20 Times "Saturday Night Live" Absolutely Destroyed The Fourth Wall
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Though Saturday Night Live always breaks the fourth wall when they announce the start of the show, there have been special cases in which the show steps out of a sketch's boundaries.
Whenever SNL does this, it's so the show can make fun of itself, its cast, or just to defy the audience's expectations, all for the sake of laughs. In the spirit of good humor, let's take a crack at the list of 20 Times Saturday Night Live Broke Through the Fourth Wall.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
20.Friends
In this parody of Friends, host Matthew Perry stars as Joey, while Colin Quinn plays the former's signature character, Chandler. However, Perry is annoyed by Quinn's inaccurate portrayal of Chandler and completely breaks character. He then goes on to ridicule Chris Kattan's portrayal of Ross, telling him to continue just playing characters who don't speak, cleverly making fun of SNL's own cast as well as the characters on Friends.
19.What's Up With That
When Jason Sudeikis returned to SNL in 2021, he starred in this fan-favorite as Vance, the guy in the red tracksuit. His character is known for dancing behind Kenan Thompson's character as he sings. At the end of this particular sketch, Kenan's character shouts, "Watch Ted Lasso," referencing Sudeikis's hit show and the fact that his iconic dance in this sketch was used in its very first episode.
18.Men's Room Sketch
In this recent sketch with Kieran Culkin, a bunch of the male cast stars as office workers on a bathroom break together. They all try to break the ice with some awkward comments, but after each one, the men speak to the camera to express their discomfort and to criticize what they just said. Eventually, one of them throws a curveball at the audience by confessing that he committed murder. Every guy has felt weird socializing in the bathroom together, and the way the characters dramatically address the audience gets that feeling across all too well.
17.Eric Trump Screws Up
16.The Ingraham Angle
In this parody of Laura Ingraham's talk show, Kate McKinnon's impersonation of her spreads misinformation and right-wing conspiracy theories. At the end of one of these sketches, her character makes a report about Alec Baldwin sexually assaulting a Boy Scout, showing a picture of him and Adam Sandler in their controversial "Canteen Boy" sketch on SNL. It's a surprising and hilarious jab at Baldwin and the conservatives' beef with his over-the-top impression of Donald Trump on the show.
15.Linda Tripp
In this cold open, John Goodman portrays Linda Tripp and discusses her controversial role in the Clinton-Lewinsky investigation. Eventually, Tripp is questioned about Goodman's impression of her on SNL, with the in-character Goodman praising his acting and his role in The Big Lebowski. However, he begins to break character once his film, King Ralph, is criticized. Not even a member of the Five-Timers Club is safe from mockery.
14.NATO Cafeteria PSA
13.Church Lady Goes Long
12.Family Feud Oscars Edition
In this spoof on the legendary game show, Kenan Thompson's Steve Harvey talks to Chris Redd's Jordan Peele, and the latter character says at some point, you have to move on from sketch comedy. Kenan quickly becomes concerned and questions Peele, as he's been on Saturday Night Live for almost two decades. This was a clever joke about Kenan's run on the show, and it's hilarious to see him break character and question the course of his life.
11.The First Thanksgiving
In this historical parody, we see John Smith and Pocahontas arguing with the latter's prejudiced grandfather in a hilarious spoof on modern-day politics. At the end of the sketch, Will Ferrell breaks character and addresses the camera in PSA advocating for peace between people of different races and beliefs. He also calls out how in this sketch, he and other white actors are playing Native Americans.
10.Mozart Sketch
In this sketch, Justin Timberlake plays the legendary composer when he decides to take a break from making music to pursue an acting career. From there, the cast makes jokes about Justin's film, Friends With Benefits, and how it is similar to No Strings Attached. They joke about how his performance in The Social Network and how he was overlooked by the Oscars and the Golden Globes. They also poke fun at his work with Andy Samberg, who plays Mozart's buddy, Salieri. And they even squeezed in a joke about Bieber for good measure.
9.Clinton Gets Cancelled
In this cold open, Darrell Hammond's Bill Clinton sits in the Oval Office, talking to the American public about his love of the sexual details in the infamous Paula Jones deposition. The fake president goes as far as to sell copies of it as an erotic novel with its own romantic cover. This goes on until Will Ferrell walks into frame, issuing a subpoena to him for his impression of the U.S. president before taking over the show.
8.R. Kelly Interview
In this opening sketch, Kenan Thompson does a hilariously dim-witted impression of disgraced singer R. Kelly when he is interviewed by Gayle King. Kenan's character is so ridiculously idiotic, that he mispronounces King's first name and mistakes a potted plant for a camera. In the end, Kelly turns to the wall and begins to shout the show's opening catchphrase, only for King to point him the other way.
7.Immigrant Tale
In another spoof on Justin Timberlake, the singer stars as his ancestor, Cornelius, as he first arrives on Ellis Island. There, he shares his dreams of what his descendant, Justin, will accomplish in his life, making fun of himself, his singing career, and his sense of fashion. While that joke about Britney might not have aged well, the sketch as a whole is a hilariously fun poke at Justin, with Andy Samberg's ancestor coming out and making fun of himself as well.
6.Jheri's Place
At first, this sketch seemed like it was going to be about a barbershop where the employees are interrogated about customer complaints. However, it quickly falls apart and the cast ends up speaking to the press in the style of an NFL post-game conference, towels and all. It's a hilarious pivot that leads to some laughable meta-commentary about the show, the cast, and their past mistakes.
5.Diner Lobster
4.Sean Spicer
3.The McLaughlin Group
A classic SNL sketch takes the form of a parody of The McLaughlin Group with Dana Carvey impersonating the show's host. At one point, Mike Myers's character says, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night," and the band starts to play the opening music. However, Carvey's character shouts his catchphrase, "wrong," to both Myers and the band and keeps the sketch going, encapsulating just how the comedian always steals the show.
2.Count Chocula
1.Biden Brags
Following Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 election, Jim Carrey reprised his role as the 46th president to celebrate this win with Maya Rudolph's Kamala Harris. In the end, Carrey delivers Trump the mother of all burns by saying that in this election, there has to be a winner and a loser, calling Trump the latter as his iconic character, Ace Ventura.
