The “amazing” 1991 sketch Bill Hader calls the greatest in ‘Saturday Night Live’ history
With over half a century’s worth to choose from, narrowing down the field to the single greatest Saturday Night Live sketch of all time seems like an arduous, if not impossible, task. However, Bill Hader disagrees.
As one of the countless Studio8H alumni who went on to bigger and better things after departing the show, he’s also got more skin in the game than asking the average Joe on the street. Hader was one of his era’s biggest breakout stars, but his personal preferences are rooted much deeper in SNL‘s past.
While there’s no definitive answer to who deserves to be called the finest performer in the never-ending sketch series’ history, with co-creator Dick Ebersol hanging his hat on Eddie Murphy, which is a more valid shout than most, Hader has one notable supporter in a pretty high place, since they’re part of that conversation, too.
Bill Murray thinks the man of a thousand voices and contorted faces is the best ever to grace the airwaves as part of the SNL roster, and accolades don’t come much higher than that. Hader would probably disagree, since he’s not one for patting himself on the back and touting his own achievements, and he might be more inclined to award the honour to Phil Hartman.
The Barry creator has always held Hartman up on a pedestal as one of his comedy heroes and inspirations, and he carried that mindset with him from the start of his SNL tenure, hoping to fulfil a similar role: “It was like The A-Team,” he recalled of those early days. “‘OK, I’m the impressions guy’. And I’d do someone at the table read, even if I had a bad idea, just so the writers could go, ‘OK, we don’t like that sketch, but we know he can do that guy.'”
Hader might be one of the best impressionists who’s ever graced the show, but for many long-time viewers, Hartman will never be beaten. That said, it wasn’t one of the latter’s impressions that the former adored, but one of his more offbeat creations, which debuted in 1991 and ran through to 1996.
“Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer is amazing,” Hader marvelled. “Probably my favourite sketch.” Whether you’ve seen it or not, you can infer what it was about from the name alone, with Hartman playing a litigator who was defrosted in 1988, went on to study law at the University of Oklahoma, who’d use his seeming simple-mindedness to manipulate cases to his advantage.
On paper, it was stupid. In practice, it was also stupid, but in the best kind of way. Hartman’s commitment to the bit could never be faulted, and years before Hader had even considered becoming a Saturday Night Live player, he’d always be left doubled over whenever a new Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer skit appeared.
It makes sense, since he was heralded by many as Hartman’s spiritual successor of sorts, but he was enthralled by the bit as a fan first and foremost, and for Hader’s money, it’s the best there’s ever been.
