SNL Season 41: Best Sketches (So Far)

12. SANTA BABY

Dec. 5, 2015 (Host: Ryan Gosling)

Gosling and Vanessa Bayer starred in this digital short as a new-to-the-neighborhood adult couple who take their belief in old St. Nick to insane and deeply uncomfortable places. As their state of arousal rose and rose to near terrifying levels, party-thrower Beck Bennett was forced to get his white beard and jacket and play his role in the couple's twisted fantasy — which brilliantly culminated in Bayer cooing "Cuisinart" into the ear of Old St. Nick.

Watch it here.

11. HILLARY CLINTON AT BEDTIME

Dec. 19, 2015 (Hosts: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler)

Kate McKinnon's current version of the Democratic front-runner (who considers a pantsuit as proper pajamas) got a visit from Poehler's 2008 impression — as well as Fey's Sarah Palin. All three women shone brightly here — Fey's stream of gobbledygook, laced together by "but alsos" and "and evens," cutting deepest. McKinnon, however, got the best single punch line, noting to her past self that in 2015, it's no longer enough to "be a sweet old lady, we have to be a sweet old lady who says 'Yasss, Queen!'"
Watch it here.

10. "FIRST GOT HORNY 2U"

Nov. 14, 2015 (Host: Elizabeth Banks)

SNL's ladies — in this case, Banks, Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong and Vanessa Bayer — joined forces as girl group Infinity Plus Five to extoll the virtues of their girlhood crushes. With lyrics like, "I got up on the couch/ And I knocked my first one out," it wasn't tasteful, but it sure was amusing.

Watch it here.

9. "LET'S DANCE"

Oct. 17, 2015 (Host: Tracy Morgan)

Morgan's best moment of the night was playing a bar patron whose "let's dance" grumble to Taran Killam was meant quite literally. "You don't want to put a rose in my mouth?" Morgan asked, incredulously, before finally guilting his way into a tango in which he didn't have to lead. The ballet flats were an especially nice touch.

Watch it here.

8. GOLDEN GLOBES GONE BAD

Jan. 16, 2016 (Host: Adam Driver)

Driver and Vanessa Bayer played a husband-and-wife writing team gong after-party crazy — and leaving their little kids (Kate McKinnon and Kyle Mooney) home alone following their win at the Golden Globes. Liev Schreiber's end-of-skit, apron-clad appearance as the couple's debauched hookup partner elevated this pre-taped bit to DRV-rewind worthy.

Watch it here.

7: ADELE THANKSGIVING

Nov. 21, 2015 (Host: Matt McConaughey)

A little girl keeps the peace at Thanksgiving by playing Adele's "Hello" every time an argument begins to percolate — an act that sends them all into sepia-hued, eyelash-tastic fits of lip synching. Here's hoping the group ballad means Aunt Kathy's racist remark to visiting boyfriend Jay Pharoah ("Why do your friends keep antagonizing the police?!") doesn't get revisited 'til Christmas.

Watch it here.

Jan. 23, 2016 (Host: Ronda Rousey)

Tina Fey's Palin impersonation is always a welcome (and guffaw-inducing) treat. But with material like Palin's word-salad endorsement of the Republican front-runner, the payoff was twice as sweet.

Watch it here.

Nov. 14, 2015 (Host: Elizabeth Banks)

Bobby Moynihan played a middle-school administrator excited about winning a charity-auction role in a crime procedural called The Bureau — that is, until Banks and Jay Pharoah's FBI agents got on camera and busted his fictional character for sniffing teenagers' one-piece bathing suits and exhibiting "pervert eyes." A slight, silly premise upgraded wonderfully by the actors' goofy enthusiasm.

Watch it here.

Oct. 10, 2015 (Host: Amy Schumer)

Schumer and Vanessa Bayer played flight attendants working to improve Delta's standing as the "third most-fun airline" — via a little ditty set to the tune of the Spice Girls' "Wannabe." But when one, then the other, got pulled out a faulty door and to the brink of horrifying death, the combination of pure panic and "it's OK"/"you can all watch San Andreas for free" reassurance proved absolutely LOL-inducing.

Watch it here.

3. AN ANNOUNCEMENT FROM GEORGE W. BUSH

Dec. 12, 2015 (Host: Chris Hemsworth)

Will Ferrell's surprise visit as the former POTUS was as hilarious as it was unexpected, bubbling over with hilariously ridiculous details (George and Laura's love of Chevy's) and scathing put-downs of the current Republican presidential field (including Ben Carson's soft-spoken voice not being loud enough to be understood by foreign diplomats).

Watch it here.

Dec. 5, 2015 (Host: Ryan Gosling)

Hat tip to Kate McKinnon for her guffaw-inducing performance as one of three friends interviewed by NSA agents on account of them all being involved in the first verified case of alien abduction. While Gosing and Cecily Strong cooed ridiculously about being "wrapped in blankets made of pure love," McKinnon spun a yarn about being forced to urinate into a bowl in front of 40 or so giant-eyed gray creatures. I couldn't blame Gosling and Strong — along with agents Aidy Bryant and Bobby Moyniahn — for stifling giggles. I was practically crying with laughter throughout.

Watch it here.

Dec. 19, 2015 (Hosts: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler)

Fey and Poehler took what could've been a brutally icky concept — happily married guys get ambushed on a game show during which they're introduced to the underage girls with whom they'll eventually replace their current spouses — and made it wonderfully, scathingly funny. "I thought this was a home makeover show!" cried Aidy Bryant, as a woman who's just met the five-year-old her husband will marry years out (after she dies in a kayaking accident). "In a way, it is," replied Fey's matter-of-fact emcee, driving home feminist comedy so scorching, even a trophy wife would LOL.

Watch it here.