Saturday Night Live: Best Recurring Sketches Of The 1980s

After the first five solid years, Saturday Night Live continued to endure as a staple in American comedy. That is quite staggering, considering that the show had to outlast three regimes before SNL honcho Lorne Michaels took the show into his own assured hands as its executive producer. Even before that, the show managed to create memorable sketches that still get revisited by its eclectic cast.

In honor of a solid decade filled with unforgettable moments, here are the top 10 SNL recurring sketches that debuted in the 1980s. Only the live and filmed sketches will be counted, not Weekend Update segments and frequent political sketches.

10 Willie & Frankie

In this series of sketches featuring Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest, they play Willie and Frankie, two friends who are placed in different scenarios. This entire routine centered around the pair discussing mundane topics about their situation, before the discussion moves to outrageous stories of them doing hyperbolic acts of self-harm. They would even finish each other’s sentences.

Arguably one of Crystal and Guest’s best sketches in their only season of SNL, “Willie & Frankie” would appear for a total of six times and even had a catchphrase that went “Don’t ya hate it when that happens?”

9 Pumping Up With Hans & Franz

Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon star as two Austrian gym buddies who act and pose as muscle-bound hunks, in segments where they brag about their “body-built” strength and flex their supposed muscles underneath their gray sweatsuits.

Only, they pad their chests with fake muscles, wear weight belts, and project over-the-top Austrian accents. A regular gag was their common adoration for Arnold Schwarzenegger; in fact, the Terminator himself even appeared in one episode to mock the pair for being “girlie” and “weak.”

8 Ed Grimley

Ed Grimley is one of Martin Short’s most well-known characters. While Grimley made his debut in the Canadian sketch show SCTV, his popularity rose considerably once he debuted in SNL.

Grimley is depicted as a hyperactive man-child with a cowlicked Alfalfa haircut who always projects his geeky obsessions and awkward personality in any situation he is in. Martin Short depicts him with unstoppable energy that makes Grimley an unforgettable character.

Grimley’s popularity led to the character making appearances outside of SNL, including a Hanna-Barbera animated series entitled The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley.

7 The Sweeney Sisters

SNL always brings musical-themed sketches that show off the song-and-dance chops of the cast. One of them featured the Sweeney Sisters, Candy (Jan Hooks) and Liz (Nora Dunn).

The sisters would mostly start by doing scatting sounds that relate to the segment’s theme, then they would sing medleys of pop songs in high tones while the skit progressively grew even more over-the-top. Along the way, they would interrupt the number to comment about their audience. A common motif was singing the lines from “The Trolley Song” with “Clang, clang, clang went the trolley…”

6 Master Thespian

Jon Lovitz should be thanked for popularizing the phrase “Acting!” Lovitz played an egomaniacal actor with an English accent and method acting tendencies, who would trick the other characters into buying his assertions, due to his “Acting!” talent. The Master Thespian would often be pitted against his rival Baudelaire (John Lithgow) in an escalating one-upmanship to see who would bow first.

Every iteration of this sketch is defined by infectious energy. Lovitz’s performance (and Lithgow’s manic liveliness) is so committed and hilarious that his vigor remains consistent, whether the Thespian wins or fails.

5 Sprockets

“Sprockets” is a fictional West German talk show, presented by German avant-garde expressionist-turned reluctant celebrity host Dieter (Mike Myers). The segment would always involve Dieter interviewing celebrities while being more interested in getting them to talk about his “limited” monkey Klaus. Dieter would also feature in segments that had him dance with other German background dancers. He similarly featured a segment titled “Germany’s Most Disturbing Home Videos.”

This series of sketches is intended to be a parody of German stereotypes, from their seriousness to their stiffness. Myers portrayed Dieter with grace in projecting his artistry and in displaying the persona’s uptight demeanor.

4 Buckwheat

Eddie Murphy decided to bring back the iconic Our Gang character Buckwheat as an adult who retains his childish enthusiasm. His first appearance featured him promoting his album “Buh-Weet Sings,” where he sings garbled renditions of pop songs (with the video projecting the titles according to what Buckwheat dictated).

Buckwheat’s popularity led to him appearing in other sketches promoting other products or doing unbelievable stunts. Even with his consistent humor, Murphy decided to kill Buckwheat off to avoid the character growing too stale. But just last year, Buckwheat came back in a spoof of The Masked Singer.

3 Church Chat

The “Church Chat” is a talk show hosted by the reverent Church Lady (Carvey), aka Enid Strict. The Church Lady would bring celebrities to the show and interview them about their lives.

It all served as an opportunity for her to call them out on their alleged sins (based on the latest news about the celebrities) and humiliate them over their immorality with over-the-top condemnation. Though, she would often sink into temptation. Dana Carvey claimed that the inspiration for the Church Lady was strict women from church.

2 Wayne’s World

One of the most memorable sketches in SNL history, “Wayne’s World” was a segment hosted by Wayne Campbell (Myers) and Garth Algar (Carvey). Their show would always start with discussions about their favorite rock bands and their quest for “babes.”

After that, it would shift to Wayne and Garth giving a countdown list or interviewing a guest celebrity. Sometimes, the segment would transition to fantasy sequences that Wayne and Garth would share.

“Wayne’s World” was such a popular sketch that their catchy quotes are embedded in pop culture and the concept even received the movie treatment.

1 Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood

In a parody of Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, “Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood” is meant to be a grittier, more realistic look at the world, presented by street-smart small-time crook Mister Robinson. While he would present the show in the same welcoming tone as Mr. Rogers would do, his topics always center on his criminal racket, from stealing a dog to posing as a Salvation Army Santa.

All the while, Mr. Robinson would educate viewers through his cynical views on life, and often be accosted by his landlord (Tim Kazurinsky). Mister Robinson would be one of Eddie Murphy’s most unforgettable SNL characters, and the sketches served as a demonstration of Murphy’s great comedic prowess.

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