For nearly 50 years, celebrity impressions have been one of the defining building blocks of Saturday Night Live. Cast members have made careers out of parodying stars, and some of SNL's greatest sketches come from iconic impersonations. So how could someone possibly pick the best one for the ultimate Saturday Night Live episode?
That difficult task was left to current Saturday Night Live cast member Chloe Fineman for the latest installment of SNL's digital series The Rundown. Previous episodes already established a cold open, "Weekend Update" piece, and pretape sketch to help create an all-time episode of SNL.
According to Fineman, impressions are actually one of the hardest things to land on the show unless they’re tied to a political cold open. That’s why recurring formats like “Celebrity Jeopardy,” “Celebrity Family Feud,” and movie audition sketches have become such reliable staples over the years. They allow cast members to deliver quick-hit celebrity impressions without needing an elaborate premise.
It’s a format that has benefited generations of performers, including masters like Jay Pharoah, whose precision became a signature during his tenure, and Kate McKinnon, who transformed impressions into full-blown character pieces. Fineman also credits castmates and predecessors like Melissa Villaseñor, Cecily Strong, and Aidy Bryant with helping shape her own approach after she joined the show.
One of the episode’s biggest takeaways is Fineman’s belief that impressions are about comedy first and accuracy second. “Finding the laugh and the funny is so much more important than the accuracy of the impression,” she said. Another challenge is doing impressions when a cast member knows the real celebrity will have feedback.
That approach is evident in some of the impressions Fineman highlighted in the episode.
She pointed to memorable moments like Jimmy Fallon performing his Mick Jagger impression alongside the real Jagger, as well as her own “Maybelline” sketch opposite Ariana Grande, whose Jennifer Coolidge impression she calls “the best of all time.”
When it came time to select the impression sketch she’d add to The Rundown’s dream SNL episode, Fineman chose a Kristen Wiig showcase that she says has “everything”: physical comedy, an impression, and the kind of weird specificity that often turns into a cult favorite online.
Fineman gave the honor to the season 37 sketch "Liza Minnelli Tries to Turn Off a Lamp." She strategically places it later in the show rather than near the beginning, arguing that stranger sketches often perform better once audiences are fully settled in. And while the sketch stars fan-favorite Kristen Wiig, it is undoubtedly weird.
By the end of the segment, Fineman reflects on what she feels like is the essence behind SNL impressions. The best ones are comedy performances built on affection, exaggeration, and a deep understanding of the person being portrayed. That familiarity adds an extra layer, helping Saturday Night Live be what it fans have come to expect.
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