Saturday Night Live has no shortage of live sketches that have lived far beyond their original airtime. Asking Kenan Thompson to pick just one? That’s where things get tricky.
In the ninth episode of SNL’s digital short series The Rundown, Thompson is tasked with choosing the live sketch he’d slot into the series’ all-star “fantasy” episode lineup.
Produced by SNL itself, The Rundown has been building a dream episode one slot at a time, with past installments seeing Colin Jost pick a cold open, Bowen Yang select a “Weekend Update” feature, Chloe Fineman tackle celebrity impressions, Questlove weigh in on musical sketches, Jack Black take on the host’s monologue slot, and Sarah Sherman choose a ten-to-one sketch.
Now it’s Thompson’s turn—and as the longest-tenured cast member in SNL history, he’s got a uniquely deep bench to pull from.
“It’s hard to conceptualize all the things that have gone on around here,” Thompson says as he surveys the options. “This board is giving me anxiety.”
Thompson begins by reflecting on his own path to Studio 8H, from growing up on All That—which he says he and his castmates thought of as “the SNL for kids”—to auditioning for the real thing at age 25.
He also revisits some of his own signature SNL sketches, including “Scared Straight,” which he developed with longtime office mate Colin Jost, and “Black Jeopardy!,” which he worked on with his frequent collaborator Bryan Tucker. The Tom Hanks installment, Thompson says, “rippled across the country pretty strong.”
But Thompson’s tour through SNL history quickly expands well beyond his own tenure. Among the sketches and performers he considers are Chris Farley’s “Gus Chiggins,” Phil Hartman’s “Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer,” Tracy Morgan’s “Astronaut Jones,” Chris Kattan’s Mango opposite Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Murphy’s “Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood,” and Farley’s “The Chris Farley Show.”
In the end, though, Thompson says his pick should reflect “how important the women on the show are,” singling out the women of SNL as “sharp as swords.”
His choice: Molly Shannon’s Sally O’Malley.
“I have such an affinity for Molly Shannon, a hyper-specific, amazing performer,” Thompson says, before invoking O’Malley’s immortal mantra: “She likes to kick and stretch and kick.”
For Thompson, Sally O’Malley is more than just a classic character. “That is one of those characters that resonates to this day,” he says. “It just jumps through eras.”
Press play at the top of this post to see Thompson make his live-sketch pick—and explain why, after more than two decades at SNL, he still sees the show as a place that discovers talent and puts it on display.
