SNL is known for pushing the envelope when it comes to comedy. The sketch-style live comedy show never shies away from politics or uncomfortable concepts. However, sometimes the show ventures a bit too far into the gray area of controversy and makes a bigger stir than it perhaps intended to.
Whether something is just very highly debated at the time, deals with sensitive subject matter, or is downright offensive, it's undoubtedly going to receive negative attention. That was the case for some of the SNL sketches this year.
"Cars 4"
Something that no one particularly wants to see is the sexualization or corruption of familiar Disney or Pixar characters, even if some PG films have jokes meant for adults. But, that's exactly where SNL went when they had Owen Wilson as their celebrity host.
In a sketch called "Cars 4," Wilson played himself being called in to read lines for a Cars sequel. The lines quickly start to get creepier in nature, with Lightning saying "So what college do you girls go to? Oh, you're in high school? Could've fooled me!" Then, he goes to court for a "bad date," implying he assaulted someone. They may just be cars, but the material isn't as funny as it is uncomfortable.
"Barfly Awards"
Something that's not particularly funny and definitely shouldn't be romanticized is alcoholism. There are countless tv shows and movies that cover addiction in tasteful ways, like Trainspotting. But, SNL made a skit involving an awards ceremony for people who are constantly too drunk at the bar in a crude way.
The entire sketch consisted of the cast members slurring, spilling things, and stumbling around. The jokes centered around the fact that the "barflies" compulsively lie about things, hook up with each other incessantly, and everyone being completely disheveled.
"School Board Meeting"
This sketch includes a series of jokes that should have been left on the cutting room floor and undoubtedly offended the real-life family of a very real victim. Especially in a case that was still active, the writers of SNL should have thought twice before making callous jokes about the suspect.
Gabbie Petito was brutally murdered while on a road trip with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie. Pete Davidson posed as Dog the Bounty Hunter, who was actually looking for Laundrie, and used his time to ask the council where they thought Laundrie was "because I can't find this dude anywhere." The whole thing was in very poor taste and showed complete disrespect to the Petito family.
"Gorilla Glue"
The idea of mistaking gorilla glue as a hair product might make for a funny gag, but this sketch was based on a real story that was chronicled on TikTok by Tessica Brown, who accidentally used Gorilla Glue on her hair as a holding spray. Regina King's episode had one of the best SNL sketches of the year, but this one wasn't it.
Regina King and Kenan Thompson were lawyers in the sketch that were offering to represent those who have used Gorilla Glue in their hair. They poked fun at Brown's intelligence, when in reality, the ordeal was horrifying and painful for her, resulting in her needing medical intervention.
"Goober The Clown On Abortion"
Abortion is always a controversial topic, but more recently, the legislation passed in Texas and other states have made it an even more hot-button topic than before. With those laws in the headlines, SNL used the Weekend Update segment of the show to make commentary on the matter using clowns.
Cecily Strong was featured on Weekend Update as Goober The Clown, who got an abortion when she was 23. While sharing statistics about abortion and trying to explain the negative stigma around it, Strong did balloon animals and other clown tricks. Instead of beating around the bush, the writers got straight to the point with the character and were able to (mostly) successfully cover an infinitely controversial matter, but not without some dissenters.
"The Loser"
When taken lightly, sketches like "The Kissing Family" on SNL seem like harmless fun--but they're actually a little irksome. The idea of parents making out with their kids isn't exactly the kind of light-hearted comedy that one is searching for on a Saturday night.
"The Loser," starring John Krasinski, had a bit of that in it. Krasinski casually mentions that his brother, who is getting bullied, practices kissing, and "our mom says he's getting pretty good at it." This sort of weird incest-y joke isn't nearly as funny as it's trying to be and comes off as just strange. Additionally, the sketch seems to take a lot of time making fun of the kid who is supposedly being "rescued" from bullies.
"Boomers Got The Vax"
In one of their faux music video sketches, SNL had the cast as senior citizens celebrating that they have the opportunity to get the COVID vaccine ahead of other people. Maya Rudolph may have been one of the best hosts of SNL 2021, but the message behind this sketch was sorely lacking perspective.
People who needed the vaccine gravely were begging for opportunities to get it so that they could keep themselves and their families safe, and SNL was pretty blasé in their handling of that. Furthermore, they portrayed senior citizens ditching their masks in public places, which is dangerous misinformation to be spreading. Even vaccinated, seniors are at a higher risk of infection and should still be masked.
"Zillow"
Some of the SNL controversies this year haven't been because of subject matter, but instead because of claims that the content of their sketches was taken from other content creators and used on the show. Rip-offs of larger franchises, like movies that rip off Star Wars, can be hilarious, but taking from smaller creators can be tacky.
Specifically, the sketch about Zillow being sexy to adults was called under question after comedian Ted Alexandro claimed that the show stole this idea from his standup, where he talked about sensually trading Zillow listings with his wife. Alexandro even tweeted SNL to pay him for the idea.
"Gen Z Hospital"
By far the most controversial sketch of this calendar year of SNL, "Gen Z Hospital" was cringey from start to finish. On the surface, it's a Millenial/Gen X caricature of what they believe Gen Z talks and acts like. These kids' friend was dying in a hospital and the writers thought they would continue to act like nothing was wrong, because they're... young.
The sketch additionally came under fire because many accused it of insensitively using AAVE and calling it "Gen Z" language when it was really just taking advantage of Black culture and ridiculing it. Whatever way it was examined, the sketch was both unfunny and offensive, and fans were having none of it.