women.
The “insecurities” sketch portrays two women faced with the feminine stereotypes
and ideals of their culture. Radner is the voice of all women. She speaks of feelings of
insecurity, self-doubt, and lack of confidence. She details her personal body issues and how
she feels intimidated by the recent trend towards skinny women. Femininity is a distinct
issue with Radner, and she chronicles her quest to discover what it means to be a woman in
today’s society. Her brutal honesty provides the viewers with social commentary on
contemporary feminist thought and gender discrimination. Bergen’s responses to Radner’s
confessions provide the audience with counter arguments to female prejudices. By telling
women to just be themselves and to not conform to a cultural definition of beauty, Bergen
offers the audience an alternative to society’s rigorous gender definitions. Their discussion
of the ERA provides a specific example of gender issues in current politics and informs the
viewers about the future of feminism. The reference requires some detailed prior
knowledge of the ERA vote, but Bergens’s detailed explanation provides an uninformed
viewer with the necessary background knowledge to understand the conversation.
Otherwise, the rest of the women’s conversation was based solely on the audience’s prior
knowledge of general society and no specific knowledge is necessary. In order to find this
skit humorous, the viewers must have life experience in gender relations, have felt insecure,
and be open minded to feminism and changing gender stereotypes.
In the sketch, “Black perspective,” from episode 1.4, Morris is a talk how host for
the talk show, Black Perspective. His guest on the show is a distinguished author who has
written multiple biting novels such as, “Sharecropper ’75” and “Charcoal City,” that both
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give “enriching insight into the urban black experience.” In a surprise and ironic twist, this
famous author is played by Curtin, a white woman. This racial discrepancy is highlighted
during the interview. Morris acknowledges that her novels suggest a “background steeped
in the traditions of the sharecroppers of the ‘30s.” He then asks: “Where were you raised as
a little girl?” Curtin responds: “I was raised in New York, New York City, to be exact.”
Still attempting to prove that Curtin is a genuine representation of black culture, Morris
assumes Curtin grew up in Harlem and this is where she gained a “street sense that seems to
permeate the core of (her) work.” Curtin corrects him and admits: “Not exactly, Garrett. I
grew up in midtown Manhattan, not far from the studio here, Madiston--Madison and
63rd.” The interview continues and Morris asks Curtin to clarify “Which do you prefer:
‘black,’ ‘Afro-American,’ ‘Negro’...” Curtin jokingly responds: “I prefer simply, ‘jungle
bunny.’ ... ‘black’ is fine, Garrett, ‘black’ is fine. In conclusion, Morris holds up Curtin’s
latest book, “Shadows,” and shows the audience Curtin’s author photo on the book jacket.
The picture reveals Curtin as a black woman, and Morris makes the obvious comment:
“you look nothing at all like your picture.”
Morris’ interview with the Curtin provides intense social commentary on race
relations. The fact that a white person is speaking about what it feels like to be a black
person in today’s society highlights racial interactions. In essence, Curtin represents
stereotypical white culture. She has no knowledge of what it is like to be black, yet she
pretends to understand black culture and the experience of black people. Perhaps most
extreme example of racial commentary is Curtin’s reference to the derogatory term “jungle
bunny.” Both Morris and Cutrin laugh, but it is clear that this jovial response is ironic and
in reality, their reaction is the opposite. This interaction highlights the absurdity of a white
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person deciding what the black race should be called. “Black Perspective” supplies the
audience with powerful social commentary that requires no prior knowledge of specific
information. Viewers do not need to know any details; rather, the audience must have a
broad awareness of current events. The recipients of this skit will find it comical if they are
open minded to racial stereotypes, aware of racism in their culture and have common
knowledge of general society.
Season Thirty-Five
The majority of season thirty-five’s sketches require knowledge of specific
information. One must know explicit details about people, places, things and events in order
to find humor in the skits. However, some jokes that require knowledge of general society
are still present in season thirty-five.
While in the minority, some sketches from season thirty-five depend on knowledge
of general society and require no prior knowledge of specific details. The skit, “The Bidet,”
from episode 35.16, features a couple, Galifinakis and Wigg, who are speaking to a hotel
attendant, Samberg, about the restroom’s bidet. As previously detailed in the section,
“gross” humor, this skit utilizes bathroom jokes to create comedy. Wigg asks if “there’s no
additional charge for using the, uh... bidet? No per use fee or debit system? Galifinakis
continues and questions if “there's a sturdiness to it, the bidet? It can accommodate a fairly
heavy carriage? He furthers the conversation by asking about the water pressure and if it is
possible to “increase the pressure substantially.” This type of foolish, gross humor
continues until the culmination of the skit in which Wigg hands Samberg a soggy dollar bill
as a tip. Galinfinakis admits: “It involves a bidet.”
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No knowledge of specific information is necessary to understand and find humor in
this sketch. The audience only needs to have general bathroom knowledge and the
willingness to hear Galfinakis and Wigg discuss their bathroom needs. Viewers laugh at
their general, inappropriate and explicit references to the bidet, not at any particular detail.
Knowledge of Specific Information
The majority of season thirty-five’s sketches demand knowledge of specific
information for understanding. Three examples of this highly detailed knowledge include:
the ‘opening: Presidential address” sketch from episode 35.3, “Celebrity Ghost Stories”
from episode 35.3, and the skit “New Senator” from episode 35.13.
In the opening sketch of episode, “opening: Presidential address,” Armisen mimics
President Barack Obama during a Presidential Address in which he discusses winning the
Nobel Peace Prize. He begins: “Good evening, my fellow Americans. As most of you are
probably aware, yesterday the news came that I had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.”
He claims that the news came without warning and he did not even receive a telephone call
due to the time difference. He admits that if he had received a phone call he would have
boasted to Hillary Clinton: “"Hey, remember that 3:00 AM call you were so worried about?
It happened. Nobel Peace Prize!" He continues to describe the Nobel Committee and
mentions passed recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. He references Jimmy Carter’s work to
solve international conflicts and Al Gore’s effort to raise awareness about climate change.
He then refers to his own administration and states: “I won it for not being George Bush. To
be perfectly honest, this award was a complete surprise as I have only not been George W.
Bush for nine months. But I am deeply honored nonetheless.” The speech continues and
Obama reveals that just moments ago he won the $70 million jackpot powerball lottery. A
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staffer, played by Wigg, who plays the powerball every week, brings out a large, $70
million check addressed to President Obama. President Obama then concludes by
referencing the sound judgement of his financial team and his wife, Michelle.
The skit, “opening: Presidential Adress,” is full of references to specific details.
First and foremost, the viewers must know President Obama and recognize him from
Armisen’s imitation. Armisen artfully mimics Obama’s speech patterns, vocal inflection,
mannerisms and word choice. By observing these details and applying them to President
Obama, the audience will find humor in the imitation. Armisen’s reference to President
Bush assumes that the audience has prior information about Bush as well as knowledge of
the vast criticisms against him. Hilary Clinton is also mentioned. The quick mention of
Clinton presupposes the viewers’ knowledge that Clinton ran against Obama for
presidency. In addition to prior knowledge of people, the recipients of the sketch must have
detailed knowledge of many events. They must know that President Obama was just
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and that there was controversy surrounding this award. The
audience must also that during the presidential campaign; Clinton ran advertisements
against Obama that referenced a late night phone call. Lastly, the audience must know what
the powerball lottery is, and be able to connect the luck of winning the lottery with
Obama’s recent winning of the Nobel Peace Prize. Without knowledge of these highly
specific details, the audience would not find humor in this skit.
The sketch, “Celebrity Ghost Stories,” from season 35.3, is a promotional
advertisement for a new series on the Biography Chanel that features interviews with
multiple famous celebrities. During these conversations, famous people recount their
encounters with ghosts. The first celebrity to be interviewed is Billy Bob Thorton, imitated
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by Samberg. Samberg appears on screen wearing a backwards-brimmed hat, a leather vest
with nothing underneath and sunglasses pulled down his nose. He has grey hair, a goatee
and tattoos all over his arm. He mimics Thorton’s speaking style by talking out of the side
of his mouth and in a southern twang. He references Thorton’s band and claims that when
in a haunted house, “sometimes I would put on my album and it would sound terrible.” The
next conversation is with Anna Faris, mimicked by Elliot. She is shown on screen wearing
a revealing, tight black tank top and a bright blond wig. She imitates Faris’ ditzy manner of
speech and slightly slurs her words. Elliot claims to have been at a sushi restaurant and seen
a face in her soup. Only after her boyfriend told her it was noodles did she respond: “oh, I
love noodles!” followed by long, drawn out laughter. After Faris, Sharon Osborne is
imitated by Drew Barrymore. Barrymore is seen in a bright red wig and flannel top while
she holds a small lap dog. Barrymore mimics Osborne’s English accent, elongate words and
constantly swears. Osborne is portrayed as a spoiled celebrity when she claims that she is
haunted by ghosts when she arrives home and finds a blouse she has left out mysteriously
folded and put in the drawer. It is revealed that Osborne believes “Mexican ghosts” did this
cleaning. After Osborne, special guest Justin Long emulates Mathew McConaughey. He
appears on screen in long, unwashed hair without a shirt, wearing a shell neclace and
holding a volleyball. He impersonates McConaughey’s voice by speaking in a Californian
accent and slow speech pattern. This speech is best represented in the line: “alright, alright,
alright.” Next, Thompson appears as a special ghost expert who wrote the theme song for
the movie Ghostbusters. He claims that ghosts began haunting him after he wrote the song’s
lyrics. In response, he wrote a new song titled: “On second thought (ghosts scare me very
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much).” Lastly, Slate impersonates Charlene Yi. Yi is wearing a hooded sweatshirt, pigtails
and glasses. She scrunches up her face and states: “I guess I was haunted? I don’t know.”
In order to find humor in Samberg’s imitation, the audience must know Thorton’s
distinct voice, his mannerisms and his style of dress. They also must have previous
knowledge of Thornton’s attempt at creating and starring in a band. To comprehend Elliot’s
mimicry of Faris, viewers must know that Faris traditional portrays promiscuous,
unintelligent blonds. The parody of Osborne is humorous if the recipients of the joke have
previous knowledge that Osborne is from England and constantly uses vulgar language.
The humor of Long’s McConaughey impression is evident if the audience knows
McConaughey’s laid back manner of speaking and his tendency to not wear his shirt. In
order to find humor in Thompson’s appearance as the writer of the Ghostbuster’s theme
song, viewers must know the original Ghostbuster lyrics. Lastly, Slate’s impersonation of
Yi is only understood if the recipient of the joke is familiar with Yi’s distinctive style of
comedy. This sketch is heavily dominated by detailed parodies of celebrities. Without vast
knowledge of pop culture, viewers would not understand the humor in this skit. The
audience must have detailed prior knowledge of specific information of five celebrities and
a popular song in order to understand and participate in the humor.
The sketch, “New Senator,” from episode 35.13, begins in the office of Senator
Harry Reed, played by Will Forte. He is having a meeting with fellow democrats Nancy
Pelosi, Wigg, Robert Byrd, Hader, Barbara Boxer, Pedrad and Barney Frank, Armisen.
They are having a discussion in regards health care reform and mention that the recent
senate election in Massachusetts has disrupted the course of their plans. The group is afraid
that the newly elected Massachusetts’s senator, Scott Brown, will ruin their agenda. Frank
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describes Brown as “Some pretty boy who drives a truck and showed his hiney in
‘Cosmo’.” Just then, a man accidentally barges into the meeting and reveals that he is Scott
Brown. Brown, played by Hamm, then smiles at Boxer, looks to the camera and winks.
Brown exits and Boxer begins to daydream about Brown as a topless doctor who speaks to
her in explicit sexual innuendo. Her fantasy Brown suggestively states: “Oh, hi, Barbara.
How's your health care plan going? You know, I'm against the public option but I can offer
you a pubic option. Because I just found a lump... in my underpants.” Pelosi snaps Boxer
out of her daydream only to be once again interrupted by Brown at the door. Brown stares
at Pelosi and reveals: “I'm looking forward to working... closely with you.” As Brown exits,
Pelosi begins to fantasize about Brown dressed in chaps. Her vision of Brown seductively
says: “Hey there, Nancy, you're the Speaker of the House? Well, I hope you're a screamer
in the bedroom. I want to introduce something to the floor -- it's called... your panties.”
Reed refocuses the meeting, and once again, Brown interrupts them at the door. This time,
Brown looks at Frank and claims: “we have to put partisan politics behind us and be openminded. Trust me, I am open to anything.” As he leaves, Frank begins to daydream about
Brown as a construction worker. His imaginary Brown states: “Hey, Barney! You worried
about a filibuster? Because I'm about to "filibust" out of these jean shorts!” Barney then
extends his fingers and pinches his fantasy Browns butt, before Brown accidentally barges
into the meeting once again. This time, Byrd puts on his glasses to get a good look at
Brown, and Brown winks twice at him. Byrd immediately begins to fantasize in black and
white about Brown dancing as a 1920s flapper. The skit concludes by Reid attempting to
rejoin the meeting while the other democrats continue to think about Brown.
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The skit, “new senator,” contains vast amounts of particular information, and its
success depends entirely on the assumption that the audience has knowledge of this specific
information. Firstly, the viewers must have awareness of the recent senate elections in
Massachusetts. They must recognize the importance of this election in regards to health
care reform and in consideration of the democrats’ power. They must also know that
Senator Scott Brown won the disputed election and as a result, the democrats’ power has
been lessened and the chances that health care reform will pass have been reduced.
Secondly, the audience must have detailed knowledge of Brown, Reid, Pelosi, Boxer, Frank
and Byrd. In particular, recipients of the joke must know that Frank is homosexual. This
knowledge helps the audience find humor in his fantasy of a construction worker. The
audience must also know that Byrd is much older than other politicians. This information
aids the viewers in identifying the humor in his daydream of Brown in black and white
dancing as a flapper. In order to fully understand the humor in this skit, the audience must
have detailed knowledge of multiple events and people. Without this knowledge of specific
information, the skit will not be humorous.
Other Examples of Parodies that Need Specific Information
Season thirty-five is dominated by parodies that require the audience to have vast
amounts of prior knowledge of specific information. Examples of parodies of particular
people in season thirty-five include: Supreme court judge Sonia Sotomayor played by Jenny
Slate, Snooki and the situation from the Jersey Shore played by Moynihan and Hader,
President Obama played by Armsin, Kathy Lee and Hoda played by Wigg and Slate,
Monique played by Thompson, Wolf Blitzer played by Sudekis, Larry King played by
Armisen, Guy Fiori played by Moynihan, Maya Angelou played by Thompson and James
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Carville played by Hader. Parodies of specific things include: Barnes and Noble, the
character Don Draper, and various television shows such as Law & Order, Dr. Oz, Nightly
News and 30 Rock, the Situation Room, The Today Show and Larry King Live. Lastly,
parodies of events include the State of the Union Address and health care reform. The
audience needs prior knowledge of these people, places and things in order to find humor in
the sketches.
The types of comic devices used as well as the necessary types of prior knowledge
required vary greatly between season one and season two. Satire and socially inappropriate
humor are utilized in season one, while parody and invective are frequently used in season
thirty-five. Season one entails the need for prior knowledge of general society, while season
thirty-five requires prior knowledge of specific information. The implications of these
distinctions reflect trends in culture and what current society views as humorous.
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CHAPTER 6
IMPLICATIONS
Variations in humor use and required prior knowledge clearly vary between season
one in 1975 and season thirty-five in 2010. The following section explores the possible
reasons for why the frequency of a particular humor use increases, decreases or remains
stable over time. The type of humor used by a generation reflects what that culture finds
funny. Therefore, these discrepancies illustrate how changes in the use of humor implicate
culture and reveal societal values.
Some Humor Never Changes
There was relatively little change in the use frequency of clownish, logical
implausibility, misunderstanding, irony, and gross humor types. The fact that the
application of these comic devices has remained relatively stable over time suggests that
both the audience of 1975 and the viewers of 2010 find these humor categories comical.
Varying Degrees of Simple Humor
Slapstick and surprise are both types of simple humor that appear in varying degrees
between seasons. Slapstick is prevalent in season one, while surprise is the common choice
for simple humor in season thirty-five. Slapstick evokes laughter in the audience when the
viewer finds humor in the physical comedy of the comedian. In contrast, surprise relies on
visual or verbal incongruity that the spectator is not suspecting. These findings suggest that
the audience of SNL in 1975 responded best to physical humor, while the viewers of SNL
in 2010 better react to the unexpected.
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Self-Deprecation in 1975 and 2010
Self-deprecation is observed in similar frequencies in both seasons, yet the heavy
use of this comedic device in the monologues of season thirty-five’s warrants further
investigation. It is noteworthy that all three hosts of season thirty-five representative three
episodes utilized self-deprecation in their monologues. By ridiculing themselves, the hosts
make the audience feel superior and in turn, downplay their own celebrity. In doing so, the
playing field is leveled and the audience is able to relate to the host on a more personal
level. Once this new relationship has been established, the viewer is able to relate to and
laugh at the host’s jokes. SNL’s current use of host self-deprecation suggests that the
audience of season five requires a host who appears inferior. It is only when the viewers
find the hosts substandard that they connect with them and find humor in their jokes.
Season thirty-five’s heavy use of self-deprecation in monologues is also a way to
give information to the audience in a creative and entertaining manner. By referencing
themselves in a self-deprecating style, hosts also reveal character traits, information about
their pasts, and details about their lives. Zach Galifinakis is a break out star from the movie,
The Hangover, who remains relatively unknown in certain areas of society. During his
monologue, Galifinakis references his involvement in the The Hangover. The disclosure
informs unaware audience members, establishes his credibility, and allows him to relate to
a broader audience. Self-deprecation humor is a method of revealing pertinent information
about the host to the audience.
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Satire and Socially Inappropriate Humor
Satire occurs at a slightly higher frequency in season one than in season thirty-five.
This increase is so slight it would have been deemed insignificant if not for that fact that
season one also experiences a higher rate of socially inappropriate humor as well. Satire
highlights the particular traditions of a society and holds them up for criticism. Socially
inappropriate humor finds comedy in unsuitable topics that are outside the boundaries of
accepted good taste. If a culture’s customs are held up for satire and judged objectionable,
these beliefs will then also be considered in bad taste. Therefore, if the use of satire results
in the utilization of socially inappropriate humor as well, the topic being satirized is also
being criticized and deemed unfavorably.
Episode 1.7 hosted by Richard Pryor is ripe with satiric sketches that feature
socially inappropriate humor. The skit, “taking over the neighborhood,” uses satire to
highlight cultural trends outside the boundaries of acceptability. Akroyd is a bigoted, racist
father who sits at the dinner table with his wife, Curtin, his son, Belushi, and his daughter,
Radner. The character’s speech, mannerisms and wardrobe satirize this family as a typical,
white, middle class family. The sketch begins with Akroyd claiming: “they are taking over!
First they bought the Sweeney's house, and they bought the Thomason's house, and then
they bought the Smith's! Let's face facts here, they're taking over, I'm telling you!” The
phone rings and Radner gets up from the table to answer the call. Akryod’s rant continues:
“They're taking over! Like some kind of flu bug! First one guy at the office is up with the
runs, and then it starts to spread!” His tirade is interrupted by his daughter’s return to the
table. Instead of Radner, a young black woman has taken her place at the family dinner.
The father is oblivious and continues his angry outburst: “It's scary, that's all, it just scares
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me! One day you're living next door to one, and the next day you are working for one!”
Next, the son leaves the table and upon his return, the audience sees he has transformed into
Richard Pryor. Once again, Akroyd remains unaware and his rage persists: “One day one's
Governor, next day one's President, next day one's. Barbra Streisand.. I don't know.” Lastly,
Curtin leaves the table and returns as a black woman as well. The father fails to notice any
change and concludes: “I was saying that they are taking over! I can see it happening all
around me! I know, I've got eyes, I can see!” Akroyd has spent the entire skit ranting about
having to live next to another race, yet in his ignorance; he has remained oblivious to his
family transforming right in front of him. This satire of a traditional, bigoted, white, middle
class family provides harsh social commentary on race relations. Akroyd’s racist comments
about “them taking over” are beyond the limits of accepted good taste. People laugh at his
prejudice because it makes them uncomfortable. By using satire coupled with socially
inappropriate humor, this skit highlights race relations and racial tension in society.
While satire occurs in relatively equal frequencies in both seasons, the high
incidence of socially inappropriate humor in season one suggests that the topics being
satirized in 1975 were problematic societal customs. These topics include race relations,
gender discrimination and drug use. The high frequency of satire and socially inappropriate
humor in season one reveals that the 1975 audience question questions these perceived
cultural norms.
Parody and Invective
Parody occurs at double the rate in season thirty-five as in season one. Parody
makes fun of a specific person, thing or event through impersonation or imitation. Coupled
with this increase in parody is an even steeper rise in the frequency of invective. The use of
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this comedic device is five times as frequent in season thirty-five as in season one. Due to
its personally abrasive nature, invective is often coupled with parody. Just as parody
mimics the personality of a particular person, invective challenges the character of an
individual. Humor in season thirty-five is more personal and more specifically hostile than
comedy in season one.
Episode 35.13 provides an example of harsh invective coupled with parody that
ridicules the character of a specific person. Moynahan mimics Snooki, from the MTV
television show, The Jersey Shore, during an appearance on Weekend Update with Seth
Meyers. During the conversation, Snooki discusses recent contract negotiations between
MTV and The Jersey Shore cast, shows off her hair “poof” body double, and uses many of
her signature catch phrases, such as “smoosh.” Meyers then asks her about her nickname,
and Snooki reveals that she has a new nickname, “Spalding.” When question why, Snooki
responds: “because I’m orange, leathery and get passed around by sweaty dudes.” This
invective ridicules Snooki’s appearance, fashion taste, and sexual exploits. In essence, she
is being called ugly and sexually promiscuous. Particular characteristics are highlighted by
parody and mocked through invective.
Season thirty-five of SNL uses parody to target specific qualities of certain
individuals and ridicules these characteristics through the use of invective. The increase in
invective and parody use over time suggests that the audience of SNL season thirty-five
finds the most humor in personal attacks of character.
Prior Knowledge of General Society and Social Commentary
Season one is marked by large amounts of social commentary and cultural critiques.
These skits highlight broad, general topics such as race relations, gender discrimination,
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prejudices, and drug use. The high prevalence of these controversial topics within season
one suggest that the 1975 audience found these social issues to be of great significance.
This understood importance led to controversial sketches that pushed the limits of
acceptability.
In episode 1.7, Chase interviews Pryor for a job the skit, “word association.” Chase
begins by administering a typical free word association test. Chase says a word, such as
“fast,” and Pryor responds with the first word that comes to mind, such as “slow.” As the
interview progresses, the words become increasingly daring and offensive. Chevy says,
“Negro” to which Pryor responds, “Whitey.” This uncomfortable exchange continues:
“Tarbaby, “Ofray.” “Colored,” “redneck.” “Jungle bunny,” “peckerwood.” “Burrhead,”
“cracker.” “spearchucker,” “white trash.” As their exchange of racially insensitive slurs
continues, the audience becomes more uncomfortable and in tune with the portrayed
racism. The tense conversation concludes when Chase says the ultimate racial slur,
“nigger”. The use of this word shocks the audience and reveals the harsh reality of current
race relations. This skit uses dramatic social commentary to highlight issues of social
injustice.
The use of this extreme social commentary is not seen in season one. The producers
of SNL season thirty-five would not dare risk the criticism that accompanies the use of this
highly offensive language. Season thirty-five carefully uses socially inappropriate humor
and typical associates it with death, aggression and light social taboos. Examples include
Gilly blowing up Gigli in the skit “Gilly” from episode 35.3, Greg attacking the football
coach in “Randy and Greg Sports Talk” from episode 35.13, and Armisen kissing his dead
father during the sketch “kissing family at a funeral” in episode 35.16. The above examples
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make the audience uncomfortable, yet they do not explore the underbelly of society like the
socially inappropriate humor of season one.
Season thirty-one carefully selects slightly unsuitable topics and quietly references
them. In contrast, season one chooses highly disputed issues and thrusts them into the
spotlight. These skits push past the boundaries of what is socially acceptable and expose a
critiqued expose of current culture.
Prior Knowledge of Specific Information and How We Receive It
Season thirty-five’s dependence on parody leads to the need for much prior
knowledge of specific information. The majority of the skits assume that viewers know the
person, thing or event being mimicked. Described in full detail earlier, some of these skits
include: the ‘opening: Presidential address” sketch from episode 35.3 in which Armisen
imitates President Obama, “Celebrity Ghost Stories” from episode 35.3 in which Billy Bob
Thornton, Anna Faris and Sharon Osborne are mimicked, and the skit “new senator” from
episode 35.13 in which Senator Brown, Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank are impersonated.
Season thirty-five’s tendency to utilize specific information suggests that viewers
understand the parodies and that therefore, they have the prior knowledge necessary to
recall past information and find humor in the jokes.
In contrast, parody remains comparatively unused in season one. Instead, skits rely
on the low prior knowledge of general topics and social situations for humor. In these
sketches, only life experience is necessary to understand and find comedy in the jokes.
Unlike season thirty-five, the fact that season one does not center on parodies and personal
humor suggests that perhaps, the audience of 1975 is more concerned with general, societal
issues and less aware of specific details concerning people, things or events. The viewers of
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season one do not have the prior knowledge necessary to evoke previous information and
therefore, SNL season one limits the amount of specific parody utilized.
Why is the audience of SNL season thirty-five able to recall vast amounts of
specific information about various celebrities and politicians, while the viewers of season
one remain limited to broad, general topics and social commentary? Season thirty-five is
produced in a generation where social networking, cable television and the Internet have
made newsgathering quick, easy and ubiquitous. A thirteen year old in Minnesota can
stream the Jonas Brother’s concert live from California, a middle aged business man can
read the latest political scandal on his Kindle, and a college student can watch an unlimited
supply of realty shows on a countless number of cable stations. Information is everywhere.
In 2010, if you do not know that Snooki has a bump, John Edwards has a love child, or that
Simon Cowell is the mean judge on American Idol, you are the minority. Season thirty-five
of SNL relies on parody and exploits this ubiquitous knowledge.
While come humor types have remained stable over the past thirty-five years,
variations in the use of parody, invective, satire and inappropriate humor shed light on
cultural trends and societal attitudes.
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CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSION
Trends in the use of humor use reflect the commonly held beliefs of the audience
who finds that particular use of humor comical. By discovering what type of humor each
season of SNL utilizes most frequently, this study uses a comparative analysis to highlight
what the viewers of that season find most humorous. Through this identification, it is
revealed that the audience of 1975 values drastically different types of humor than the
viewers of season 2010. In the first season of SNL, satire and socially inappropriate humor
are the most frequently used types of comic devices, and prior knowledge of general society
is required for appreciation. In contrast, season thirty-five utilizes parody and invective
most frequently, while prior knowledge of specific information is necessary for
understanding. These changes reveal discrepancies in both the beliefs as well as the method
of information gathering of each generation. The audience of 1975 values social
commentary and finds significance in humor that underscores controversial principles. The
viewers of 2010 appreciate comedy that imitates and personally ridicules specific people,
events and things. Through social networking, omnipresent communication sources, and
innovations in media consumption, this generation is able to identify, understand, and find
humor in these highly specific references. The humor of each SNL season reflects the
values of its viewers and reveals the underlying fundamental beliefs of its audience.
Whether it is 1975, 2010, or any year in between, millions of viewers rely on
Saturday Night Live for their weekly dose of laughter. It has become a lasting tradition and
an institution of American comedy. If its past success serves as a guide, SNL will remain
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both an ongoing, comedic custom of society and also a reflection of what that culture values
and believes. Parents, children and grandchildren alike will be persuaded by those magical
seven words: “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
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APPENDIX
Episode 1.7
Original airdate December 13, 1975
Hosted by RICHARD PRYOR
SKETCH
CAST /
LENGTH
HUMOR
CATEGORIES
ADDITIONAL
NOTES
PRIOR INFO
NEEDED
Opening –
Dan and Jane are out to dinner…
Morris and Chevy are their
waiters… Morris says he wants
to do the opening this week
because Pryor asked him to do
it…Chevy says that’s always his
job… Morris does a bad fall so
Chevy teaches Morris how to
fall… Morris yells the opening
after Chevy falls
Monologue –
- Talks about women, how they
always leave him and tell him
why (real life observations)
- Talks about drunks at a bar
(impersonates drunks at a bar)
- Talks about drugs
(impersonates being on drugs)
- Talks about white guys
(Impersonates being white, with
voice)
Akroyd
Curtin
Chase
Morris
- Slapstick
(Chevy falls)
- Physical
humor
- Relief Theory
-Social
commentary
(Pryor wanted
Morris bc he is
black)
- Prior
knowledge of
race would
highlight the
social
commentary
- Slapstick
(Pryor uses
physical humor
and lies on
floor)
- Satire (Pryor
impersonates a
drunk, a druggie
and a white
man)
- Social
commentary
(impersonates
a white guy)
- Relief Theory
- Physical
Humor
- Superiority
Theory
- Knowledge
of real life
experience
- Prior info
of what
drunks act
like and the
stereotypes
of white
people will
make the
jokes funnier
Samuri Hotel –
- “Samuri Hotel” is written
stereotypical asian bamboo letter
- Belushi is dressed as a
samuri… he is putting letters in
the mailbox of the hotel with a
karata chop
- Chase enters and tried to check
in… samuri belushi only grunts
and swipes sword… uses his
sword to point him in directions
- Pryor enters as the bell boy in a
Belushi
Chase
Pryor
2:00
Pryor
6:15
- Real life
observations
3:30
- Slapstick
(Belushi’s
sword and
swordfight with
Pryor)
- Surprise
(Samuri as a
hotel manager)
- Clownish
(Samuri as a
hotel manager)
- Physical
Humor
-Incongruity
Theory
- Relief Theory
- Exploits
stereotypes
(Asia/samurai)
- Helps if
you know
what a
samurai is
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samuri costume…pryor and
belushi swordfight
Looks at Books –
Curtin
- Curin as host with a special
Pryor
guest, pryor who is an author on
race books
- Pryor has written the books
“White like me”
- pryor says the “only way to
understand the white man’s
2:30
problems” was to become a
white man
- Pryor pretends to be white, and
mimics a white person, and has a
picture of himself as a white
person
Life Insurance –
- life insurance for a
replacement Dad… more than
money, replacement as a
husband and lover too
- Akroyd is first dad, then Chase
comes in as back up dad under
the “new dad” policy
- makes out with new wife
- “Tops in pops” slogan
- Chevy pastes his picture over
akroyds in the family picture
Police Lineup 1 –
- four suspects enter the lineup
(chase in a suit, belushi as a dr,
boy as a boyscout, and pryor in a
robe and handcuffs)
- policeman voice asks woman
to pick the correct suspect… she
says it’s the one in the handcuffs
Word Association –
- Chase is interviewing pryor
and does a psych analysis of
word association
- starts off and then says black,
pryor says white… then goes
into racist words
- Pryor gets mad, chase ends up
giving him the job with extra pay
Chase
Akroyd
Newma
1:30
Chase
Belushi
Pryor
random
:30
Chase
Pryor
2:30
- Satire (Pryor
mimic a white
man.
Commentary on
race)
- Irony (A black
man is trying to
understand the
plight of the
white man)
- Surprise
(Pryor looks
like a white
person in his
photo)
- Surprise (not
expecting a new
man to replace
your husband)
- Wordplay
(Tops in pops
slogan)
- Socially
inappropriate
humor (laugh at
man’s death)
- Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Intellectual
- Highlights
stereotypes
- Social
Commentary
(on race)
- Yes, some
- Prior
knowledge of
pop culture
(“Black like
me”
- Prior
knowledge of
race relations
- Insurance
- Death
- Family
- Not really
- Satire
(Commentary
on race and the
police)
- Socially
inappropriate
humor (Racism)
- Race
- Relief Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Intellectual
- Relief Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
- Social
commentary
- Intellectual
- Surprise (not
- Race
expecting Chase -Inappropriate
to ask racially
words
insensitive
- Relief theory
words)
- Social
- Wordplay
Commentary
(Word
(Racial slag
association)
and prejudice
- Socially
words)
- Not really
- Background
info on race
relations and
the police
- Yes, some
- Knowledge
of racial
slang and
race relations
needed
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and benefits
Taking Over the Neighborhood –
- Stereotypical white middle
class bigot family sits down to
dinner
- father is talking to his family
about how “they” are taking over
the neighborhood
- first mom leaves, then son, then
daughter, and each one comes
back as a black person
- the original white family is
very typecast as a typical “white
family”, and when their black
counterparts come back, they are
acting in a similar stereotypically
“white” manner
Pryor
Belushi
Akroyd
Radner
Curtin
Random
Random
2:00
inappropriate
humor (Racially
insensitive
words. Racism)
- Satire (of
race’s effect on
hiring practices)
- Satire (Pryor
and other black
character
imitate the
white
characters) (the
family acts like
a stereotypical
bigot “white
family”)
- Socially
inappropriate
humor (race
relations, a
bigot racist
family)
- Irony (bigot is
now surrounded
by a black
family and
doesn’t even
realize it… says
soon they will
be at your own
table)
- Surprise (The
white character
come back into
the scene as
black
characters)
- Intellectual
-Incongruity
Theory
- Relief Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Social
commentary
(on race…
“taking over”)
(and on
feminism…
when curtin
leaves the table
she does so to
clean, because
that “is a
women’s job”)
- Intellectual
- Superiority
Theory
- Relief Theory
- Incongruity
Theory
- Not really
- Prior info
on race
relations
Weekend Update –
Emily Litella –
- appears in an editorial against
“busting school children”
- she is outraged… until chase
lets her know it’s actually
Chase
Radner
1:30
-Misunderstand. - Intellectual
(Litella
-Incongruity
confuses the
Theory
words
“bussing” and
- Not Really
- Knowledge
of the words
86
87
“bussing school children”
Headmaster of school for the
Hard of Hearing –
- Morris appears and yells the
nights headlines for those who
can’t hear well
“busting”
- Wordplay
(“bussing” and
“Busting”)
Chase
Morris
:30
Police Line Up 2 –
- Police line up with Pryor, a
refrigerator, and a nun… so
obviously the women chooses
Pryor
Pryor
Curtin
Military Death Pill –
- a military general (akroyd)
shows personnel (pryor) the
latest military innovations that
he will be taking on his mission
- take this thing and this thing
and “take this pill”
- so pryor takes the pill (he
swallows it)… only to find out
akroy meant take it on your
mission with you because it will
kill someone in 12 seconds
- the pryor dies
Police Line Up 3 –
- five people in line up… pryor
and 4 cops who are all pointing
their fingers at him
Akroyd
Pryor
:15
1:00
Pryor
:30
- Satire (of aids
for the hard of
hearing)
- Socially
inappropriate
humor (Race
relations)
- Satire (race
relations and
police)
- Logical
Implausibility
(Fridge in the
lineup. “open
the fridge
please”)
- Wordplay
(take or take)
- Slapstick
(Pryor falls to
the floor)
-Misunderstand.
(Pryor
misinterprets
Akroyd)
- Socially
inappropriate
humor (Pryor
dies)
- Socially
inappropriate
humor (Race
relations)
- Disabled
people
- Intellectual
- Superiority
Theory
- Not really
- Social
commentary
(race relations)
- Intellectual
- Relief Theory
- Superiority
Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
- Not really
- Background
info on race
relations and
the police
- Physical
- Not really
- Intellectual
-Incongruity
Theory
- Relief Theory
- Social
commentary
(race relations)
- Intellectual
- Not really
- Background
info on race
relations and
87
88
Exorcism –
- pryor and random are priests
called into curtins house to do an
exorcism on her daughter
(newman)
- pryor is scared at first, random
tells him not to be
- Girl is crazy and possessed…
yells filthy things at them with
foul language
- Girl drops bad on Pryor’s foot
- Girl tricks pryor multiple times
and gets him every time
Pryor
Curtin
Newma
Random
4:45
Audience Member Yelling –
Pryor
- audience member yells to pryor Random
about knowing information
about the assassinations and
what was real
:30
- then he gets shot
Monologue 2 –
Pryor
- Impersonates grandmother…
an old, outspoken woman
- Impersonates druggie who goes
to jail and wants his job back of
8:00
processing licenses in jail
- Talks about dealing with the
white man
- Satire (race
relations and
police)
- Relief Theory the police is
- Superiority
needed
Theory
- Parody
(Imitation of the
movie the
exorcist)
- Socially
inappropriate
humor (Girl is
possessed and
shouts
obscenities)
- Slapstick
(Pryor gets beat
up and attacked
by possessed
girl)
- Surprise
(Little girl is
possessed and
swearing)
- Physical
humor
- Pop Culture
- film reference
- Relief Theory
- Superiority
Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
- Yes
- Knowledge
about the
movie the
Exorcist
- But, if not
still funny
(due to the
physical
humor)
- Socially
inappropriate
humor (Man
gets shot and
dies)
- Slapstick (guy
falls)
- Irony (talking
about
assassination,
and then he gets
assassinated)
- Satire (of a
white person)
(and a druggie)
- Slapstick
(Physical
impersonations)
- Race
- Assassinatio
- Social
Commentary
(race,
assassination
conspiracy)
- Political
- Relief Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Yes, some
- Knowledge
of
assassination
s
- still funny
because the
guy falls
- Social
- Not really
commentary
(race,
employment,
jail)
- Race
- Physical
- Relief Theory
- Superiority
Theory
88
89
Closing Credits –
Cast surrounds Pryor with food
Episode 1.4
Original airdate November 8, 1975
Hosted by CANDICE BERGEN
SKETCH
CAST /
LENGTH
HUMOR
CATEGORIES
ADDITIONAL
NOTES
Opening –
- Chase as Ford… with subtitles
“this is not actually the
President, but he thinks he is”
- Chase stumbles through his
presidential speech and falls
down a lot and miss pours water
Chase
- Parody (Chase
as President
Ford)
- Wordplay
(Use of
subtitles)
- Slapstick
(Chase falls)
- Political
- President
Monologue –
- talks about being the first
woman host… mentions that this
still doesn’t make up for the
ERA vote
- Belushi dressed in a Bee
costume stands by Bergen…
chase come out and says “you
have a bee on you”
- Chase shoos the bee and the
see talks back
- We’ll “bee” right back
Ad for Ambassadors –
-International Ambassador
Training Institute
Bergen
Chase
Belushi
- Slapstick
(Chase hits the
be Belushi)
- Wordplay
(We’ll “bee”
right back)
- Logical
implausibility
(A huge Bee)
- Clownish
(Man dressed as
a Bee)
- Satire
(Ambassadorshi
p and who
- Incongruity
Theory
- Relief Theory
- Social
Commentary
(The ERA vote
-feminism
commentary)
2:15
2:00
PRIOR INFO
NEEDED
- Yes, some
- Prior
knowledge of
- Physical
Pres. Ford
- Intellectual
- Slapstick
- Relief Theory fall makes it
- Superiority
funny
Theory
without prior
knowledge
- Not
really…
Most humor
based on the
silliness of
the Bee
- Knowledge
of the ERA
vote
- Physical
- Visual Pun
- Social
- Yes, some
Commentary
- Knowledge
- Relief Theory of what an
89
90
- begins with wife and husband
in stereotypical roles and
husband is unhappy with his job
- voice over suggests becoming
an ambassador… claims you get
all the attention, can do what you
want, and no need to be smart)
CIA Desk –
- Akroyd is a CIA agent and he
is totally disorganized, and his
desk is an absolute mess
- he receives a phone call about
the presidential change and says
“always the last to know” as he
changes the president to Bush
- Morris enters and asks to see
the file on himself
- Akroyd informs him the place
is too messy to find his file, and
asks him to give him some
information about himself so
they can find it
- Morris then inadvertently
reveals all of the crimes he has
committed so that he can try to
find his file
- When Morris leaves, Akroyd
calls him in and reports his file
Landshark (Jaws II) –
- Women answer their doors for
various clownish reasons, and
each time it is the “landshark”
who then eats them
- Landshark comes up with
funny reasons for them having to
answer the door
- see a parody of the captain and
crew from jaws and they are
talking about the horrible
landshark
- Akroyd (as crew member) calls
guy (Wallace) to tell him his
wife was just eaten by the
landshark and says “I have good
news, I’m having a party, the
bad news is that you’ll be
1:45
Akroyd
Morris
3:30
Chase
Radner
Akroyd
Belushi
Newma
Curtin
Bergen
Morris
4:00
becomes an
ambassador)
- Political
ambassador
is and what
one does
- Satire (of CIA
offices)
- Irony (CIA
seems stupid,
but he actually
just tricked
Morris into
incriminating
himself)
- Superiority
Theory (Laugh
at how stupid
CIA is)…
(Laugh
because Morris
is inadvertently
incriminating
himself)
- Social
commentary
(CIA Practices
– did not even
know about the
new president)
(people’s
paranoia)
- Physical
humor
- Intellectual
- Not really
- Knowledge
of the CIA
and it’s
practices
- Parody
(Imitations of
the movie jaws)
(Imitation of the
characters in
Jaws, like the
captain)
- Clownish (the
reasons the
shark gives for
answering the
door… but then
the women fall
for them)
- Logical
implausibility
(Shark on land
is the most
- film reference - Yes
- pop culture
- Knowledge
of the movie
- Intellectual
Jaws
- Physical
- But, still
- Incongruity
funny with
Theory
no prior due
- Superiority
to the
Theory
physical
- Relief Theory humor
90
91
coming stag”
- Landshark eats radner,
newman, and curtin
- Landshark knocks on Bergens
door and she was just listening to
a report on the land shark… so
she opens the door and hits the
shark… but it ends up really
being a salesman and she knocks
out Morris
“notorious
predator”)
- Irony (when
the final women
is smart and
thinks it’s the
land shark, she
hits the person
and it’s really
just a salesman)
- Wordplay
(Akroyd’s quip
about going
stag to Wallace
on the phone)
- Socially
inappropriate
humor (The
shark kills
people)
- Slapstick (See
shark eating
people)
Commercial for Long Distance
Calling Plan –
- VO says long distance calling
plan so you can call mom
- two guys, one guy calls his
mom
- shows the one guy dressing up
like his mom when he was little
- ends with “It is the next best
thing to being her” (making
reference to calling and “being
here” and then dressing up as a
woman and “being her”
Weekend Update –
-Wordplay (Pun
on the words
“Here” and
“Her”)
- Surprise (not
expecting the
word play)
Commercial for Arthritis –
- show hands just rubbing each
other while a voice over talks
about inflammation and living
with arthritis
- Ad for drugs… but then the
hands can’t get the pill bottle
Random
:45
Hands
VO
:45
- Social
commentary
(homosexual)
… side: gay
rights groups
petitioned to
have this
sketch
removed
-Incongruity
Theory
- Intellectual
- Irony (drugs
- Feminism
for arthritis
- Superiority
have child proof Theory
tops, but then
patient can’t get
them open)
- Not really
- Not really
91
92
open
Chase
Morris
Congresswomen Jane Curtin –
- gives a serious editorial
- Chase is making faces in the
background and mocking her as 1:30
she speaks
- says SNL gets criticized for not
presenting opposing sides… so
they are doing this editorial to
present the opposing sides
Headmaster for the Hard of
Hearing
- Morris appears and yells the
nights headlines for those who
can’t hear well
Curtin
Chase
:30
Commercial for Perfume –
Bergen
- Bergen as a French actress with
an accent selling Chanel perfume
- she says it’s so hard being this
beautiful and famous
1:00
Insecurities (Mini Mono) –
- Bergen and Radner sit and talk
about their insecurities
- Radner talks to Bergen about
her being so pretty… and wants
to know about times Bergen
feels insecure
- Poke fun at themselves and
Bergen
Radner
3:30
- Slapstick
(Chase’s
clownish faces)
- Irony (Curtin
is seriously
presenting the
opposing news
to show how
absurd it is)
- Clownish
(Chase makes
clownish faces)
- Satire (of aids
for the hard of
hearing)
- Clownish
(Morris yelling)
- Parody
(perfume
commercials)
(actresses/mode
ls that take
themselves too
seriously)
- Slapstick
(Bergen sits up
and the perfume
is stuck to her
head)
- Self
Deprecation
(Talk about
everything that
is wrong with
them)
- Satire (women
and how they
- Social
- Not really
commentary
(feminism)
- Physical
- Intellectual
- Political
- Superiority
Theory
- Relief Theory
- Social
commentary
(On how our
society helps
disabled
people) –
Superiority
Theory
- Pop culture
- Not really
- Social
commentary
(Feminism )
- Superiority
Theory
- Politics (ERA
vote)
- Intellectual
- Yes, some
- Prior info
on women’s
rights
- But not
much
information
is needed
- Yes, some
- Knowledge
- Physical
of perfume
- Intellectual
commercials
- Relief Theory - Still funny
- Superiority
due to
Theory
slapstick
92
93
their insecurities
- Talk about this bodies and
being feminine
- Talk about voting ERA
Midnight Probe –
- Bergen is host of a talk show
- Akroyd and Belushi are guests
on her show… they are Kiwi
trappers who trap the
“dangerous” (not really) kiwi
brids
- the trappers take themselves
very seriously, but it is clear that
their job is not dangerous
talk to each
other)
Bergen
Belushi
Akroyd
3:30
Trans America Airlines –
Newma
- Sketchy, sadistic guy calls trans Random
America airlines and creepyli
talks to and threatens the
:45
receptionist (Newman)
- receptionist responds how she
was trained and how they always
do… “thank you for calling etc”
Interview with Leader –
Bergen
- Bergen sits down with the
Belushi
leader from a third world
country (Belushi)
- The leader seems very nice, but
Bergen continues to insult him
3:30
and egg him on
- she calls him a “rag head”
- Bergen continuously provokes
him with both words and
physical assaults
- Finally, Belushi has had
enough and he orders her to be
- Slapstick
(Trappers
attempt to trap
Bergen the
host)
- Clownish (the
trappers act
clownish)
- Irony (The
trappers act like
kiwi trapper is
really hard and
dangerous. But
in reality the
audience knows
it is not)
- Physical
- Not really
- Superiority
Theory
- Incongruity
Theory
- Relief Theory
- Socially
inappropriate
humor (The
man threatens
the woman’s
life with
sadistic threats)
- Surprise (Do
not expect the
representative
to respond how
she does)
- Satire (of a
news journalist
and journalism
ethics)
- Surprise (Do
not expect the
journalist to
attack the leader
the way she
does)
- Crude and
- Not really
foul language
- Relief Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
- Insensitive
racist language
(rag head)
- Physical
comedy
- Social
commentary
(news
reporting)
- Superiority
Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
- Yes, some
- Knowledge
on news
organizations
and their
practices
93
94
sentenced to death
- then Bergen turns to her news
crew and declares, see, this
country in the middle east is lead
by a ruthless dictator!
Black Perspective –
- Morris has a talk show called
“Black Perspective”
- he has a guest on his show who
claims to be an expert on black
history (Curtin)
- Curtin writes about black
culture and life as a black person
- but she admits that she grew up
in midtown Manhattan
- when asked what she thinks the
black community should be
called, she jokes “jungle” then
laughs and says no, black
- The picture of the author in the
book that she wrote is of a black
woman, and Curtin claims this is
her picture
Curtin
Morris
2:45
- Irony (white
person talking
about life as a
black person)
- Satire (White
people who act
as though they
fully understand
black culture)
- Surprise
(Curtin’s author
picture in her
book is of a
black woman)
- Social
commentary
(on white
people who
assume they
know what it is
like to be
black)
- Racially
insensitive
language
- Race
relations
- Superiority
Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
- Yes, some
- Knowledge
of race
relations
Closing Credits –
- Cast gives Bergen flowers
94
95
Episode 1.16
Original airdate March 13, 1976,
Hosted by ANTHONY PERKINS
SKETCH
CAST /
LENGTH
HUMOR
CATEGORIES
ADDITIONAL
NOTES
Opening –
Chase
- Chevy Chase is answering
viewer mailbag and responds to
critics that SNL draws skis out
and extends them to make up
time and fill space
- says that he is offended and
3:30
they SNL never does this. SNL
is always tight, rehearsed and
concise
- Yet as he is saying this he is
purposefully drawing out his
statements and wasting time
(Uses lots of ums, pauses, and
relies on excess explanation. He
even stands up and then sits back
down. Then he lights a cigar to
sit and chat)
- Irony (Chase
is wasting so
much time to
say that he
doesn’t waste
time)
- Slapstick
(Chase falls off
desk)
- Clownish
(Chase’s
general attitude)
- Self
deprecation
(makes fun of
SNL)
- SNL
- Yes, some
- Incongruity
- Knowledge
Theory
of SNL
- Relief Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Physical
humor
Monologue –
Perkins
- He talks about the outrageous
characters that he has played.
- Says that he really is nothing
like the crazy characters he plays
- But then he references the
4:30
many characters he has played
- A fly buzzes on screen and he
eats it
- He peels off a band aid slowly
and likes to feel the pain
- He says that he is superstitious
and has good luck panties. When
he cannot find these panties he
throws a tantrum and goes crazy.
He finally finds the panties and
he sniffs them.
- Self
deprecation
(makes fun of
his characters)
- Irony (says he
is not like the
characters he
plays, but then
he acts like
them)
- Surprise (He
eats the fly. He
sniffs the
panties)
- Gross Humor
(He smells the
panties)
- Pop Culture
- Yes
- film reference - Knowledge
of Perkin’s
- Topical
acting career
and his
- Relief Theory characters
-Incongruity
- But gross
Theory
humor is
- Superiority
funny
Theory
regardless
President’s View on Marijuana 1
- Parody (of the
- Drugs
VO
PRIOR INFO
NEEDED
- Not really
95
96
–
- President’s hands are on screen
(but no face is seen)
- President says that since there
has been so much talk about
legalizing marijuana he might as
well try it. So the president
attempts to roll a joint
- But the president cannot roll a
joint, and he struggles with it
Hello Dolly Doctor –
- The patient (Curtin) is visiting
a new psychologist (Perkins)
- Curtin starts discussing her
problems with the doctor
- In the middle of her sentence,
Perkins starts singing Hello
Dolly.
- At first, Curtin ignores Perkins
and continues trying to talk. But
soon, she starts singing Hello
Dolly with him. They even begin
to dance together to the song.
- At the end, he says that he will
see her next week for a new song
Dominatrix Maids –
- Radner is a disheveled
housewife who wants to learn
how to clean a house better
- So Radner hires a maid from a
service that she read about in
“The Village Voice”. The helper
is described as a “clean freak”
who is “very strict” and will help
with “S & M”. Radner takes this
to mean she will help her with
her scrubbing and mopping.
- Curtin arrives as the maid
helper, and it is clean to the
audience that the “maid” is
really a hired dominatrix.
- Radner remains clueless, and
1:15
Perkins
Curtin
2:15
Curtin
Radner
5:00
president)
- Invective
(making fun of
the president)
- Absurdity
(President
smoking pot)
- Surprise (do
not expect the
doctor to start
singing to his
patient)
- Clownish
(dancing
together and
singing)
- Satire (of
physiologists
and their
practices)
-Misunderstand.
(Radner
confuses an ad
for a dominatrix
as an ad for a
maid) (Radner
doesn’t know
what is going
on but he
audience does)
- Wordplay
(Radner thinks
S & M stands
for “Scrubbing
and mopping”)
(Radner also
misunderstands
- President
- Superiority
Theory
- Topical
-Incongruity
Theory
- Social
commentary
(On marijuana
and its
legalization)
- Political
humor
- Psychologist
- Prior
knowledge of
president and
marijuana
- Not really
- Social
commentary
(on the validity
of psychology)
-Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Dominatrix
- Sexual
actions
- women in the
house
(Feminism –
the women
wants to learn
how to clean
the house
better)
- Yes, some
- Knowledge
of dominatrix
- A reference
to “the
Village
Voice” in the
beginning
gives away
the
misunderstan
ding earlier
- Relief Theory and makes it
-Incongruity
funnier
Theory
96
97
wants Curtin the dominatrix to
teach her how to clean.
- Curtin responds by being a
dominatrix.
- Neither woman ever discovers
what the other one really wanted
Commercial for the Norman
Bates School of Hotel
Management –
- Perkins plays his character,
Norman Bates from the movie
Psycho.
- Perkins makes several
references to scenes from the
movie in relation
Perkins
President’s Views on Marijuana
2–
- Only see the president’s hands
and hear his voice over
- The president is still trying to
roll a joint. He brings out a tool
to try to help him, but he still
cannot roll a joint
Hands
VO
2:45
:30
the descriptions
of “cleaning
freak” and
“very stick”)
- Slapstick
(Curtin as the
dominatrix
maid whips
Radner)
- Parody
(Perkins is
playing his
Bates character
as if he is a real
person)
- Socially
inappropriate
humor (talks
about killing
people)
- Parody (of the
president)
- Invective
(making fun of
the president)
- Logical
Implausibility
(President
smoking pot)
- Physical
humor
- Pop culture
- film reference
- Relief Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Topical
- Yes
- Knowledge
of Psycho
and the
character
Norman
Bates
- Drugs
- President
-Incongruity
Theory
- Not really
- Prior
knowledge of
president and
marijuana
- Topical
- Superiority
Theory
- Social
commentary
(on drug use)
- Political
humor
Weekend Update –
Message –
- Close up of a bald man with
various diagrams drawn on his
face that highlight different
sections of the human head
- Voice over explains the
diagrams. Telling the audience
that “this is the nasal center” and
“this is the sinus center”
- Then the head rotates to reveal
Random
VO
1:00
- Word play
(Puns – play on
the double
meaning of the
term “center” to
mean both a
designated area
in the human
head, and a
landmark)
- Environment
-Incongruity
Theory
- Social
commentary
(on
environmental
awareness.
“Land is
- Not really
- Must know
the meaning
of the words
- Knowledge
of Lincoln
center
97
98
more diagrams, and the voice
over explains, “this is the
shopping center”, and “this is the
Lincoln center”
- Closing ling: “land is scarce,
use your head”
(also pun with
phrase: “use
your head”)
- Surprise (the
message begins
like an ad for a
nasal drug, and
then reveals the
pun)
Meteorologist John Belushi –
- Belushi is a guest with Chase
on Weekend Update and is the
meteorologist.
- He discusses the phrase
“March comes in like a lion and
out like a lamb”. He then
compares this phrase to its
interpretation in other cultures
- Chase looks bored
- Belushi gets really into
reporting on the cultural
variations of the phrase: “some
cultures say Marchhops in like a
kangaroo, and then stays a
kangaroo for a while”
- Chase tells Belushi to call
down. Belushi flips out and
ultimately falls off his chair
Belushi
Chase
Emily Litella –
- Litella is played by Radner.
Radner calls in to talk with
Chase as a guest on Weekend
Update.
- Radner replies to an editorial
- Radner says that she thinks
people are way too concerned
with preserving our country’s
natural “race horses”
- Chase informs her it is actually
Radner
Chase
2:00
1:15
- Slapstick
- Word play
(variations on
lion and lamb)
- Satire (of
meteorologist
and their news
stories)
- Clownish
(Belushi’s
behavior)
scarce, use
your head”)
- Cultures
- News
reporters
- Weather
- Relief Theory
- Not really
- Some
knowledge
on the phrase
and other
cultures
- Physical
humor
- Word play
- Environment
(pun)
-Incongruity
(Resources as
Theory
“race horses”)
(Chevt Chase as
“Chedder
Cheese”)
-Misunderstand.
(Radner thinks
that people are
concerned about
- Not really
- Knowledge
of the words
98
99
our country’s natural resources.
- Radner then asks if she is
talking to “Chedder Cheese”
- Chase says, no, it’s Chevy
Chase. And Radner Hangs up.
The “Hi” Affair –
- Perkins sits down with a
coworker in a café on a first date
- They discuss the effect of the
word “hi”. They come to the
conclusion that “Hi” is what led
them to this date and their affair
- Then Perkins stops the small
talk and asks Radner if she
would sleep with him. He is very
matter of fact about the affair
- He says he is married so they
can’t go back to his house, but
he knows that the janitor’s closet
will be open for another 45
minutes.
- Then their waitress, Curtin,
comes over to their table and
says “hi”
- As Perkins is leaving with
Radner, many women start to
say “hi” to him.
- Perkins then breaks character
to talk to the muppets which are
on the side of the set
- The muppet says that he could
pretend to be Emily Litella and
says he heard someone order a
toasted “Muppet”. Perkins
corrects him and says that it was
a toasted muffin.
President’s View on Marijuana 3
–
- The president is still trying to
roll a joint and smoke marijuana
- He continues to fail
race horses
when it’s really
resources)
Perkins
Curtin
Radner
Random
5:45
- Satire (of an
affair. The
bluntness of this
affair highlights
the prevalence
of affairs in our
culture)
- Word play
(double
entendre with
the use of the
word “hi”)
- Dating
relationships
- Affairs
- Sexual
actions
- Superiority
Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
- Not really
- Social
commentary
(on affairs)
- Word play
(pun) (Muffin is
“Muppet””)
Hands
VO
:45
- Parody (of the
president)
- Invective
(making fun of
the president)
- Logical
Implausibility
(President
- Drugs
- President
- Superiority
Theory
- Topical
-Incongruity
Theory
- Social
- Not really
- Prior
knowledge of
president and
marijuana
99
100
smoking pot)
commentary
(On marijuana
and its
legalization)
- Political
humor
- Clownish
(Belushi sticks
his own bee
antennas in his
mouth)
- Surprise (the
B the student
received is an
actual bee. And
the B+ is a bee
with a baby)
(the bee talks)
- Word play
(Pun) (a B is
also a bee)
- Academia
- Word play
(Each trailer has
a title that is a
play on words)
(Each trailer has
a theme song
that is a play on
words)
- Parody (Each
movie is an
imitation of a
cheep horror
movie)
- Self
deprecation
(Perkins is
making fun of
- film reference
-Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
Short film by Gary Wiess –
Getting a “Bee” –
- A student, Newman, goes to
see her professor, Perkins, about
her Philosophy paper because he
gave her the grade of a B.
- When she says she got a B, an
actual bee enters behind her
(Belushi dressed in a bee
costume)
- As Perkins tells Newman why
she did not deserve higher than a
B, Belushi wanders around the
office as the bee. He acts
ridiculous and sticks his own
antennas in his mouth.
- After Newman talks to the
teacher and convinces him to
raise her grade. Perkins gives
Newman a B+, and hands her a
baby bee to match Belushi in a
bee costume
Perkin’s New Horror Films –
- Perkins tells the audience that
beside his well known horror
films like Psycho, he has made
many cheap horror movies
- He then shows trailers for four
of the cheap horror movies he
was in. Each trailer is complete
with a title, theme song, and plot
- “Horror Lunch” – Curtin and
Newman are out to lunch and the
waiter, Perkins, brings them the
wrong meals. Both scream the
classic horror scream
- “Dressed to Kill” – Radner is
married to Perkins. She comes
home with a new outfit and
Belushi
Newma
Perkins
Random
2:30
Perkins
Radner
Curtin
Newma
4:45
- Not really
-Incongruity
Theory
- Intellectual
humor
- Yes
- Knowledge
of typical,
cheep, horror
movies
- Topical
100
101
shows her husband. The outfit is
a dress covered in knives. She
then gives her husband and hug
and accidentally kills him
- “Driven to School” – Perkins
plays the parts of both the
mother and the son. It is about a
boy being driven to school by his
mom
Butt County Dance –
- The setting is a high school
dance in Butt county that is run
by the local sheriffs
- Two teenagers are selected
from the dance and as a rewards
the police run background
checks on them
Akroyd
Perkins
Belushi
Curtin
Newma
himself for
being a star of
horror movies)
- Slapstick
(Character
yelling)
- Socially
inappropriate
Humor (people
die)
- Word play
(Butt county)
- Satire (of a
small town
sheriff
department)
- Police
- High school
-Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Not really
3:00
End – Perkins is surrounded by
the cast members
Episode 35.3
Original airdate October 10, 2009
Hosted by DREW BARRYMORE
SKETCH
CAST /
LENGTH
Opening: Presidential Adress –
Armisen
- It is the Presidential Address,
Wigg
and Armisen imitates President
Obama
- Armisen speaks about his
3:00
recent Nobel peace price.
Mentions past winners and their
accomplishments. Then says the
reason he won is because he isn’t
Bush.
- Mentions how he wants to rub
this in Hilary Clinton’s face
- Then announces he just won
HUMOR
CATEGORIES
ADDITIONAL
NOTES
PRIOR INFO
NEEDED
- Parody
(imitation of
Obama)
- Invective
(makes fun of
Bush)
- Irony
(Obama wins
the Nobel Prize,
and then also
gets lucky and
wins the lottery)
- President
Obama
- Hilary
Clinton
- Nobel Peace
Price
- George Bush
- Yes
- Knowledge
need to know
about the
presidency
(Both
Obama,
Clinton and
Bush)
- Political
101
102
the lottery. And Wigg gives him
a huge lottery check.
Monologue –
- Talks about how this is her
sixth time hosting, her first time
when she was six
- She says acting is in her blood
and her family has been in the
movies for years. She then
shows clips from her “family”
acting.
- Various cast members imitate
Barrymore’s acting. Barrymore
also imitates her own acting.
Gilly –
- A teacher (Forte) is doing show
and tell with his class. Student
One (Moynahan) talks about his
crazy like with his grandma.
Student Two (Thompson) has
two broken arms. Student three
(Elliot) acts like a ditsy blond.
And student four (Wigg) is
Gilly, an odd and mischievous
girl.
- The teacher introduces a new
student from Italy. Her name is
Gigli (Barrymore) and she looks
and acts exactly like Gilly.
- Someone keeps throwing
things at the teacher and
disrupting the teacher.
- The teacher starts accusing
different students. When he
accuses student one, he mentions
life with his grandma. When he
accuses student two, he shows
that he cannot because he has
two broken arms. When he
accuses student three, she says in
a ditzy voice that it is obviously
Gilly. The teacher never suspects
Gilly first.
- Gilly and Gigli are working
Barrymo
Moynah
Wigg
Hader
Elliot
Samber
Pedrad
Slate
Thomps
4:15
Wigg
Barrymo
Thomps
Moynah
Elliot
Forte
6:00
- Parody
(Wigg, and
Barrymore
herself parodies
Barrymore)
- Self
deprecating
(Barrymore
makes fun of
herself)
- Surprise (Men
imitated
Barrymore as
well)
- Slapstick
(Things are
thrown at the
teacher,
students head
shoved through
painting)
- Socially
inappropriate
humor
(Gilly blows up
Gigli)
- Irony (teacher
accuses
Thompson of
acting out, but
both his arms
are broken)
- Wordplay
(Moynahan says
– “sock
puppets? I
thought you
meant socks for
a puppet”)
(Gigli
constantly
reinterprets
Gilly’s sayings
into Italian)
- Actress
- Pop culture
- Superiority
Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
- Yes
- Knowledge
of Barrymore
and how she
acts. Need to
know her as
an actress.
- Class room
- teacher and
students
- Not really
- Knowledge
of the Gilly
sketch and
that Gigli is a
parody of
Gilly
- Superiority
Theory
- Incongruity
Theory
- Relief Theory
- Physical
humor
102
103
together to disrupt the class.
- Gilly and Gigli drink wine and
smoke during class. They do not
get into any real trouble.
- Finally, Gilly blows Gigli up.
Celebrity Ghost Stories –
- A promo for a new series on
the Biography channel called
Celebrity Ghost Stories.
Celebrities talk about their
experiences with ghosts.
- Samberg imitates Billy Bob
Thornton
- Elliot imitates Anna Faris
- Barrymore imitates Sharon
Osborne. Osborne claims to have
seen “Mexican ghosts”
(Armisen) dong yard work
- Special guest Justin Long
imitates Mathen McConaughey
- Thompson appears as the ghost
expert who wrote the theme song
for Ghostbusters. Says he had to
change the album to “On second
thought (ghosts scare me very
much)”
- Slate imitates Charlene Yi.
Samber
Elliot
Barrymo
Armisen
(Long)
Thomps
4:15
- Surprise
(Student two
makes a boat
out of a block
of cheese with
his teeth) (Gilly
and Gigli drink
and smoke)
- Satire
(commentary on
teachers being
oblivious in
schools. The
teacher claims:
“I don’t know
who could have
done this”)
(Elliot imitates
ditzy girls)
- Parody
(Barrymore
imitates Gilly)
- Invective
(makes fun of
those who
watch the
biography
channel) (All of
the parodies)
- Parody
(Imitates other
celebrity reality
shows)
(Samberg as
Thornton)
(Elliot as Faris)
(Barrymore as
Osborne) (Long
as mcconaughe)
(Slate as Yi)
- Wordplay
(Thompson’s
CD release)
- Celebrities
- Social
commentary
(Wealthy
celebrities’
ignorance of
chores. And
that Mexicans
do these chores
for them)
- Yes
- Knowledge
of all of the
celebrities
- Knowledge
of celebrity
reality shows
- Knowledge
of
Ghostbusters
theme song
- Superiority
Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
103
104
Commercial for the University
of Westfield Online –
- Imitates commercials for online
universities. Has testimonials
from students
- Students say that Westfield
gave them great tips on how to
hide the fact that they graduated
from Westfield.
- Westfield’s slogan, “just don’t
tell anyone”
Armisen
Slate
Thomps
Forte
Pedrad
Random
La Rivista Della Televisione con
Vinny Vedecci –
- The host of the Italian talk
show (Hader) is a stereotypical
Italian. His coworkers off screen
are even wating pasta
- Barrymore appears as herself
on the talk show
- The talk show continues to
make mistakes. First they do not
know that Barrymore does not
speak Italian and calls her
movies the wrong names.
- Talk show host’s son comes
out and he is a young boy
(Moynihan) who drinks
- Talk show host apologizes to
the women he has slept with
over the years just like
Letterman. It is a long list
written on the screen.
- The talk show host continues to
disrespect women
Weekend Update –
Barrymo
Armisen
Forte
Hader
Moynih
- James Carville (Hader) appears
as a guest on Weekend Update
- He discusses Obama’s Peace
Prize, republicans, Rush
Limbaugh.
- He continues to make fun of
republicans
Meyers
Carvel
1:45
5:45
3:15
- Parody (of
commercials for
internet
colleges)
- Satire (of our
educational
system)
- Invective
(makes fun of
certain colleges
– hear groans
from the
audience)
- Satire (of
Italian talk
shows and
Italian culture)
- Wordplay
(E.T. is et)
-Misunderstand.
(Talk show host
continues to
think that
Barrymore’s
new movie is
the song, “Whip
it”)
- Parody
(imitates
Carvel)
- Invective
(Carville makes
fun of
republicans)
(Speaks against
- Education
- Internet
- Superiority
Theory
- Yes
- Knowledge
of online
universities
and their
commercials
- Knowledge
of other
colleges
- Letterman
- Film
- Yes, some
- Knowledge
of Italian
culture and
Italian
stereotypes
- Background
info on Drew
Barrymore
- Sexual
- Superiority
Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
- Social
commentary
(Italian culture
is sexist)
- Political
- Obama
- Political
parties
- Superiority
Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
- Yes
- Knowledge
of politics
and political
parties.
- Information
on Carville is
needed
104
105
Limbaugh)
- Wordplay (he
should win the
Nobel “peace of
pie)
Scruge McDuff –
- Scruge (Samberg) is a guest on
Weekend Update.
- He speaks about the recent
economic downturn. He says
that he has always kept his
money in gold, so now he is the
richest duck.
- Scruge is obsessed with gold
coins
Samberg
Meyers
3:00
Thomps
Meyers
Maya Angelou –
- Angelou (Thompson) is a guest
on Weekend Update.
- Angelou comments on TMZ’s
report that she had been
hospitalized
- So Angelou reads a poem she
wrote about being “Absolutely
Alive”
- Angelou also writes a poem
about TMZ
Tampax to the Max Tournament
of Champions –
- A women’s billiards
tournament on ESPN Classic
called, “Tampax to the max,
tournament of champions”
- Tournament between Gretta
2:30
Barrymo
Wigg
Sudekis
Forte
- pop culture
- Parody
- film
(Samberg
- Economy
imitates Scruge) -Incongruity
- Clownish
Theory
(Samberg is
- Superiority
dressed as a
Theory
duck)
- Social
- Socially
Commentary
inappropriate
(do anything to
humor
be rich)
(germs turned
- Relief Theory
Scruge into a
duck monster)
- TMZ
- Parody
- Angelou
(Thompson
-Incongruity
imitates
Theory
Angelou)
- Relief Theory
- Wordplay
- Superiority
(Angelou’s
Theory
poems)
- Social
- Surprise
commentary
(Angelou is
(TMZ and their
played by a
reporting)
man) (and she
dated Alex
Rodriguez)
- Invective
(Angelou
speaks badly
about TMZ)
- Yes, some.
-Knowledge
of Scrudge
- Knowledge
of the
economy
- Wordplay
(commentators
repeat various
Tampax
slogans,
“Tampax:
helping you
- Nott really
- women’s
sports
- sport
commentary
- Superiority
Theory
-Incongruity
- Yes
- Knowledge
of Maya
Angelou.
- Knowledge
of TMZ
105
106
Milwaukee (Wigg) and Nina
Wilks Booth (Barrymore)
4:15
- Commentators Pete Twinkle
(Sudekis) and Greg Stink (Forte)
- Stink continues to make nonbilliard related comments, and
he appears to know nothing
about billiards
- Stink makes homosexual
comments and states that he
likes when women look like men
- The announces continue to
make comments on their
sponsor, Tampax
- The two women billiards
players are very masculine and
aggressive
- “Tampax – Helping you relax
when mother nature attacks your
slacks”
Cooking Alfresco –
- Phil O’Brien (Samberg) and
Fran Jones (Barrymore) host a
cooking show called “Cooking
Alfresco” where they cook
outside
- Moynihan imitates Guy Fiori
- They begin cooking chicken
parmesan. When they begin,
birds attack them. Each time
they bring out food the birds
attack them.
- Guy Fiori is then attacked by
birds and is taken away. His
skeleton is then dropped on the
cooking table.
Barrymo
Samber
Moynih
3:30
relax when
mother nature
attacks your
slacks)
-Misunderstand.
(Stink continues
to misinterpret
Twinkle’s
questions)
- Satire
(Imitation of
women’s
billiards
- Slapstick
(women’s
billiard players
use physical
motions when
they play)
- Clownish (the
characterization
sof the
woman’s
billiards
players)
- Parody
(Moynihan
imitates Fiori)
- Satire (of the
many cooking
shows that are
on the air
- Logical
Implausibility
(Birds dip the
bread in the
sauce)
- Surprise
(Birds attack
the cooking
show)
- Socially
inappropriate
humor (the
birds kill guy
Fiori and we see
Theory
- Physical
humor
- Social
commentary
(on
homosexuals)
- Cooking
- Television
-Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Relief Theory
- Yes, some.
- Knowledge
of cooking
shows.
- Knowledge
of Guy Fiori.
- Physical
106
107
Larry King Live –
- Larry King (Armisen) hosts
Larry King Live. His show
focuses on all of the recent sex
scandels.
- He has three guests on his
show, woman one (Barrymore),
Man one (Sudekis) and woman
two (Wigg)
- They all discuss “wieners.”
Comment on how men like to
stick their wieners everywhere
you can
Sudekis
Barrymo
Wigg
Armisen
An SNL digital short –
- Brenda (Barrymore) and
Shaun(Armisen) are entertainers
that perform at any event
- They are dressed in identical
white wardrobes with matching
haircuts and magenta silk ties
knotted around their necks.
- Music: 1980s synthesizer pop
music
- Any event includes
bankruptcies, eviction, birthday
parties, meeting your biological
father etc.
Barrymo
Armisen
Slate
Elliot
Moynih
Random
Thomps
Random
Samber
4:45
2:30
Fiori’s skeleton)
- Slapstick
(Food is thrown
around and
birds swarm)
- Wordplay
(lame jokes)
- Parody
(An imitation of
Larry King
Live, and Larry
King)
- Invective
(makes fun of
Larry King)
- Wordplay
(wordplay with
wieners)
- Surprise (not
expected people
to say wieners
on Larry King
Live)
- Surprise (not
expecting to use
entertainers
when someone
is evicted)
- Irony(having
entertainers at
events like
meeting your
biological father
and getting
evicted)
- Clownish (the
entertainers are
dressed in
absurd outfits
and doing craxy
acts)
- Inappropria
te language
- News
coverage
- Superiority
Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
- Social
commentary
(On the
public’s
response to
affairs) (and
why people
have affairs)
Uncomfortable
events in life
-Incongruity
Theory
- Relief
Theory
- Yes, some.
- Funniest if
you have
knowledge of
Larry King
Live
- Still funny
if not,
because they
say wieners
- Not really
Closing Credits –
- Barrymore is surrounded by
cast
107
108
Episode 35.13
Original airdate January 30, 2010
Hosted by JOHN HAMM
SKETCH
CAST /
LENGTH
HUMOR
CATEGORIES
ADDITIONAL
NOTES
PRIOR INFO
NEEDED
Opening: State of the Union
Address–
- imitation of the Presidential
address (slice in real life
footage)
- Armisen as Obama, Wigg as
Pelosi, and Sedekis as Biden
- Obama talks about the state of
the country, the state of the
white house, unemployment,
gays in the military.
Armisen
Wigg
Sedekis
- Parody
(Imitation of
President
Obama)
(Imitation of the
state of the
union address)
- Invective
(Harsh words
for Martha
Coakley)
- Surprise (Talk
about the white
house
conditions,
unexpected)
- Irony (Obama
creates three
jobs, but
thousands are
unemployed)
- Self
Deprecation
(Hamm makes
fun of himself
for always
playing the
same character)
- Parody (The
character Don
Draper) (Saved
by the Bell
sitcom) (QVC)
(Comedy Jam)
- Slapstick
(Hamm slaps
Wigg)
- Political
- Political
parties
- Unemployment
- Homosexual
laws
- President
-Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Yes
- Knowledge
of Obama
- Knowledge
of Scott
Brown’s
election
- TV reference
- Yes
- Knowledge
of Mad Men
and the
character
Don Draper
- Knowledge
of TV shows
(saved by the
bell) (QVC)
Monologue –
- Hamm talks about his character
on Mad Men, Don Draper.
- Says he has played many other
rolls. He shows clips of these
rolls. (saved by bell) (QVC)
(Comedy Jam)
6:45
Elliot
Samberg
Hamm
Wigg
4:00
- Social
commentary
(Men who
abuse women
and take
advantage of
women, yet
women still
love them)
- Superiority
Theory
- Relief Theory
108
109
Don’t Make Me Dance –
- Set in NYC, 1920s. Woman
(Wigg) is hosting a party.
- A party member asks for
music, and asks a man (Hamm)
to play the piano.
- Hamm says no at first, and
WIgg says “don’t make me
sing”. Hamm agrees and Wigg
will sing.
- Everyone keeps telling Wigg
that she doesn’t have to sing, but
she keeps saying oh “don’t make
me sing”
- While Hamm plays the piano,
Wigg keeps missing her cue for
singing
- Everyone compliments Hamm
and asks him to play more, but
Wigg says thank you
- Wigg gets angry, so they
decide to stop singing. But then
she says, “don’t make me
dance.”
Sergio –
- Selfish businessman (Samberg)
steps on a homeless man’s
(Armisen) dream catcher and is
unapologetic. Armisen cast a
spell on him – “Sergio!”
- Samberg is haunted by a man
who doesn’t wear a shirt, bursts
out of walls, starts playing the
sax, swiveling his hips, and yells
“Sergio.”
- Sergio interrupts his business
meeting, dinner date with
woman, psychologist meeting,
and birth of his child.
Hamm
Wigg
Armisen
Elliot
Forte
New Senator –
- Democrats in Senator Harry
Reed’s Office.
- Barney Frank (Armisen), Harry
Reed (Forte), Nancy Pelosi
Armisen
Hader
Hamm
Forte
Slate
5:15
Samberg
Hamm
Slate
Wigg
3:30
- Satire (People
who say that
don’t want
attention, but
our actually
desperate for it)
- Irony (She
says don’t make
me sing, but she
really does want
to sing)
- Wordplay
(I’m not upset,
I’m just angry)
- Music
- 1920s
-Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Not really
- Satire (selfish
business man)
(Romance novel
sex icon)
- Surprise (do
not expect a
half naked man
to jump out)
(Women gives
birth to Sergio)
- Slapstick
(Sexual dance
moves) (Burst
out of walls)
- Gross
(Man covered
in Baby slime)
- Parody
(Armisen as
Frank) (Hamm
as Brown)
(Hader as Bird)
- Sexual
-Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Relief
Theory
- Yes, Some
- Knowledge
of Romance
novels
- But sexual
dance moves
make it
funny
- Political
- Political
parties
- Superiority
Theory
- Yes
- Knowledge
of Senator
Brown
- Knowledge
109
110
(Wigg) Barbara Boxer (Slate)
and Robert Bird (Hader).
- The democrats are all sitting
around discussing the election of
Scott Brown and how they are
hot happy with his election
- But then Scott Brown keeps
accidentally barging into the
office. He speaks directly to one
member of the room each time
and ends with a wink.
- Then each member of the room
has a daydream about Scott
Brown. Brown uses sexual
innuendos
Wigg
5:45
(Slate as) (Wigg
as ) (Forte as
Reed)
- Wordplay
(Day dreams
about Scott
Brown have
sexual
innuendos)
- Invective
(Points out
flaws of the
Democrats)
- Surprise
(Brown appears
in all of their
daydreams)
- Clownish
(Brown’s outfits
during people’s
dreams)
-Incongruity
Theory
- Sexual
- Inappropriate
- Homosexual
commentary
of
Democratic
party
- Knowledge
of Reed,
Frank etc.
- Parody (Slate
imitates
Sotomayor)
- Irony (says the
Supreme court
is a really
diverse group of
people, even
though
everyone is
actually white)
- Invective (She
makes fun of
the other
judges)
- Race
Relations
- Ethnic
stereotypes
- Social
commentary
(people
stereotype her
as an
passionate
Latina) (tough
neighborhoods
in the Broynx)
(the lack of
discrimination
on the
Supreme
Court)
- Superiority
Theory
- Yes
- Knowledge
of Supreme
court judge
Sonia
Sotomayor
Weekend Update –
Sonia Sotomayor –
- Sotomayor (Slate) is a guest on
Weekend Update
- She references her tough
upbringing in the Broynx
- References that everyone
judges her and stereotypes her as
a passionate Latina
- Talks about how everyone else
on the supreme court is an old
white guy
Slate
Meyers
Snooki –
- Snooki (Moynihan) is a guest
on Weekend Update
- Snooki discusses recent
contract negotiations between
Meyers
Moyniha
Hader
Slate
Sedekis
2:00
- Surprise
(Snooki is a
man dressed as
- Topical /
current events
- Yes
- Knowledge
of Snooki
- Knowledge
of The Jersey
Shore and its
110
111
MTV and the cast of the Jersey
Shore
- Snooki uses many of her
classic catch phrases like
“smoosh”
- She also shows Meyers a
double of herself known as the
poof.
- The situation (Hader) and his
mom, the predicament (Slate)
come on and say hi
Forte
Randoms
Randy and Greg Sports Talk –
- A talk show is call “Game
Time with Randy and Greg”.
Randy (Thompson) is a normal
talk show host and Greg (Hader)
is an alien
- Greg conducts a field interview
with a football coach (Hamm)
and attacks him. The coach is in
the studio and it is clear the
coach is now an alien.
- Randy continues to claim
neither are aliens, but it is
obvious to everyone that Greg
and the coach are now both
aliens
- Randy is clearly terrfied
Hader
Thompso
Hamm
Hamm and Bublee –
Hamm
4:00
3:45
a woman)
- Wordplay
(Snooki uses
her Jersey
Shore phrases)
- Parody
(Moynihan
imitates Snooki)
(Hader as the
situation)
-Misunderstand.
(Snooki things
squeekal applies
to all seques)
- Irony (Meyers
continues to tell
Snooki she is
“breathtaking”
and that he
wants to touch
her poof, even
though it is not
true)
- Invective
(Comapres
Snooki to a
basketball)
- Logical
Implausibility
(Aliens on a
talkshow)
- Surprise (Greg
is an alien)
- Slapstick
(Greg attacks
the coach)
- Socially
inappropriate
humor (The
coach is
attacked)
-Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Wordplay
- music
cast
- Talk show
- Not really
- Aliens
-Incongruity
Theory
- Relief Theory
- Yes, some
111
112
- Hamm and Bublee own a
restaurant called “Hamm and
Bublee” that specializes in Ham
and bubbly champagne.
- Hamm makes Bublee sing
about their restaurant. Hamm is
very controlling.
Bublee
Hader
Pedrad
Random
The Closet Organizer
(Commercial)
- Infomercial advertisement for a
product called the “closet
organizer”
- This product is actually a man
who stands in your closet and
collects your junk for you
- Hamm appears as a testimonial
and comments on how he slept
with a black tranvestitie last
night
Forte
Wigg
Hamm
Loud Stenographer –
- An elderly woman (Armisen) is
a stenographer. She types very
loudly and cannot keep up with
the case
- the lawyer (Hamm) gets very
annoyed with her.
- The stenographer keeps
interrupting the case. She takes a
break for a snack, and for a
giggle break.
Armisen
Hamm
Hamm
Wigg
Thompso
Moyniha
Forte
3:45
1:15
4:30
(Puns on their
names: “hamm”
and “ham”, and
“bublee” and
Bubbly.”
- Parody
(Michael
Bublee’s song)
- Gross (ham in
champagne)
- Superiority
Theory
- Incongruity
Theory
- Knowledge
of Michael
Bublee’s
song
- Knowledge
of their
names
- Still funny
due to puns
and gross
humor
- Satire
(infomercials)
- Clownish
(Man dressed in
all blue suit)
- Slapstick
(things are
thrown at the
closet
organizer)
- Absurdity
(man in your
closet) (Peanut
butter is thrown
at him)
- Surprise (do
not expect the
closet organizer
to be sold at the
gift store at the
Vatican)
- Surprise (a
man is dressed
as the women
stenographer)
- Wordplay
(play on the
spelling of
Rodriguez, then
spells it twice)
- Satire (the
absurdity of the
court system)
- commercial
- Not really
- Knowledge
of
infomercials
- Social
commentary
(race)
(Homosexual)
- Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Relief Theory
- court room
- Social
commentary
(unintelligent
court system)
-Incongruity
Theory
-Superiority
Theory
- Not really
- Knowledge
of the court
practices
112
113
Closet Organizer at a Bar –
- Two men sit at a bar and one
man (Hamm) recognizes the
other man as the Closet
Organizer (Forte)
Hamm
Forte
Moyniha
Barnes and Noble Special on
CNBC
- A special on CNBC about the
origins of Barnes and Noble
- Shows Barnes (Hader) and
Noble (Hamm) inventing the
idea od Barnes and Noble
- They wanted to create a place
where homeless people could go
to the bathroom. Or other people
who have been walking around
all day drinking coffee.
- To make money, then they sold
books
Closing Credits –
- Hamm surrounded by cast and
crew
Hamm
Hader
3:15
1:30
- Surprise
(Hamm is from
Israel)
- Satire (when
someone meets
a famous
person)
- Social
commentary
(being famous)
(homosexuals)
- Homosexual
-Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Yes
- Knowledge
of the closet
organizer
from a few
sketches
earlier
- Wordplay
(The C stands
for the C word)
- Surprise (their
idea is for
bathrooms)
- Parody
(Barnes and
Noble and what
their business
is)
- Gross
(Bathroom
humor)
- Social
commentary
(Barnes and
Noble and their
bathrooms)
- Period piece
- Superiority
Theory
-Incongruity
Theory
- Yes
- Knowledge
of Barnes
and Noble
and that
people use
their
restrooms
Episode 35.16
Original airdate March 6, 2010
Hosted by ZACH GALIFINAKIS
SKETCH
CAST /
LENGTH
HUMOR
CATEGORIES
ADDITIONAL
NOTES
PRIOR INFO
NEEDED
Opening –
- President Obama (Armisen)
speaks about health care reform.
He stands with speaker Nancy
Pelosi (Wigg) and Harry Reed
(Forte)
- Continuously mentions how
Armisen
Forte
Wigg
- Parody
(Armisen as
Obama) (Wigg
as Pelosi) (Forte
as Reed)
- Invective
(speak against
- political
- President
- specific
current events
(health care
reform)
- Topical
- Yes
- Knowledge
of President
Obama
- Knowledge
of the health
care bill
5:30
113
114
unpopular the health care bill is
- Comments on his own
popularity
republicans)
(about Harry
Reed)
Monologue –
- Makes fun of himself and how
he looks
- References smoking pot
- Plays a song on his piano and
tells one liner jokes
- Uses observational humor
Galifina,
Kissing Family at a Funeral –
- Son (Moynihan) comes home
for his grandfather’s funeral. He
brings home his girlfriend (Slate)
to meet the family.
- The whole family, mom
(Wigg), dad (Armisen) and
brother (Hader) all kiss each
other on the lips when they great
each other
- Armisen even kisses a stranger
on the lips to say goodbye. And
Hader even kisses a dog
goodbye with tounge
- The reverend (Galifinakis)
arrives at the funeral and kisses
the family on the lips and
continues kissing.
- Armisen then makes out with
the dead grandfather (Forte)
The Bidet –
- A couple (Wigg and
Galifinakis) looks at an
apartment with an attendant
(Samberg)
- The couple is fascinated with
the Bidet feature in the bathroom
- They ask detailed questions
about the bidet and its power and
use
Slate
Moyniha
Galifinak
Wigg
Armisen
Hader
Thompso
Elliot
Forte
6:30
- Political
parties
- Superiority
Theory
- Self
- Real life
- Not really
deprecation
observations
(makes fun of
- Pop culture
his appearance) - Drug
- Wordplay
reference
(Many of his
- Women
jokes play on
reference
words)
- Incongruity
- Surprise (one
Theory
liner jokes often - Superiority
have surprise
Theory
punch lines)
- Surprise (do
- Homosexual - Not really
not expect the
commentary
family to kiss
open mouth)
- Relief Theory
- Socially
- Incongruity
inappropriate
Theory
humor (kiss a
dead man)
(Family
members kiss)
3:45
Samberg
Galifina,
Wigg
4:15
- Gross (Talk
about the bidet
and bidet use)
- Surprise (Do
not expect this
well dressed
couple to be
talking about a
badau)
- Wordplay (use
- Bathroom
- Yes
humor
- Knowledge
- Incongruity
of a Bidet
Theory
- Relief Theory
114
115
Zach Drops by the Set –
- Galifinakis appears on various
NBC television shows
- Zack in the background of
Nightly News
- Zack on Dr. OZ showing off
his fat belly
- Zack on 30 rock
- Zack in a home video
- Zack on Law & Order
- Zack on old episode of SNL as
a child)
Galifina.
Today with Kathy Lee and Hoda
–
- Wigg imitates Kathy Lee and
Slate imitates Hoda. They
imitate the fourth hour of the
Today Show.
- Kathy Lee references being
drunk, acts immature, and makes
fun of Hoda
- Elliot imitates Web
correspondent Sarah Hayes
- Galifinakis shows up on set and
stands off set staring at them
- The police tries to tazer Kathy
Lee but it doesn’t work on her
Wigg
Slate
Elliot
Galifina.
2:30
6:00
of the word
badau)
- Self
deprecation
(makes fun of
his fat belly)
- Surprise
(Galifinakis
appearing on
various NBC
TV)
- Clownish
(Galifinakis acts
clownish while
on set)
- Logical
Implausibility
(Zack on
various sets he
shouldn’t be on)
- Parody
(Imitation
Kathy Lee and
Hoda on the
Today Show)
- Wordplay
(Wigg
constantly plays
with Hoda’s
name to insult
her)
- Invective
(Kathy Lee
constantly
makes fun of
Hoda)
- Surprise (Zack
shows up off
set)
- Slapstick
(Police tazers
Kathy Lee)
- TV reference
- Pop culture
- Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Yes, some
- Prior info
on
Galifinakis
- Prior info
on NBC TV
shows
- Slapstick
makes it
funny
without prior
- Alcohol
reference
- TV show
- Superiority
Theory
- Incongruity
Theory
- Yes
- Knowledge
of Kathy Lee
and Hoda
and the
Today Show
- Relief Theory
- Intellectual
115
116
Weekend Update –
Monique –
- Talks about her Oscar
nomination for the movie
Precious
- Monique practices her
acceptance speech on Weekend
Update. The speech takes way
too long. She thanks everyone,
and takes her time.
- When she goes over time,
music starts playing
Thompso
Meyers
2:30
Forte
Meyers
Will Forte on Women’s History
Month –
- Forte wrote a song about
women’s history month called,
“Women’s Herstory: Did you
see what I did there.”
What’s Up With That (on BET)
–
- Deondre (Thompson) is a talk
show host on the show, “What’s
up with that” on BET.
- He has three guests on the
show, Paul Rudd, Frank Rich,
and guest three (Hader)
- Thompson keeps singing and
dancing. When he stops to ask a
question, he turns the answer
into another song
- Sedekis is dancing in a track
suit
2:30
Thomps.
Armisen
Hader
Guest
Guest
Rader
Sedekis
Slate
Pedrad
Elliot
6:00
- Parody
(Thompson as
Monique)
(acceptance
speeches at
Oscars)
- Surprise (Man
dressed up as a
woman,
Monique)
- Wordplay (her
acceptance
speech)
- Race (“I am
not a skinny
white bitch”)
-Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Yes
- Knowledge
of Monique
- Knowledge
of the Oscars
and
acceptance
speeches
- Wordplay
(changes history
to “herstory”
and says, did
you see that)
(Wrote a song
about women’s
history)
- Surprise
(Forte’s lyric)
- Satire
(commentary on
women’s
history month)
- Social
Commentary
(on women’s
history and
women’s
rights) –
Incongruity
Theory
- Superiority
Theory
- Not really
- Wordplay
(Thompson
constantly sings
creative songs)
- Clownish
(Dancing, song)
(Galifinakis on
the double
flute)
- Satire (of a
singer from the
70s with his
own talk show
on BET)
- Social
commentary
(talk show
hosts are
obsessed with
themselves)
- Yes, some
- Knowledge
of BET talk
shows and
70s music)
- Superiority
Theory
- Incongruity
Theory
116
117
- Armisen plays the sax
- Galinakis plays two flutes at
once
- Slate and Pedrad are
background singers
- Elliot is rolled out as a girl in a
well
- Talk show host never ends up
asking the guests any questions
The Situation Room –
- Wolf Blitzer (Sedekis) reports
in The Situation Room
- Reporting on news at
universities
- The Situation Room continues
to report on news from the
universities that are sent in from
the universities. Everything they
report is very unprofessional and
inappropriate.
- New reporters appear old, out
of dare and uninformed
Sedekis
Wigg
Hader
Galifina.
Pedrad
3:30
- Parody
(Situation
room) (Wolf
Blitzer)
- Wordplay
(Tweets are
read out loud)
(Sexual
references)
- Invective
(pokes fun at
the Wolf Blitzer
and his show as
being not
intellectual and
irresponsible
news source)
- Social
commentary
(news
organizations)
(new
technology)
- Inappropriate
language and
photos
- Sexual jokes
- Superiority
Theory
- pop culture
- Incongruity
Theory
- Yes
- Knowledge
of The
Situation
Room
- Knowledge
of Wolf
Blitzer
Closing Credits –
- Galifinakis with Cast and Band
117
118
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