TMC
03-14-2026, 01:35 AM
https://popculturereferences.com/an-occasional-saturday-night-live-sketch-with-intentional-breaking-isnt-a-big-deal/
Brian explains why it's really not a big deal to do an occasional Saturday Night Live sketch centered on making people break.
https://popculturereferences.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/snl-breaking-1024x541.jpg
Today, I explain why it’s really not a big deal to do an occasional Saturday Night Live sketch centered on making people break.
Knowledge Waits (https://popculturereferences.com/category/knowledge-waits/) is a feature where I just share some bit of pop culture history that interests me that doesn’t quite fit into the other features.
Obviously, one of the most notable things on a live television show such as Saturday Night Live is when one of the performers “breaks” character by laughing. It doesn’t happen that often, so when it DOES happen, it gets a lot of attention. Some of the most famous moments in Saturday Night Live history involve people breaking, like the first “Debbie Downer” sketch, the “More Cowbell” sketch, and many more memorable instances where the performers have started laughing during the sketch.
Ryan Gosling is famous for breaking a LOT as a host. Two very popular sketches from the last decade have involved Gosling breaking, with the “Alien Abduction” sketch being the most notable, and the recent “Beavis and Butthead” sketch also being notable (that one was more about cast member Heidi Gardner breaking, as she wasn’t quite prepared for the full experience of Gosling and cast member Mikey Day made up to look like Beavis and Butthead).
So in this week’s episode, the show decided to do a sketch that was BASED on making Gosling and cast member, Ashley Padilla, break by making them read notes (while playing a teacher and a principal) that they were seeing for the first time. This was famously what John Mulaney would do during Bill Hader’s famous Stefon sketches on Weekend Update.
Mulaney would write new material that Hader hadn’t seen before, and it would constantly make Hader break. One of the most famous examples was one where you can see Hader break AHEAD of the bit, just as his eyes are reading ahead on the cue card and seeing the line he was about to read (I believe it was “Have you heard of Blacula, the Black Dracula?” “Yes.” “Well, they have a Jewish Dracula.” “Oh. What’s HIS name?” “Sidney Applebaum.” Hader could see “Sidney Applebaum” coming AS he’s reading the setup for the joke, so he breaks during the setup).
So here, the gag was Padilla and Gosling breaking as they read jokes they hadn’t seen before.
And I get it, I know some people thinking breaking is “unprofessional,” and I agree that I wouldn’t want them to do gags based on breaking REPEATEDLY, but I don’t think the occasional sketch based around making the actors break is really that big of a deal.
REPEATEDLY doing it is kind of hacky, but I think a little bit is fine. And they HAD to put the disclaimer there, or else people would be WAY too confused as to why Padilla and Gosling were breaking so badly.
This is a show in its 51st season. You can mix up the humor a little bit at times. It’s all good.
2yE5u0f3msE
Brian explains why it's really not a big deal to do an occasional Saturday Night Live sketch centered on making people break.
https://popculturereferences.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/snl-breaking-1024x541.jpg
Today, I explain why it’s really not a big deal to do an occasional Saturday Night Live sketch centered on making people break.
Knowledge Waits (https://popculturereferences.com/category/knowledge-waits/) is a feature where I just share some bit of pop culture history that interests me that doesn’t quite fit into the other features.
Obviously, one of the most notable things on a live television show such as Saturday Night Live is when one of the performers “breaks” character by laughing. It doesn’t happen that often, so when it DOES happen, it gets a lot of attention. Some of the most famous moments in Saturday Night Live history involve people breaking, like the first “Debbie Downer” sketch, the “More Cowbell” sketch, and many more memorable instances where the performers have started laughing during the sketch.
Ryan Gosling is famous for breaking a LOT as a host. Two very popular sketches from the last decade have involved Gosling breaking, with the “Alien Abduction” sketch being the most notable, and the recent “Beavis and Butthead” sketch also being notable (that one was more about cast member Heidi Gardner breaking, as she wasn’t quite prepared for the full experience of Gosling and cast member Mikey Day made up to look like Beavis and Butthead).
So in this week’s episode, the show decided to do a sketch that was BASED on making Gosling and cast member, Ashley Padilla, break by making them read notes (while playing a teacher and a principal) that they were seeing for the first time. This was famously what John Mulaney would do during Bill Hader’s famous Stefon sketches on Weekend Update.
Mulaney would write new material that Hader hadn’t seen before, and it would constantly make Hader break. One of the most famous examples was one where you can see Hader break AHEAD of the bit, just as his eyes are reading ahead on the cue card and seeing the line he was about to read (I believe it was “Have you heard of Blacula, the Black Dracula?” “Yes.” “Well, they have a Jewish Dracula.” “Oh. What’s HIS name?” “Sidney Applebaum.” Hader could see “Sidney Applebaum” coming AS he’s reading the setup for the joke, so he breaks during the setup).
So here, the gag was Padilla and Gosling breaking as they read jokes they hadn’t seen before.
And I get it, I know some people thinking breaking is “unprofessional,” and I agree that I wouldn’t want them to do gags based on breaking REPEATEDLY, but I don’t think the occasional sketch based around making the actors break is really that big of a deal.
REPEATEDLY doing it is kind of hacky, but I think a little bit is fine. And they HAD to put the disclaimer there, or else people would be WAY too confused as to why Padilla and Gosling were breaking so badly.
This is a show in its 51st season. You can mix up the humor a little bit at times. It’s all good.
2yE5u0f3msE