Some Saturday Night Live monologues are designed to welcome a host into the building. Others are designed to burn the building down.
In the seventh episode of SNL‘s digital short series The Rundown, Jack Black—fresh off his fifth time hosting the show—is tasked with choosing the monologue he’d slot into the series’ all-star “fantasy” episode lineup.
In The Rundown‘s premiere, Colin Jost broke down the Cold Open writing process before picking—from a cork board full of memorable options—the sketch he’d use to kick off this “fantasy” episode: Season 34’s CBS News interview between Katie Couric (played by Amy Poehler) and Sarah Palin (Tina Fey).
In Episode 2, SNL alum Dana Carvey surveyed and discussed dozens of great sketches before choosing the “Wayne’s World” installment featuring Aerosmith to lead out of the monologue.
Next up was Bowen Yang, who considered Roseanne Roseannadanna, “Opera Man,” and other recurring “Weekend Update” guests before locking in on Stefon.
Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidell then pored over assorted parodies, “TV Funhouse” installments and short films, in the name of selecting a few pre-taped sketches for this “fantasy” ep.
Chloe Fineman cycled through some of the best celebrity impressions served up over the decades before singling out Kristen Wiig’s lamp switch-challenged Liza Minelli.
Most recently, Questlove populated the episode with a musical sketch, weighing contenders including Kenan Thompson’s “What Up With That?” ft. Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, a rapping Jim Belushi, Christopher Walken’s fervent need for “more cowbell,” and Maya Rudolph’s run-filled rendition of the national anthem.
Now, it’s time to pick the monologue. Black begins by revisiting a few of his own SNL entrances, including his first time hosting, when he worked with Steve Higgins and Mike Schur on a song about hosting—and his 2025 return, which found him belting his way back into Studio 8H after a 20-year hosting absence.
From there, he pays tribute to some other memorable monologue moments: Zach Galifianakis as Little Orphan Annie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s athleticism, Dave Chappelle’s post-2016 election appearance, Rick Moranis’ “Jack of All Trades” bit, and Tom Hanks’ fifth hosting stint, which famously birthed the Five-Timers Club.
But when it comes time for Black to choose, he lands on a former cast member’s infamous monologue just a year and a half after he was fired from the show.
Press play at the top of this post to see Black make his monologue pick—and explain why this one is, in his words, “an all-timer of all-timers.”
