The greatest sketch in Saturday Night Live history fittingly features Will Ferrell in a too-small sweater playing an unconventional rock-and-roll musical instrument.
“More Cowbell” was named the greatest SNL sketch in a list revealed by Saturday Night Network on Monday. The rankings were complied from voting by SNN viewers. According to SNN, roughly 10,000 votes were tabulated. SNN patrons and podcasters had their votes weighted at 2x. SNN Instagram/X followers who voted counted as 1x. And SNL reddit votes counted as 0.5x.
The countdown began on SNN’s YouTube channel and website this past summer, with a handful of sketches revealed each week.
“I am so impressed with the SNL viewing audience for their choices,” said SNN podcast host Jon Schneider. “We have such a wide range of sketches chosen from different eras, it’s a testament to the intelligence of the diehard SNL fans. Overall, I am incredibly grateful to the SNL community who engages with us each and every summer for these countdowns.”
Ferrell made his presence felt on the Top 100 list, appearing 14 times as a performer and nine times as a writer or co-writer of a sketch. Many observers rate Ferrell as the best cast member in SNL history. He rates #3 here at SNL Rankings among the nearly 180 cast members in the history of the NBC program. Ferrell was a cast member for seven seasons, from 1995 to 2002.
“More Cowbell” aired on April 8, 2000 in Season 25. The actual title of the sketch was “Behind The Music Recording Session,” and it was written by Ferrell. It appeared in the 16th episode of the season, hosted by Christopher Walken, who arguably steals the scene in the iconic sketch.
The sketch features Walken and SNL cast members Ferrell, Chris Parnell, Chris Kattan, Jimmy Fallon, and Horatio Sanz at a recording studio where 1970s band Blue Öyster Cult is working on their song “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.” In the sketch, Ferrell as fictitious band member Gene Frenkle, performs with the cowbell. His enthusiastic playing annoys his fellow band members, who stop playing several times to try to reign him in.
But Walken, as fictional music producer Bruce Dickinson, urges Blue Oyster Cult to embrace Frenkle’s frantic playing. “Really explore the space,” Walken says. His famous line has become one of SNL’s most remembered and repeated phrases: “I’m gonna need more cowbell!”
The sketch refuses to be derailed even when Fallon, Sanz, and Kattan break due to Ferrell’s performance. As the shirt he’s wearing rides up, the band members are treated to a view of his hairy stomach while the SNL star clangs the cowbell with vigor during every take.
More Cowbell Sketch Video
Other Top Sketches as rated by Saturday Night Network
Other top sketches according to Saturday Night Network viewer voting were “Wake Up and Smile” from Season 21, the unforgettable Chris Parnell-driven pretape “Lazy Sunday” at #4, “White Like Me” from Season 10 starring Eddie Murphy, “Word Association” from Season 1 with host Richard Pryor and Chevy Chase.
The number two sketch was “Motivational Speaker” from Season 18 featuring Chris Farley as Matt Foley. Number three was “Washington’s Dream” from Season 49. Number five on the list was “Dick in a Box,” a pretape from Season 32 starring Andy Samberg and host Justin Timberlake.
Phil Hartman led in appearances at 19 of the Top 100. Kenan Thompson was second with 18, and Will Ferrell was third with 14 appearances. Both Jim Downey and Robert Smigel had 13 writer credits in Top 100 sketches, according to Schneider and SNN.
