Former Saturday Night Live cast member Beck Bennett put in a guest appearance on The Simpsons in one season 33 episode, and the series repaid the star’s efforts by mocking his earlier career. Throughout its long run, The Simpsons has never pulled its punches when it comes to mocking famous guest stars. The anarchic family sitcom has always been able to attract A-list celebrities despite making fun of many of the stars who appear on the series (although this tendency to bite the hand that feeds the show could have been the reason Bob Dylan refused a Simpsons cameo).
True to form, a season 33 Simpsons episode guest-starring Beck Bennett saw the show poke some sly fun at the comedian’s earlier career with one throwaway line. While the joke was not as mean-spirited as many of the show’s sharper jabs, it was a fun swipe at another institution of US TV comedy. While few shows have managed to last as long as The Simpsons, the sketch comedy institution Saturday Night Live is one series that has outlasted the animated sitcom.
SNL veteran Beck Bennett appeared in “The Longest Marge” (season 33, episode 11) playing the out-of-control, hard-drinking football star Grayson, and The Simpsons managed to work in a comedic stab at his earlier career highs. It should come as no surprise that the show made fun of the usually-venerated Saturday Night Live, as The Simpsons has mocked even its censor notes in earlier outings. The references occurred when Homer claims that Bennett’s impressive player will “take us to the Super Bowl, own several local car dealerships, and host a middling Saturday Night Live,” a nod to the fact that, until September 2021, Bennett was a regular on the US TV comedy institution. Spending 2013—2021 on SNL meant that Bennett starred in plenty of great and middling episodes of Saturday Night Live, including a March 2021 outing wherein he mocked Tom Brady during Weekend Update — the same football player who did indeed host a middling SNL outing back in 2005.
The gag proved that the series can still mock its guest stars, something that recent outings have failed to offer viewers. Some of The Simpsons’ most-hated episodes ever, such as Lady Gaga and Elon Musk’s episodes, were criticized for being too fawning toward their famous guest stars and failing to find any humor in their cameos. Fortunately, the fact that Bennett played an original character rather than himself, combined with Saturday Night Live’s history of satirizing current events, meant The Simpsons was able to poke fun at the actor’s career without the gag seeming too shady.
The sheer output of Saturday Night Live’s ever-changing lineup means that the show has always been criticized for its inconsistent quality, something that The Simpsons itself has also been taken to task for in recent seasons. As a result, The Simpsons season 33 mocking the fellow US TV comedy institution could be seen as somewhat hypocritical by many, but the good-natured gag was one unlikely to raise the ire of many long-time SNL fans. That said, the line did prove that The Simpsons season 33 still has some edge when it comes to spoofing its guest stars.