VIEWER’S CHOICE: The Top 5 SNL ANIMAL Bloopers

Previously, I wrote This List of some of my favorite bloopers from SNL’s history and I made a passing mention that If I left anything off the list worth revisiting, I’d put up a “Viewer’s Choice” list. Well, an overwhelming number of you–OK, let’s be honest, 6 of you on a completely different page from this one that I shared the link with–made your thoughts loud and clear, and that there was more to dive into. But what makes these suggestions particularly interesting is the fact that all of these bloopers seem to have one particular thing in common–They all involve mishaps with Animals. Well, since I’ve always been fond of all creatures great & small (not to be confused with the British show of the same name), I figured it’s time to let the dogs have their day, the hogs have their hay, and the goats have their……uh……..Gay? Nah, should’ve stopped at the hogs. These are …(*PUSHES NUMBER GENERATOR*)…The Top 5 SNL Animal Bloopers as decided by YOU, the readers…of some Other place…

 

 

5. THE WIZARD’S PET; “Dog Show” (2000) – For the record, I LOATHED the “Dog Show” sketches, but I’m saving my anger for another day. Also, for some reason, no video or transcript is available—but perhaps in this case, this might be a blessing in disguise. Comic anomaly Tom Green certainly makes his presence known by carrying a teacup pig with him in the sketch while dressed up as a wizard…for reasons…but what makes this blooper-worthy is the simple fact that the Pig in question WON’T SHUT THE HELL UP! It just keeps squealing to a point that any other jokes wound up getting drowned out. Not necessarily “Funny” per se, but like I said, the “Dog Show” sketches were highly deplorable to me. So the Pig adding its commentary was actually a marked improvement.

4. I MARRIED A MONKEY – Which one? Just about All of them—even the ones where the monkey was sedated. As I mentioned in my “Kazumentary” a few weeks ago, The “Monkey” sketches were a guilty pleasure; partly because of the unpredictable nature of just what the monkeys will do to Tim, but also for the fact that Kaz still manages to hold it together with the greatest of ease. Of course, that was more the case with the first few episodes. As time went by, and the monkeys got more sedated, you could sense a nosedive from miles away. Stick to the episodes from 1981-82 for peak unpredictability.

 

3. BRIAN FELLOW(S) SAFARI PLANET – Same story as the “Monkey” sketches, Almost every one of them had at least One instance of something going wrong. This one in particular was the most recent example, where a camel’s butt gets in the way of everything. Sorry to keep this entry short, but I want to save a little time next week to talk a little more about these sketches (*Wink, Wink*)

 

2. MRS. ED; Weekend Update (1979) – Not unlike “Animal Confessions” or the aforementioned “Dog Show” incident, this too involved a jittery animal & some ultra-rare improv. The difference between a Dog, a Pig and a Horse, however, is that the bigger the animal, the bigger the chance that animal has to cause trouble—something Alan Zweibel (co-writer of the piece with Gilda, who also voiced Mrs. Ed) should’ve realized beforehand. And on that note, I’m going to let Mr. Zweibel take it from here…

 

Personally, I thought this moment should’ve been #1…but since this is a Viewer’s Choice, I have to play fair…

 

 

1. RIDIN’ MY DONKEY POLITICAL TALK SHOW (1998…and if you can get the video to work, you’re a better one than I am.) – The OVERWHELMING choice as mentioned by the masses, yet for reasons too baffling to figure out, there is neither a video nor a transcript to show off just how badly things went wrong. Just the idea alone of having a serious political discussion while sitting on a Donkey was a recipe for disaster—but in a good way. Once we see the folly in practice, it turns into something completely absurd. Of course, it’s crazy enough to try and execute Live, but in 2009 we got to see a rare clip of the sketch in Dress, and it turned out to be an even bigger trainwreck than something with an Amtrak logo slapped on it. The ironic part is that the blooper(s) in question may not necessarily be the fault of the animal, but rater some ill-timed sound effects that caused those involved to lose it, and THEN the animals follow in return. Either way, the fact that the sketch’s premise was supposed to be taken seriously might’ve been the biggest joke in the room. Combine all those elements, and you wind up with something that only SNL can give us.

 

 

 

HONORABLE MENTION:

 

APARTMENT HOGS; “Hogs” (1989) – I wanted to include this one, NOT because of any blooper, but because this was one of the VERY few times that I know of that No Animal Blooper took place despite the very real possibility it could’ve gone that direction. Just the fact that Nora & (host) Ted Danson were able to keep the straightest of faces while what looked like 10+ Oversized Hogs run wild in a cramped space was worth the price of admission. Sure, there were a few near-misses as the hogs bumped into each other, but I wouldn’t exactly call those moments “Bloopers”. If anything, it helps enhance what little action there is.

 

This was understandably a short list, partly because this was pretty much a niche topic. So with that in mind, next week’s FINAL List is going to have to be FAR more Broad…

 

NEXT WEEK: The Summer is almost over, and I’ve put this off Long Enough…The time has come to talk about Characters…