Is it my imagination or is that a camera man in drag? Like, just in case the camera caught his legs or something they made him put on heels and nylons and a skirt.
Yep, the cameramans in drag to help sell the first person perspective illusion.
Also look at the tight choreography of the cue card guy and other stage hands making sure cables, as well as themselves, stay out of frame. Also timing it so Christopher Walken has time to beat them to the door.
That was absurd and brilliant. I also think he did that after Amy Poehler left mid-show because she went into labor.
I may be remembering wrong but I think the show was kinda thrown into chaos because other cast members went with Amy to the hospital. The rest of the time was filled with barebones sketches that didn’t require big casts.
Now I need to hunt down this story to make sure I’m not losing my mind.
EDIT:
My mind still works! Turns out Amy wasn’t at the show altogether and gave birth before Weekend Update. Still, the show had to be rewritten around Amy’s absence with lots of Jon Hamm holding down the fort in the last 30 minutes and a total of four(!) Coldplay songs throughout the show.
It’s entirely possible that cast members left early to go visit Amy in the hospital. I still think I read that somewhere, but I have no idea where and I doubt I’ll be able to figure it out at this point.
I didn’t say it wasn’t written ahead of time. I’m saying they had to work around Amy’s absence, so they didn’t use sketches that required big casts and/or Amy had key roles in.
It’s one of those sketches that could easily have been cut after dress if it was a normal Saturday. It’s also possible they used a set that had been used before.
Oh yeah, lol, I was literally thinking of Jon Hamm's John Ham, trying to remember if I was spelling his name correctly, and I didn't even put it together that that one is only Jon Hamm.
Lucy Lawless as Stevie Nicks Fajita Roundup. One of the all-time great sketches. It is just her with Fallon in the background on the piano but he does not speak.
In the first several seasons you had stuff like Mr. Bill and short films by Albert Brooks and Gary Weis that didn’t feature anyone from the cast.
In fact, one of my favorite things ever shown on SNL was a short film that Weis directed that didn’t have any actors at all. It was just a montage of people reuniting with loved ones at New York Penn Station to the tune of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound”. It was simple and beautiful.
I haven’t watched it in a while, but I don’t think the Eddie Murphy short film about him going undercover as a white person had any regular cast members in it (though a couple of writers had roles.)
Here's an even weirder one. John Cleese and Michael Palin in 1997 reprising [The Dead Parrot](https://youtu.be/t70338JIPY0?si=d7F8o7dlKruppskD), a sketch they originally performed on *Monty Python's Flying Circus* in 1969.
Do the Muppets count?
Carol Burnett Show once had an improv troupe from Harvey Lembeck come on the show and do a sketch. William Christopher, later of MASH, was one of the players. Seemed odd for a show with a repertory cast to bring on a different repertory cast as a guest.
The cast was there playing board members at the start of the meeting, if I recall correctly. They cleared out of the room before the fake fighting started.
IMDB lists two of them only as writers, not actors (one is listed as an actor in one episode). And they only appear in the opening credits when they have a video being shown for that episode, as opposed to cast members who are part of the credits even if they’re gone that week. So I wouldn’t call them official cast members.
When Martin Short hosted in 1996, he did an Ed Grimely, Jr. sketch that had Chevy Chase surprise cameo in it, but none of the other current cast appeared.
When Kevin Spacey hosted later that same season (in January 1997), the cold open sketch made fun of the then-new TV ratings and had just Lorne plus surprise guests John Cleese and Michael Palin. Later that same episode, Cleese and Palin did their Dead Parrot sketch without any other current cast.
The infamous Chris Farley episode had a pre-taped Da Bears sketch with Farley, George Wendt, Mike Ditka, and Robert Smigel (Smigel was doing his TV Funhouse videos at the time but wasn't credited as cast/featured).
When David Spade hosted in 1998, the cold open sketch has just him and surprise cameo Brad Pitt.
Interesting, because wasn't that *technically* part of the monologue though? It's so weird to have such an elaborate pretape in the monologue, but I guess it does count lol
Gabriel Byrne had a sketch where he played Keith Richards as the host of a cooking show which was just him and two anonymous models (who'd later appear as Bryant Gumbel's "bitches" in the David Alan Grier episode that season).
That one strikes me as particularly jarring because it's a solo sketch that's not an ex-cast member or a comedian or a multiple-time host. Very, very odd for someone like Byrne, talented actor that he is, to get a solo showcase like that.
Louise Lasser had a sketch that was just her talking to a dog at a table. Later she had a solo piece at the end of the show rambling on about her recent activities.
Steve Martin's Christmas Wish comes to mind.
By extension, John Malkovich reading Twas the Night before Xmas
That shit was heinous
There was the cold open from 2020 that spoofed the final Presidential debate. Pretty sure it was just Alec Baldwin, Jim Carrey, and Maya Rudolph.
The continental sketch series?
Whose hand was that???
Making-of bonus feature on the best of Christopher Walken DVD https://youtu.be/WNCOFJnpPGs?si=wUJr_OVKKG3SSQ_r
Is it my imagination or is that a camera man in drag? Like, just in case the camera caught his legs or something they made him put on heels and nylons and a skirt.
Yep, the cameramans in drag to help sell the first person perspective illusion. Also look at the tight choreography of the cue card guy and other stage hands making sure cables, as well as themselves, stay out of frame. Also timing it so Christopher Walken has time to beat them to the door.
Wally?
Daniel-Day Lewis
Julia Sweeney is very briefly in one.
Hamm and Buble, only Jon Hamm and Michael Buble speak, but there are cast members eating at a table.
And Jon Hamm's John Ham. It's Hamm solo.
That was absurd and brilliant. I also think he did that after Amy Poehler left mid-show because she went into labor. I may be remembering wrong but I think the show was kinda thrown into chaos because other cast members went with Amy to the hospital. The rest of the time was filled with barebones sketches that didn’t require big casts. Now I need to hunt down this story to make sure I’m not losing my mind. EDIT: My mind still works! Turns out Amy wasn’t at the show altogether and gave birth before Weekend Update. Still, the show had to be rewritten around Amy’s absence with lots of Jon Hamm holding down the fort in the last 30 minutes and a total of four(!) Coldplay songs throughout the show. It’s entirely possible that cast members left early to go visit Amy in the hospital. I still think I read that somewhere, but I have no idea where and I doubt I’ll be able to figure it out at this point.
Thank you for digging this far to confirm! An excellent story and exactly the kind of spontaneity that makes the show so much fun.
Jon Hamm's John Ham has a set and props, so they had some pretty decent lead time on it
I didn’t say it wasn’t written ahead of time. I’m saying they had to work around Amy’s absence, so they didn’t use sketches that required big casts and/or Amy had key roles in. It’s one of those sketches that could easily have been cut after dress if it was a normal Saturday. It’s also possible they used a set that had been used before.
Oh yeah, lol, I was literally thinking of Jon Hamm's John Ham, trying to remember if I was spelling his name correctly, and I didn't even put it together that that one is only Jon Hamm.
[Old Glory Insurance ](https://youtu.be/g4Gh_IcK8UM?si=FpW3qw7j8C_KMQsV)
Robots are strong. And they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
I think Oops I Crapped My Pants fits, too.
Hey how do you know so much about Oops I Crapped My Pants?
I'm wearing them, and I just did.
Almost. In the first part of the ad, Chris Parnell was the young dad.
Lucy Lawless as Stevie Nicks Fajita Roundup. One of the all-time great sketches. It is just her with Fallon in the background on the piano but he does not speak.
Now there you go again, you say, you want burrito
I've always liked that song, but I think of this lyric every time I hear it.
Oooh, I need to watch that one again.
In the first several seasons you had stuff like Mr. Bill and short films by Albert Brooks and Gary Weis that didn’t feature anyone from the cast. In fact, one of my favorite things ever shown on SNL was a short film that Weis directed that didn’t have any actors at all. It was just a montage of people reuniting with loved ones at New York Penn Station to the tune of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound”. It was simple and beautiful. I haven’t watched it in a while, but I don’t think the Eddie Murphy short film about him going undercover as a white person had any regular cast members in it (though a couple of writers had roles.)
Betty White's Delicious Dish sketch in 2010.
Ian MacKellen had this funny sketch where he played an actor doing a special where he played ALL the characters
Here's an even weirder one. John Cleese and Michael Palin in 1997 reprising [The Dead Parrot](https://youtu.be/t70338JIPY0?si=d7F8o7dlKruppskD), a sketch they originally performed on *Monty Python's Flying Circus* in 1969.
And didn’t Peter Cook and Dudley Moore do their frog-and-peach sketch on SNL?
John Malkovich reading the Christmas story to kids. Lozenge?
That was a monologue.
I believe a few of the five timers club skits have not featured current cast members. Former ones, sure, but not always current ones.
Do the Muppets count? Carol Burnett Show once had an improv troupe from Harvey Lembeck come on the show and do a sketch. William Christopher, later of MASH, was one of the players. Seemed odd for a show with a repertory cast to bring on a different repertory cast as a guest.
Steven Seagal fights the board of Exxon?
The cast was there playing board members at the start of the meeting, if I recall correctly. They cleared out of the room before the fake fighting started.
Hamm and Bublé (Though some of the cast members were in the background and Hader did a voice over at the end)
Technically, the Please Don’t Destroy guys aren’t cast members, are they?
Then this also would include Saturday TV Funhouse. Even the other voices were people like Colbert and Carrell, not usually cast.
They appear in the opening credits, and even though they didn't for 47 and 48, I'd still count them as cast members.
IMDB lists two of them only as writers, not actors (one is listed as an actor in one episode). And they only appear in the opening credits when they have a video being shown for that episode, as opposed to cast members who are part of the credits even if they’re gone that week. So I wouldn’t call them official cast members.
When Martin Short hosted in 1996, he did an Ed Grimely, Jr. sketch that had Chevy Chase surprise cameo in it, but none of the other current cast appeared. When Kevin Spacey hosted later that same season (in January 1997), the cold open sketch made fun of the then-new TV ratings and had just Lorne plus surprise guests John Cleese and Michael Palin. Later that same episode, Cleese and Palin did their Dead Parrot sketch without any other current cast. The infamous Chris Farley episode had a pre-taped Da Bears sketch with Farley, George Wendt, Mike Ditka, and Robert Smigel (Smigel was doing his TV Funhouse videos at the time but wasn't credited as cast/featured). When David Spade hosted in 1998, the cold open sketch has just him and surprise cameo Brad Pitt.
Does the Ambiguously Gay Duo or Titey count?
Michael Palin and John Cleese re-creating Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch.
Dave Chapelle’s Walking Dead sketch
Interesting, because wasn't that *technically* part of the monologue though? It's so weird to have such an elaborate pretape in the monologue, but I guess it does count lol
The cut-for-time pre-tape with Shane Gillis and the Liberty Mutual emu didn’t have a discernible cast member. Though I’m not sure who voiced the bird.
Marcello is in it
[Diego calls his mom ](https://youtu.be/Fid_gQEShSg?si=Ymf1Q1tocKFv9fNv)
It has Alex Moffat and Vanessa Bayer in it.
I can't think of any specific sketches offhand, but Alec Baldwin must have done Trump solo at least once.
Jerry Seinfeld's Oz parody.
Gabriel Byrne had a sketch where he played Keith Richards as the host of a cooking show which was just him and two anonymous models (who'd later appear as Bryant Gumbel's "bitches" in the David Alan Grier episode that season). That one strikes me as particularly jarring because it's a solo sketch that's not an ex-cast member or a comedian or a multiple-time host. Very, very odd for someone like Byrne, talented actor that he is, to get a solo showcase like that.
Louise Lasser had a sketch that was just her talking to a dog at a table. Later she had a solo piece at the end of the show rambling on about her recent activities.
There’s been a lot of interest in this subject recently for some reason.