The 31 best “Saturday Night Live” Thanksgiving sketches
November 22, 2016 Mark Says Hi! Features, Lists, Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live has delivered plenty of turkeys stuffed with laughs over its late night sketch dominance. Let’s indulge shall we. We’ve put together a collection of the 31 best SNL Thanksgiving sketches of all-time. From Thanksgiving dinner with Bill Murray to one of the most memorable SNL sing-a-longs hailing from Adam Sandler. Enjoy. No family can ruin this experience.
A Thanksgiving Miracle
There’s only one thing that can keep a family (Beck Bennett, Jay Pharoah, Cecily Strong, Aidy Bryant, Matthew McConaughey, Kate McKinnon, Vanessa Bayer) from fighting at Thanksgiving: Adele.
Adam Sandler on Thanksgiving
Adam Sandler and Kevin Nealon sing a comical ditty celebrating Thanksgiving, how much he loves to eat turkey and peppering in facts that happen to rhyme with what he’s talking about.
Your Hometown
A tourism commercial parody that urges viewers to skip Hawaii this holiday season and instead vacation to your childhood hometown, stay with your parents and visit all the old places you haven’t missed.
Bill Swerski’s Super Fans: Thanksgiving
The Super Fans (George Wendt, Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Robert Smigel) celebrate Thanksgiving at Ditka’s by watching a local sixth grade class recreate the first Thanksgiving, and Todd gets too friendly with Bob’s daughter.
Nikey Turkey
In this Nike commercial parody, a spokesperson (Chris Rock) raps about the pump-inflated Nikey Turkey, the Thanksgiving bird big enough to feed even the largest family.
Right Side of the Bed with Matthew McConaughey
Buster Littles (Matthew McConaughey) shows Cory (Taran Killam) and Gracelynn Chisholm (Cecily Strong) how to prepare a turkey for Thanksgiving.
Guy Fieri on Thanksgiving
Food Network’s Guy Fieri (Bobby Moynihan) shares his full-throttle tips for making a Turduckenryepigcowcowhorsenish gamehen and taking Thanksgiving dinner classics off the hook by cooking them in lots and lots of alcohol.
The Californians: Thanksgiving
The Californians’ Thanksgiving becomes scandalous with news of an illegitimate baby, an affair and an illness. With Jeremy Renner, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Vanessa Bayer, Nasim Pedrad, Kenan Thompson, Taran Killam and Tim Robinson.
Cinder Calhoun and Sarah McLachlan on Thanksgiving
Sarah McLachlan and weaver of satirical truths Cinder Calhoun (Ana Gasteyer) discuss how they met at the Tibetan Freedom Concert and sing “Basted in Blood” about the cruelty involved with killing and eating turkeys for Thanksgiving.
Debbie Downer: Thanksgiving Dinner
Debbie Downer’s (Rachel Dratch) comments on feline AIDS, small pox, eczema and food poisoning during Thanksgiving dinner makes everyone leave the table, even the turkey. With Luke Wilson, Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen and Horatio Sanz.
Vincent Price’s Thanksgiving Special
In his Thanksgiving Special, Vincent Price (Bill Hader) is bemused by celebrity guests Alfred Hitchcock (Horatio Sanz), Judy Garland (Kristen Wiig), Ricky Ricardo (Fred Armisen), Lucille Ball (Eva Longoria) and more.
Thanksgiving Song Auditions
To address the disparity between Christmas and Thanksgiving songs recorded in The Library of Congress, The National Endowment for the Arts auditions a number of artists to find and support Thanksgiving music.
Adam Sandler pre-records Thanksgiving dinner
Due to Adam Sandler’s busy schedule, he won’t be able to make it to his family’s Thanksgiving dinner so he stops by “Weekend Update” to pre-record his part of the conversation for his father to play on the television in his stead.
Thanksgiving greetings from Tarzan, Tonto, and Frankenstein
Tarzan (Kevin Nealon), Tonto (Jon Lovitz), and Frankenstein (Phil Hartman) take turns announcing what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving.
A New Jack Thanksgiving
In this Time Life commercial, Medium Richard (Bobby Moynihan) advertises A New Jack Thanksgiving, a CD collection of the greatest Thanksgiving-themed rap and R&B songs of all time, including tracks by Cross Chris and Triangle Sally.
Kissing Family: Thanksgiving
The Vogelchecks (Fred Armisen, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader) welcome Jacob (Jason Segel) and his girlfriend (Vanessa Bayer) home for Thanksgiving with kisses. They feed a homeless man and get a surprise visit from Austin (Paul Rudd).
Thanksgiving Dinner
Four grown-ups (Bill Murray, Laraine Newman, Jane Curtin, Paul Shaffer) can’t believe that they are still relegated to the kids table; however, their behavior winds up being pretty childish. With Bea Arthur.
Garth and Kat sing Thanksgiving Songs
Garth (Fred Armisen) and Kat (Kristen Wiig) are unprepared to share “Directions to Grandma’s House” off their Thanksgiving CD and are joined by their new backup singer Jan Pockabook (Chris Martin from Coldplay).
Bruce Springsteen on Thanksgiving
Bruce Springsteen (Adam Sandler) sings about eating turkey on Thanksgiving, watching his grandfather sleep, rollerskating while eating turkey and also touches on the rumor that Sigourney Weaver is a man.
Roberta’s Thanksgiving
A family’s (Jennifer Aniston, Ana Gasteyer, Darrell Hammond) Thanksgiving is ruined when the father (Chris Parnell) invites his oddball coworker Roberta (Cheri Oteri).
Festive Thanksgiving
The flamboyant antics of a gay Pilgrim (Billy Bob Thornton) ruin the first Thanksgiving for the other Pilgrims (Rachel Dratch, Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer, Jeff Richards).
Black Friday
It’s Black Friday at Mega-Mart! The security guards are gone and the floors are waxed so everyone can slide into savings during their 12 Minute Madness sale on iPads, Kindles and a secret unpublished Harry Potter book.
Back Home Ballers
Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Sasheer Zamata, Vanessa Bayer, Leslie Jones, Cameron Diaz and Lil’ Baby Aidy Bryant go home for Thanksgiving and rap about the good life where their parents do everything for them.
Spade in America: Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad
David Spade recounts the events of Thanksgiving the week before, spent with his loving mother and long-absent father, who insisted on reconnecting with “Davey” and telling tales of debauchery.
Jay Pharoah on Thanksgiving Songs
Tired of Thanksgiving songs only being for white people, Jay Pharaoh tells Seth Meyers that there should be hip-hop Thanksgiving songs and gives examples of how Jay-Z, Drake and the Notorious B.I.G. would perform them.
Justin Timberlake does the Thanksgiving Show in two minutes
Justin Timberlake announces that he’s unable to host SNL’s Thanksgiving episode and gives a breakdown of what would have happened instead, including a digital short called “D*** in a Turkey” and a performance of “Sexy Back.”
Penelope: Thanksgiving
Penelope (Kristen Wiig) volunteers at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving to feed the homeless, but ends up one-upping Mary (Anne Hathaway), scoring a touchdown in a football game on TV and declaring herself the Queen of Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving Guest
A family (Aidy Bryant, Taran Killam, Kyle Mooney, Bobby Moynihan) is shocked when their son (Josh Hutcherson) comes home from college just in time for Thanksgiving dinner with his girlfriend (Vanessa Bayer)… who’s a turkey.
Rita DelVecchio’s Thanksgiving
Rita DelVecchio (Cheri Oteri) and her mother (Rudy Giuliani in drag) deal with the family and complaints from the neighbors while preparing Thanksgiving dinner. With Colin Quinn.
Turkey Hunt
A group of turkeys take a leisurely stroll only to have it interrupted the shots of hunters trying to kill and eat them for Thanksgiving. One turkey (Fred Armisen), who’s grandparents were shot and eaten, attempts to escape by air.
Thanksgiving with the Keisters
Marge (Jan Hooks) dotes on the men in her family (Phil Hartman, John Lithgow, Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon) who loosen their belts, belch, pass gas and promptly fall asleep after the Thanksgiving feast.