We were discussing this in chat and thought it would make a good thread. So what were YOUR favorites?
Mine are some of the really old ones…Blues Brothers, the Super Bass-O-Matic, “No Coke! Pepsi!”
And Dennis Miller as host of the Weekend Update.
The bumblebee skit from the original cast was a good one.
I got a kick out of the Land Shark skits.
Peace,
mangeorge
Ah, Richard Pryor Meets John Belushi…two of the flat-out, hands down FUNNIEST people who ever lived. And yeah, it was comedy out of pain, back when SNL had a real edge. Madeline Kahn at the slumber party…Dan Ackryod as Julia Child…the off the cuff (and deadly) commercial satires “puppy uppers, etc”…
SNL was damned subversive and comedically on target in it’s day. Guess it changed when it inherited “late night” from the Smothers Brothers…who made Prime Time political and made it work, and then segued into a fringe that doesn’t exist anymore. The “fringe” isn’t subversive now, just packaged shock stuff, spun for the market.
The really subversive stuff is happening here now, on the Net. But damned if I don’t miss the days when THAT medium bushwhacked us all into honesty and laughter. It’s the nature of the beast. And it’s a fabulous beast but forgive me if I wonder if it isn’t an etoliated version, lacking the force, punch and teeth of what SNL, early TV and radio were in their prime?
Oh, shit, SORRY! Just hijacked this one…
Veb
“Live, from New York, it’s…”
You’re right, TV. Those words used to mean you were in for a ride. 
Peace,
mangeorge
Dan Ackroid as the bad halloween costume guy… what was that called?? “Johnny flame boy” was my favorite costume. BTW my first pick was “bass-o-matic” but that was used in the OP
You lika’ 'da jiuce?
Brad & Lisa. “Leeeee-sa! Ya wanna go to the prom?”
The diner from hell: “NO COKE! Pepsi! Chee-burger, chee-burger, Pepsi, Pepsi.”
And, of course, the coneheads.
The two that come most to mind are the ad skit for new Shimmer! It’s a dessert toppinng and a floor polish!
“It’s a dessert topping, you cow!”
And Dan Aykroid and Jane Curtin’s ‘Point, Counterpoint’:
“Jane, you ignorant slut!”
Bline, yep I loved that one. I remember the costume “invisible pedestrian”; a black outfit.
Favorite SNL skits…hrm…
Phil Hartman as “The Anal-Retentive Chef”
Chris Farley as the motivational speaker
The Happy Fun Ball segment from Jack Handey (dunno if this counts as a skit exactly, but hey…)
I LOVE SNL! One of my favorites is with Jason Priestly. The whole episode is pretty funny, but the skit where they are the New Kids on the Block is so funny.
Also, Chevy Chase interviewing Richard Pryor for a job is great. They are doing word associations and end up calling each other every racial slur in the book. Very edgy…
I love John Belushi’s commercial for “Little Chocolate donuts.” And the one where Matthew Broderick is at the nudist colony (Hey, Jim! How’s the penis?). And I love Andy Kaufman’s “Here I come to save the day!” And Emily Litella (Gilda Radner) with her “What’s all this about endangered feces? What? Oh…nevermind.”
There are so many, I can’t list them all here. Other than the above, I love almost anything Phil Hartman ever did. The man was brilliant.
The Chris Farley motivational speaker skits and the the “It’s Pat!” skits with Julia Sweeney.
Almost any Jeopardy was hilarious, particularly if Norm MacDonald was playing Burt Reynolds.
The skit wherein Chris Farley falls into a pond when he is skating on thin ice. I believe this skit was on the tape of “The Greatest of Chris Farley.”
Bob Schwarski’s Superfans was great. Da Bears. Da Bulls. Ditka. Sausage. Ditka. Sausage.
Will Ferrel as Harry Carey was great. “If you were a hotdog, would you eat yourself? I know I would. I would smother myself in hot relish and mustard…I’d be delicious.”
As Jeannie mentioned, Phil Hartman skits were great. Particularly him as Bill Clinton. It is a shame he had to go the way he did.
Dana Carvey as George Bush and as Ross Perot were golden. He is one of the best SNL cast members ever.
Matt Foley was the name of Chris Farley as the motivational speaker. He was hilarious.
Some of the Tim Meadows “Ladies’ Man” skits are hilarious.
The food show with Anna Gasteyer and Molly Shannon as hosts (I can’t remember the name of the show but it was on NPR) and when Alec Baldwin was Joe Schwetty and he brought his Schwetty Balls.
I personally enjoyed Norm MacDonald as host of the Weekend Update.
I loved the episode where every single skit was interrupted (including Deep Thoughts with Jack Handy) with Will Ferrel playing Kenneth Star and issuing every actor a federal subpoena.
The Dark Side with Nat X was great. Chris Rock did a great job on SNL but his talent was never realized.
The skit where Jim Carrey is a lifeguard for the tiny hot tub in a hotel. Will Ferrel is in the water being harrassed by Carrey the whole time. He blows his whistle and calls for “lap swimming” when Tim Meadows comes in and swims a couple of laps in the whirlpool.
I guess that about wraps up my favorite list. If I remember any more I will post later.
I’m really surprised my favorite didn’t get mentioned. Samurai Delicatessen. That has to be my all-time favorite, followed closely by Kid Metal, where Axl Rose, Slash, and Sebastian Bach sing kids’ rhymes like the alphabet song, old mac donald, etc.
I nominate two Star Trek skits: the one with John Belushi as Capt. Kirk when the Enterprise was dismantled by NBC executives, and the one where William Shatner was speaking at the Star Trek convention and told the to “move out of their parents’ basements and get a life!” Both were hilarious.
Two that immediately spring to mind are John Belushi’s commentary on Weekend Update about “The Luck of the Irish,” and Dan Ackroyd as Julia Child (“I seem to have cut the dickens out of my finger …”)
Another character that I like (not a skit but what the hey) is whenever Will Ferrel plays Janet Reno. That is hilarious. “Who wants it Reno style?”
I still crack up when I see the skit with Richard Pryor doing a spoof of “The Exorcist”.