43 Times Things Went Hilariously Wrong On "Saturday Night Live"
In honor of Saturday Night Live celebrating 50 seasons, I decided to round up the most unforgettable, iconic times things went hilariously wrong on air. From wardrobe malfunctions to character-breaking, here are 43 of those moments that live in my head rent free:
1. When Kristen Wiig almost ran Maya Rudolph over with a golf cart in " Super Showcase Spokesmodels" and literally everyone was losing it, but the show went on:
2. When Jason Sudeikis unexpectedly ate guacamole off of Fred Armisen's shoe in " New Girlfriend," thus making Fed absolutely lose it:
3. When Candice Bergen messed up her line in " Extremely Stupid" and couldn't stop laughing long enough to recover, so Gilda Radner delivered this gem:
4. When nobody could keep a straight face while delivering their lines in " The Love-ahs With Barbara and Dave," because Jimmy Fallon was snickering the whole time:
5. This " Africa Tourism" sketch, where you can quite literally watch Adele start to break, like, five times before she completely loses it:
6. Honestly, the whole first " Close Encounter" sketch, because Ryan Gosling is a millisecond from full-on laughing the entire time, and it's absolute perfection:
In my humble opinion, this one goes down as one of the character breaking greats. 10/10, no notes.
7. And the second one — " Another Close Encounter" — where Kate McKinnon used Ryan for a ~demonstration~, and he literally forgot how to function:
8. When Alec Baldwin was genuinely surprised by Paul McCartney making an appearance in this " Platinum Lounge" sketch and went through every emotion in the span of five seconds:
9. Truly any "Debbie Downer" sketch, but the way every single person breaks in " Debbie Downer: Disney World" (bonus points for Horatio Sanz literally hiding his face in a Mickey-shaped waffle) makes it the very best:
10. When Will Ferrell sent Sean Hayes and Jimmy Fallon into hysterics when he pulled out the tiniest flip phone known to man in " Jeffrey's":
11. When Aidy Bryant 's wardrobe assistant made the best possible mistake and ran on set too early in " Inside the Beltway," thus making Aidy laugh so hard, she barely made it through the rest of the sketch:
Bonus points for Cecily and Kenan similarly fighting for their lives not to break character, too:
12. When Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig spent a solid 20 seconds trying (and failing) desperately not to laugh when Kristen got a littttle messy in " Hollywood Dish With Scarlett Johansson":
13. When Christina Applegate and David Spade tried their best to hide their laughter in " Matt Foley: Van Down by the River," but Chris Farley was just too damn funny:
NBC / Via youtube.com
14. When Kristen Stewart accidentally dropped an f-bomb in her monologue and Kate McKinnon was positively delighted:
NBC / Via youtube.com
15. When Ego's line readings and over-the-top steak cutting in this " Lisa from Temecula" sketch made every single person at this table — including herself and Pedro Pascal — lose it:
NBC / Via youtube.com
16. When Bill Hader ran into the table and nearly took out Melissa Villaseñor not once, but TWICE in " Girlfriends Game Night":
NBC / Via youtube.com
17. When Will Ferrell's character in the " Dr. Beaman's Office: Test Results" sketch was so funny, it had him hiding a smile behind his hands and made Molly Shannon laugh so hard, she struggled to regain her composure for a hot minute:
NBC / Via youtube.com
Shout out to "Dr. Poop" who made them all start cracking right before this, too!
18. When Brittany Murphy fell victim to a pair of noisy leather pants and couldn't help but laugh during " Leather Man":
NBC / Via youtube.com
19. The forever iconic " Californians" sketch, in which Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, and even Fred Armisen were constantly on the verge of breaking:
NBC / Via youtube.com
20. When Larry David gets the giggles in this " New Wife" sketch and ends up whispering his lines, which makes Kate start laughing, too:
NBC / Via youtube.com
21. When Adam Driver tried to hit a fake bird with his cane for ~emphasis~ in " Career Day" and accidentally skewered it instead, making us all crack up just as hard as Pete Davidson was:
NBC / Via youtube.com
22. When Janet Jackson couldn't control her giggle after this line in " Corksoakers:"
NBC / Via youtube.com
23. When Tracy Morgan and Kenan Thompson had every last person in the " Scared Straight: Underage Drinking" sketch fighting for their lives not to break (and, evidently, losing):
NBC / Via youtube.com
24. When Jimmy Fallon was all of us watching Will Ferrell be hilarious in the " More Cowbell" sketch:
NBC / Via youtube.com
25. When Emily Blunt nailed this line delivery a little too well and had to slowly lower this lampshade to hide her giggles:
NBC / Via youtube.com
26. When Kate McKinnon — QUEEN of not breaking character — was taken down by how gosh darn disgusting the basket of meat in the " Weekend Update: Smokery Farms" smelled:
NBC / Via youtube.com
27. When Beck and Kyle's physical comedy in this " Brothers" sketch was so exquisite, it had Aidy making this face the whoooole sketch and had Cecily struggling to say her lines altogether:
NBC / Via youtube.com
28. When the adorable pup in " Dog Court" got a little too wiggly, resulting in a good 30 seconds of Cecily Strong hilariously breaking and getting lots of puppy kisses:
NBC / Via youtube.com
29. When Billie Eilish makes it halfway through this " Hotel Ad" sketch before starting to lose it, only for Kate McKinnon to notice and go even harder:
NBC / Via youtube.com
30. Like, literally every time John Mulaney surprised Bill Hader with new lines when he played Stefon on " Weekend Update," giving us his iconic ~I'm definitely not laughing~ pose:
NBC / Via youtube.com
31. When Leslie Jones was laughing so hard over Jonah Hill 's performance in " Benihana" he started laughing, too:
NBC / Via youtube.com
32. When Will Ferrell literally just started improvising in " Space, the Infinite Frontier: Dr. Kent Wahler," leaving Jeff Goldblum deeply but hilariously confused:
NBC / Via youtube.com
33. When Justin Timberlake literally mustered up all his energy to keep himself from losing it in " The Barry Gibb Talk Show: Bee Gees Singers":
NBC / Via youtube.com
34. When Pete Davidson was literally all of us watching Kenan Thompson and John Mulaney in " Diner Lobster," aka he was full out, not-even-trying-to-hide-it laughing when the camera switched over to him:
NBC / Via youtube.com
35. When Kenan Thompson and Pete Davidson simply couldn't take Leslie Jones breastfeeding Dave Chappelle's character in " Football Party":
NBC / Via youtu.be
TBH, Pete's cookie deserves an honorary Emmy for the work it's doing to hide that laugh.
36. When Seann William Scott put up a good fight, but even he wasn't immune to cracking up over Will Ferrell's patriotic look in " Short Shorts for the USA":
NBC / Via youtube.com
37. When Megan Thee Stallion tried her best, but Kenan Thompson fighting off a deer had her giggling all through this " Deer" sketch:
NBC / Via youtube.com
38. When EVERYONE started cracking in this cut-for-time " Gus Chiggins, Old Prospector" sketch because, as usual, of Will Ferrell:
NBC / Via youtube.com
39. When Ryan Gosling couldn't help himself when Aidy Bryant went to pull a gun out of his pants...while dressed like this in " Henrietta":
NBC / Via youtu.be
40. When Kenan Thompson made such a bonkers face in the " So You're Willing to Date a Magician" sketch that Awkwafina and Leslie Jones couldn't get their lines out without laughing:
NBC / Via youtube.com
41. When Tim Robinson made the perfect entrance in " Barnes and Noble Firing," sending Kevin Hart into a fit of laughter that lasted through the end of the sketch:
NBC / Via youtube.com
42. When Fred Armisen improvised this bit with his jacket in " Short Term Memory Loss Theater" just to make Bill break:
NBC / Via youtube.com
43. And finally, this cut-for-time " Cast List" sketch that I recommend you watch twice — once for the actual sketch (which is peak theater kid drama), and a second time to watch each and every cast member fighting for their lives not to laugh (spoiler alert: they all do, more than once):
NBC / Via youtube.com
You can watch SNL 's 50th-anniversary celebrations — which include a concert on Friday, 2/14, a re-airing of its first episode on Saturday, 2/15, and a three-hour anniversary special on 2/15 — on NBC and Peacock.
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