Saturday Night Live’s 10 best sketches from this season

1. Career Day

For the number one sketch of season 44, we stay with the season premiere. It was arguably one of the best episodes in recent Saturday Night Live history. It had the Matt Damon/Brett Kavanaugh cold open as well as controversy surrounding the musical guest as Ariana Grande was replaced with Kanye West.

Running the show was Adam Driver who was hosting for a second time. His first turn gave us the Undercover Boss parody as Kylo Ren working at Starkiller base. That proved that Driver could more than hold his own when it came to sketch comedy.

But if anyone was looking for more evidence, they don’t need to go any further than “Career Day.” The sketch wasn’t political or trying to preach any sort of message. The goal was to be bizarre, let things go off the rails, and make the audience laugh. It succeeded with ease in no small part to Driver’s performance as the ancient, vengeful oil baron.

It is not often that there is a genuine moment of shock in an SNL sketch especially among the performers. But Driver sending his cane through the bird was an unexpected improvisation that took Pete Davidson and Aidy Bryant off guard.

The sketch proved that the writers at Saturday Night Live are more than capable of coming up with original characters and premises that land with a wide audience. Yes, political satire will continue to be a big part of the show especially as next season will arrive just as the 2020 election heats up. But the show can also give us Abraham H. Parnassus on any given Saturday night.

What do you think of this list of Saturday Night Live‘s best sketches from season 44? What was your favorite sketch and what did we miss? Let us know in the comment section below. Keep checking Last Night On all summer long for more news and updates on SNL and the rest of late night television.