TMC
02-22-2023, 10:04 PM
https://www.looper.com/1206796/snls-most-controversial-sketches-of-all-time/
BY WILL FANCHER/UPDATED: FEB. 22, 2023 6:51 AM EST
"Saturday Night Live" is, by all accounts, a well-oiled machine. Anyone who can produce a live weekly 90-minute sketch comedy and music show every year for nearly 50 years must know what they're doing. The fact that the vast majority of episodes go off without a hitch is nothing short of miraculous. In all those thousands of hours of television, though, there are bound to be a few where things did not go according to plan. Hours when Elvis Costello switches up the song he's performing at the last minute, or when Sinead O'Connor makes an unexpected stand against child abuse by the Catholic Church. Hours when Justin Bieber is nearly crushed by a falling set wall, or when everyone from Charles Rocket to Kristen Stewart to Samuel L. Jackson lets slip some TV-unfriendly language.
Then there are the times when things off the rails on purpose. There have been a number of controversial "SNL" moments when everything went exactly according to plan — sketches that were written, rehearsed, and performed live with the full cooperation of not just show producer Lorne Michaels, but also the cast and crew. Some of these were simply ill-advised, some seemed appropriate at the time but have aged poorly, some hint at behind-the-scenes turmoil, and some were just too real for the audience to handle. Let's take a look at some of the most controversial "Saturday Night Live" sketches of all time.
BY WILL FANCHER/UPDATED: FEB. 22, 2023 6:51 AM EST
"Saturday Night Live" is, by all accounts, a well-oiled machine. Anyone who can produce a live weekly 90-minute sketch comedy and music show every year for nearly 50 years must know what they're doing. The fact that the vast majority of episodes go off without a hitch is nothing short of miraculous. In all those thousands of hours of television, though, there are bound to be a few where things did not go according to plan. Hours when Elvis Costello switches up the song he's performing at the last minute, or when Sinead O'Connor makes an unexpected stand against child abuse by the Catholic Church. Hours when Justin Bieber is nearly crushed by a falling set wall, or when everyone from Charles Rocket to Kristen Stewart to Samuel L. Jackson lets slip some TV-unfriendly language.
Then there are the times when things off the rails on purpose. There have been a number of controversial "SNL" moments when everything went exactly according to plan — sketches that were written, rehearsed, and performed live with the full cooperation of not just show producer Lorne Michaels, but also the cast and crew. Some of these were simply ill-advised, some seemed appropriate at the time but have aged poorly, some hint at behind-the-scenes turmoil, and some were just too real for the audience to handle. Let's take a look at some of the most controversial "Saturday Night Live" sketches of all time.