Top 5 Cut 'Saturday Night Live' Sketches (from the 2013-2014 season)

Surprise SNL Top 10 (well...sorta)!

Although a lot of people watch Saturday Night Live each week, many viewers don’t know that before the live show at 11:30, the SNL cast and crew does a dress rehearsal earlier in the night. At dress, the production is rehearsed and sketches get tried out. After dress rehearsal, the order of the sketches are changed and at least a few sketches are cut (the dress rehearsal, I am told, is about 20-30 minutes longer than a typical episode).

Because of this structure, many, many sketches don’t get to see the light of day. But now with Hulu, some pieces cut at dress are finally getting an audience. That being said, not every cut sketch is made public. For all 22 episodes this year, there were only ten or so dress rehearsal sketches made available.

But because some of the cut sketches contained really funny material, I thought I’d be fun for a quick bonus article to put together a list of five cut SNL skits from last season that are worth watching. For ease, and because this isn’t a true Top Ten, they are ranked by air date not by merit.

For more SNL ranking check out my list for the best sketches of the 2013-2014 season and the worst (coming out this Saturday).

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Don’t Smash My Pumpkin – Ep 4, Edward Norton & Janelle Monae

Ever wonder what it would be like if someone wrote and performed a ‘90s “We Are The World” style power ballad against hooligans who smash front lawn jack-o-lanterns? I guess Taran Killam did. While this was far from the best music video of the year, it’s a quirky, fun number that’s fun to watch and has just the right mixture of weirdness and ‘90s-era melodrama.

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Nickelodeon Show – Ep 17, Anna Kendrick & Pharrell Williams

When I was young, there was a TV show on public television where kids played games, did experiments and cooked little recipes based on audience suggestions (ubbi dubbi anyone?). Since Nickelodeon Show didn’t name the series it was parodying, I won’t either but a working knowledge of that show really helps with this fun sketch from the warped mind of Mike O’Brien. Here, he plays a kids show producer who gives his young performers speed so they’ll keep cranking out episodes. The result is a quick and memorable short that perfectly parodies Zoom (Darn, I said it!) and features some great high-octane performances from the cast and host Anna Kendrick. Why this was cut in favor of Dongs All Over The World or the Pharell audition sketch, I’ll never know.

[ new page = Wings]

Wings – Ep 7, Josh Hutcherson & HAIM

Beer Pong was weird. Yes. A lot of the Bennett/Mooney shorts were weird. But their magnum opus of weird, uncomfortable shorts was Wings, cut from the pretty abysmal Josh Hutcherson episode. It’s not an easy one to describe, but let’s just say it involves ‘90s sitcom clichés, a plate of spicy wings and some sexual harassment. I can see why this one was cut and I can see how a lot of people would be turned off by it, but I sort of loved it.

[ new page = Viper]

Viper – Ep 20, Charlize Theron & The Black Keys

There was a lot of cut material from the Charlize Theron episode and Viper was a pretty funny live skit that ended up not making the live show. I won’t say too much, except that it’s about a tough guy at a neighborhood bar, as explaining too much would be ruining the sketch’s witty punchline, but it’s worth a watch.

[ new page = Cocktail Hour]

Cocktail Hour – Ep 20, Charlize Theron & The Black Keys

Cocktail Hour is a remarkably well-produced and well-acted short from the Charlize Theron episode. It starts off like a caustic domestic drama – think Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf – except that the fighting couple are drinking embarrassingly flashy drinks like the kind you’d get at some awful theme park complete with sparklers and glow-in-the-dark and colored lights. It’s one of the more surreal sketches of the year and one fans of SNL will surely enjoy.

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A Few More Cut Sketches To Take A Look At:

Female Sea Captains – Ep 6, Lady Gaga

Mornin’ Miami – Ep 20, Charlize Theron & The Black Keys

Prosecution – Ep 20, Charlize Theron & The Black Keys

Magic Johnson at Weekend Update – Ep 21, Andy Samberg & St. Vincnet