The 20 best 'SNL' skits of the 2010s

Kate McKinnon could star in a film where it’s just her in her character from the "Close Encounter" skit talking about aliens, and it’d make $100 million. Ryan Gosling and Aidy Bryant break throughout the entire sketch, and everyone else who’s watched it has laughed just as much. 

We thought we weren’t going to get any more Tina Fey and Amy Poehler sketches after they both left SNL, but they’ve both returned routinely, and they’ve given us some genuinely hilarious skits like "Meet Your Second Wife." This sketch is a prime example of the sharp comedy both are known for. 

SNL has always been good at taking a defining feature of an actor and using it as a premise for a skit, and it worked out beautifully for the Margot Robbie sketch "Live Report." Robbie is married to a man with objectively nothing going for him, and the newscasters are far more interested in their marriage than the natural disaster at hand. 

"Back Home Ballers" has become an anthem for anyone who returns home for the holiday. Some of SNL ’s finest ladies and Cameron Diaz rapping about how they’re about to take advantage of their parents over Thanksgiving weekend rings true for so many, and the song is catchy as hell. 

There’s a reason Emma Stone is now a member of the Five-Timers Club. Watching her act as a bad actress trying to procure a back story for a brief appearance in an adult film will always be a highlight of her SNL hosting record. 

Who knew that a sketch about a lobster singing show tunes in a diner would turn into a recurring sketch? At first, you’re not sure whether you should laugh, but eventually, the absurdity of it all takes over, and you can’t help but bust a gut. 

Kristen Wiig can do no wrong comedically, and watching her pretend to be Liza Minnelli trying to turn off a lamp so she and her friend aren’t late for a performance of Cats is an out-of-the-box experience that doesn’t sound remotely funny but strangely is as hilarious as it gets. 

The Lonely Island era of SNL was undoubtedly one of the best. Andy Samberg and company got some of the best names in music at the time to create songs with hilarious lyrics that are strangely catchy, and "I Just Had Sex" is one of the best examples of the group’s comedic genius. 

Ryan Gosling needs to host SNL at least once per season. His playing an adult man who still believes in Santa is so perfectly uncomfortable. It felt like he had been waiting his whole life to take on this ridiculous role. 

Perhaps the most underrated on this list, "Bein’ Quirky With Zooey Deschanel" has all the makings of a great sketch. Abby Elliott is playing Zooey Deschanel, Zooey Deschanel is playing an Olsen twin, and Kristen Wiig is playing Bjork — an impression that was criminally underused while she was a cast member. The entire thing is so odd in the best way. 

Speaking of odd in the best way, Donald Glover sure knows how to make people uncomfortable when he wants to. In "Barbie Instagram," he plays an unsettling intern trying to generate Instagram captions for Barbie’s official account alongside two interns, making the job nearly impossible. The captions just get funnier and funnier. 

If there’s one thing SNL’s going to do, it’s poke fun at the culture. The show has done multiple iterations of "High School Theater Show," but the one with Emma Stone is by far the best. The writing is fantastic, and the performances will make you want to crawl out of your skin. 

Tom Hanks is such a good actor in all facets that we sometimes forget he has great comedic chops. His appearance as Doug on "Black Jeopardy" is a great reminder of just how funny he is. 

"Haunted Elevator" is another classic example of Tom Hanks’ comedic excellence. His David Pumpkins character would make every haunted house experience significantly better. We need Tom Hanks to host more Halloween episodes so we can get all we can of David Pumpkins. 

We’d definitely be paying attention on career day if Adam Driver, as an intense oil baron, were giving a speech. This sketch proves that sometimes the most unexpected guests make for the most memorable moments on SNL. 

Kristen Wiig had some of the best recurring characters of any cast member in SNL history, so saying that Target Lady was among her top three is saying something. Lots of "Target Lady" sketches could top this list, but her meeting her first lesbian is particularly great. 

The influence the Real Housewives franchise has had on pop culture is far-reaching, and it’s made it to SNL a handful of times. One of the best was the "Disney Housewives" sketch, where Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, and more had entirely new problems beyond losing shoes and evil stepmothers.  

We could watch Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph run around talking about chickens and clocks all day, and in "Super Showcase Spokesmodels," we get that for about four minutes. They and Bill Hader break a handful of times, making the sketch much funnier. 

When "The Californians" debuted, the world stopped. An iconic recurring skit had been born. The accents, the characters, the production — it’s all perfect. What makes it even better is knowing that it was born from a recurring bit the bi-coastal cast members did off-screen. 

Had Melissa McCarthy been a cast member of SNL, she would’ve gone down as one of the greatest of all time. In "Outside the Lines," she pretends to be an abusive coach of a low-level college basketball team, and the way she tortures her players is absurdly funny. Spoiler alert: there’s a thrown toaster involved.