SNL: Bill Burr’s Sam Adams sketch is a sequel to another Boston classic

Saturday Night Live takes aim at “real Bostonians” in another sketch, this time with help from Bill Burr

Saturday Night Live owes a lot to Boston. The city has provided the show with plenty of talent and plenty of material. Last weekend’s host Bill Burr provided the best of both worlds.

Cast members such as Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Jenny Slate, and Jane Curtin are all from Boston or the surrounding area. Several writers from Conan O’Brien to Sam Jay also arrived at SNL from the city.

And over the past 45 seasons, there have been a number of sketches set in Boston or about the people there. Some are good-natured ribbing, like the “Boston Teens,” while other jokes have painted a less flattering picture of the Massachusetts capital.

Somewhere in the middle was the “Sam Adams” sketch from this past weekend with host Bill Burr. Burr grew up just outside of Boston and for anyone who listens to “The Monday Morning Podcast,” he’s still heavily invested in the city’s sports teams. So Burr was perfect for SNL’s latest joke at Boston’s expense:

Saturday Night Live’s Sam Adams sketch was a sequel to a Dunkin Donuts sketch

If you’ve been watching Saturday Night Live with regularity over the past few seasons, then you may have recognized the premise of Bill Burr’s Sam Adams sketch. It was a sequel to “Dunkin Donuts” starring Casey Affleck.

That sketch, from 2016, also featured “real Bostonians” crashing a commercial. Affleck played Donny, also known as the Mayor of Dunkins. The sketch was an instant hit and deserves consideration among SNL’s best Christmas sketches in recent history.

Affleck’s sketch also featured Mikey Day as his pal Dewey who wanted no part of the “movie.” Now thanks to Bill Burr’s Sam Adams sketch, we get to meet Dewey’s dad. SNL is clearly expanding its “Real Bostonians Cinematic Universe.”

Both “Sam Adams” and “Dunkin Donuts” are executed perfectly by SNL. They play up stereotypes about Boston that a national audience can recognize while also painting very specific pictures of the characters in the city that earned a seal of approval from the city’s residents.

With no shortage of Boston natives in the entertainment and comedy industries, it likely won’t be long before we get another installment in the “Real Bostonians” saga. Stay tuned.

What did you think of Bill Burr’s “Sam Adams” sketch? How does it compare to Casey Affleck in “Dunkin Donuts”? Share your thoughts in the comment section.