List of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches

The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live sketches, organized by the season and date in which the sketch first appeared. For an alphabetical list, see Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches (listed alphabetically).

1975–1976

Title	Premiere date	Main actor(s)	Description
Weekend Update	October 11, 1975	Chevy Chase Jane Curtin Dan Aykroyd	A satirical news segment starring that is the longest-running recurring sketch in the show's history. Like the show itself, it has seen many changes over the years and has a revolving door of anchors, including Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Charles Rocket, Gail Matthius, Brian Doyle-Murray, Mary Gross, Christine Ebersole, Brad Hall, Christopher Guest, Dennis Miller, Kevin Nealon, Norm Macdonald, Colin Quinn, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Horatio Sanz, Seth Meyers, Cecily Strong, Colin Jost, and Michael Che.
The Killer Bees	October 11, 1975		First characters to recur on SNL. According to a Lorne Michaels interview for the book Live from New York, "The only note we got from the network on the first show was 'Cut the bees.' And so I made sure I put them in the next show." The bees were played by all the repertory players at the time, who wore yellow and black horizontal stripes, wings, and springy antennas. Much of the humor from these scenes came out of puns or metaphors that had to do with well-known activities and body parts of bees. The bees were a staple of the first season, appearing 11 times. However, the cast and crew quickly became tired of them, and the bees only appeared three more times during the original cast's five-year tenure.
The Land of Gorch	October 11, 1975	Jim Henson Alice Tweedie Jerry Nelson Fran Brill Richard Hunt Frank Oz	Puppet sketch starring Jim Henson's Muppets, King Ploobis (performed by Jim Henson), Queen Peuta (performed by Alice Tweedie), Scred (performed by Jerry Nelson), Vazh (performed by Fran Brill), Wisss (performed by Richard Hunt), and the Mighty Favog (performed by Frank Oz). Lorne Michaels described the characters as the type of Muppets that can stay up late.
Land Shark	November 8, 1975	Chevy Chase	Chevy Chase plays a shark attempting to lure his way into a victim's home.
Sherry	November 15, 1975	Laraine Newman	Laraine Newman plays Sherry, a stereotypical naive valley girl. Newman reprised the role in the 40th anniversary special as part of The Californians sketch in 2015, in which she played Karina's mother who, like Sherry, also spoke valley girl-esque.
Minute Mystery with Mike Mendoza	November 15, 1975	Dan Aykroyd	Dan Aykroyd is a crime scene photographer who gives the audience a list of clues and 60 seconds to solve a mystery.
Looks at Books	November 15, 1975	Jane Curtin	A talk show sketch hosted by Jane Curtin interviewing profound authors.
Emily Litella	December 13, 1975	Gilda Radner	Emily Litella was an elderly woman with a hearing problem who frequently ranted about topics about which she had misread or misheard, such as "Violins on Television," "Canker Research," "Endangered Feces," or "Presidential Erections" (to satisfy the censors at the time, Litella was made to explicitly state that she was referring to erecting statues of presidents). Her catchphrase was "Never mind!", said after she was informed of her mistake.
Saturday Night Live Samurai	December 13, 1975	John Belushi	John Belushi plays a samurai warrior, who speaks only (mock) Japanese, and wields a katana. He is seen in various occupations ranging from a hotel desk clerk to a tailor.
Mel's Char Palace	December 20, 1975	Dan Aykroyd	A steakhouse commercial parody featuring Dan Aykroyd. At Mel's, customers are given a chainsaw and are invited to hunt, stun, cut and cook their own cow.
Steve Bushakis	January 24, 1976	John Belushi	A John Belushi character who hails from Chicago, named after Belushi's childhood friend.
H & L Brock	January 31, 1976	John Belushi	As Lowell Brock, John Belushi gives reasons why he should do your taxes., "He'll take the time . . because he has the time . . because he's doing time."
Mr. Bill	February 28, 1976		Mr. Bill is the clay figurine star of a parody of children's shows. Mr. Bill got its start when Walter Williams sent SNL a Super 8 reel featuring the character in response to the show's request for home movies during the first season. Mr. Bill's first appearance was on the February 28, 1976 episode. Williams became a full-time writer for the show in 1978, writing more than 20 sketches based on Mr. Bill. Each Mr. Bill episode started innocently, but quickly turned dangerous for Mr. Bill. Along with his dog, Spot, he suffered various indignities inflicted by "Mr. Hands," a man seen only as a pair of hands (played by Vance DeGeneres).^[1] The character's popularity spawned the 1986 live-action movie Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures.
Tomorrow	April 17, 1976	Dan Aykroyd	A parody of The Tomorrow Show, starring Dan Aykroyd as Tom Snyder.
Baba Wawa	April 24, 1976	Gilda Radner	Gilda Radner impersonates journalist Barbara Walters.
Colleen Fernman	April 24, 1976	Gilda Radner	Appearing in seven sketches over five seasons, Colleen is usually non-talkative, and appears to be spaced out or in a vegetative state, and it is established in a February 24, 1979, sketch about psychiatrists that she is autistic.
Bobbi Farber	July 31, 1976	Gilda Radner	Middle-class Jewish-American with a nasal voice, who appeared in eight sketches in various settings over five seasons.

1976–1977

1977–1978

1978–1979

Honker the Homeless Man (Bill Murray) – October 14, 1978
The Mall (Scotch Boutique, D&R Men's Stylists, Barry White's Big and Tall, etc.) – October 14, 1978
Woman to Woman (Gilda Radner) – October 21, 1978
Uncle Roy (Buck Henry) – November 11, 1978
St. Mickey's Knights Of Columbus – November 11, 1978
Chico Escuela (Garrett Morris) – November 11, 1978
Telepsychic (Dan Aykroyd) – December 9, 1978
Candy Slice (Gilda Radner) – December 9, 1978
The Widettes (Jane Curtin, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Gilda Radner) – December 16, 1978
Miles Cowperthwaite (Michael Palin) – January 27, 1979
Dick Lanky (Bill Murray) – February 17, 1979
Rosa Santangelo (Gilda Radner) – May 19, 1979

1979–1980

1980–1981

1981–1982

1982–1983

1983–1984

1984–1985

1985–1986

1986–1987

1987–1988

1988–1989

1989–1990

1990–1991

1991–1992

1992–1993

1993–1994

1994–1995

1995–1996

1996–1997

1997–1998

1998–1999

1999–2000

2000–2001

2001–2002

2002–2003

2003–2004

2004–2005

2005–2006

2006–2007

2007–2008

2008–2009

2009–2010

2010–2011

2011–2012

2012–2013

2013–2014

2014–2015

2015–2016

2016–2017

2017–2018

2018–2019

2019–2020

2020–2021

Title	Premiere date	Main actor(s)	Description
Edith Puthie	October 3, 2020	Ego Nwodim	An inappropriately-named middle-aged woman (Ego Nwodim) from the "Name Change Office" and "Boomers Got the Vax" sketches.
Dr. Wayne Wenowdis	October 10, 2020	Kate McKinnon	Weekend Update's resident medical expert (Kate McKinnon) who always replies with "We know dis". The pieces end with McKinnon breaking character to address her anxieties regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
SmokeCheddaDaAssGetta and Nunya Bizness	December 12, 2020	Timothee Chalamet, Ego Nwodim	White rapper SmokeCheddaDaAssGetta (Timothee Chalamet) appears on Nunya Bizness' (Ego Nwodim) talk show to voice his opinions on hip hop.
The Dionne Warwick Talk Show	December 12, 2020	Ego Nwodim, Punkie Johnson, Andrew Dismukes, Melissa Villaseñor, Pete Davidson, Lauren Holt	Dionne Warwick (Ego Nwodim) hosts a talk show while showing how out-of-touch she is with modern pop culture (e.g. pronouncing Billie Eilish as "Billie Eyelash").
Wooden Signs	February 13, 2021	Aidy Bryant	A middle-aged woman receives decorative signs with quotes from her friends and family with progressively more offensive quotes.
Oops, You Did It Again	February 20, 2021	Chloe Fineman	Britney Spears (Chloe Fineman) hosts a talk show in which she interviews guests that have been victims of cancel culture and gives them a chance to apologize for their prior incidents.
Pauline, a Weary Mother in Her Darkest Hour	May 8, 2021	Ego Nwodim	A worn-out woman (Ego Nwodim) appears on Weekend Update to lament her experiences as a mother.

2021–2022

Title	Premiere date	Main actor(s)	Description
Angelo	October 16, 2021	Aristotle Athari	"International singing sensation" Angelo (Aristotle Athari) performs at an exclusive venue, performing supposedly improvised songs from word prompts given by exasperated audience members.
TikTok	December 11, 2021	Aidy Bryant	An unseen teenager scrolls through a series of eccentric videos on TikTok to avoid chores.
Trend Forecasters	January 29, 2022	Aidy Bryant Bowen Yang	Two fashionable people (Aidy Bryant and Bowen Yang) report data on which trends are what's in and what's out.
Shoptv	April 2, 2022	Mikey Day Cecily Strong Heidi Gardner	Two tv shopping network hosts (Mikey Day & Cecily Strong/Heidi Gardner) present a seller (played by the host) with an inappropriate product which results in sexual innuendos and dirty phone calls
Why'd You Do That	April 9, 2022	Kenan Thompson Chloe Fineman	Danny Donnigan (Thompson) hosts a game show where he grills the contestants (consisting of Fineman, one or two other cast members, and the episode's host) on their questionable social media interactions.

2022–2023

Title	Premiere date	Main actor(s)	Description
Big Dumb Things	November 5, 2022	Chloe Fineman Heidi Gardner	Three Caucasian blonde women (Fineman, Gardener, the episode's host) advertise the latest comically large item that's become popular among their demographic.
Protective Mom	February 4, 2023	Pedro Pascal Marcello Hernandez	Mrs. Flores (Pascal) disapproves of the women her son Luis (Hernandez) dates, and rants about them in Spanish.
Lisa from Temecula	February 4, 2023	Ego Nwodim Punkie Johnson Bowen Yang	Lisa from Temecula (Nwodim) disrupts her sister's (Johnson) social life.
Garrett from Hinge	March 4, 2023	Bowen Yang	Garrett (Bowen Yang) interrupts a couple after being stood up by the woman.
Jingle Pitch	March 11, 2023	James Austin Johnson Andrew Dismukes Bowen Yang Chloe Fineman Devon Walker	Two members of Soul Booth (James Austin Johnson, Andrew Dismukes) try to come up with a new jingle for a company.
Couple Goals	April 1, 2023	James Austin Johnson	Game show about couple goals, where one couple shares very intense theories and thoughts about what would happen to their partner.
Crystal	April 8, 2023	Heidi Gardner	A co-worker who's busy doing absolutely nothing (Heidi Gardner) who appears on Weekend Update.
Recording Session	April 15, 2023	Devon Walker Kenan Thompson Ego Nwodim	Two female artists (Ego Nwodim, the episode's host) try to record a producer tag for Young Spicy (Devon Walker), but they end up being derogatory.

2023–2024

Title	Premiere date	Main actor(s)	Description
Secretary	October 14, 2023	Heidi Gardner Bowen Yang	In a 1960s law office, hyper secretary Trudy (Heidi Gardner) is manically predictive.
Dr. Please	October 28, 2023	Bowen Yang	Oddball Dr. Please (Bowen Yang).
Washington's Dream	October 28, 2023	Nate Bargatze James Austin Johnson Kenan Thompson Mikey Day Bowen Yang	During the Revolutionary War, general George Washington (Bargatze) tells his troops (Johnson, Thompson, Day, Yang) about his dreams for the new nation they are fighting for, which include a vast amount of idiosyncrasies that make little sense to even Americans(eg: weights and measures, miles vs kilometers, unique spellings of certain English words, etc).

References

[imdb-20th-anniv-1] "Oh Noooooo! It's Mr. Bill's 20th Anniversary (1995)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-06-04.

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