“Saturday Night Live (SNL)” aired its first episode on Oct. 11, 1975. The show quickly became a staple of American late-night television with comedy sketches that left no stone unturned in the program’s quest for laughs. SNL is celebrating its 50th season, making this the perfect time to revisit some classic police-related sketches that have popped up on the program over the years.
A Cop Family Toasts an Engagement (Season 38; Aired 5/18/13)
Kirk, a police officer (played by Bill Hader) has a difficult time keeping it together as he attempts to toast his daughter at her engagement party. A collection of other family members who are also cops (including host Ben Affleck and cast members Fred Armisen and Jason Sudeikis) have similar issues.
SWAT Recon (Season 17; Aired 5/6/17)
A SWAT recon operation is derailed by the target’s neighbors’ (host Chris Pine and cast member Mikey Day) cotton-candy dance party that leads into a backpack fashion show. The target (Bobby Moynihan) eventually joins in on the fun.
Detectives (Season 49; Aired 3/2/24)
Host Sydney Sweeney and cast member Chloe Fineman play two vocal-fry-intensive interns who use their social media skills to solve murders. James Austin Johnson pops up as a detective who attempts to co-opt their youthful vibes with little success.
Murder Detective (Season 49; Aired 3/30/24)
A detective (played by cast member Andrew Dismukes) tries to make his fellow officers laugh at his pizza delivery joke at a homicide scene. When the victim’s widow (played by Sarah Sherman) arrives, he even attempts to lighten the mood by telling her the joke. Sherman proceeds to struggle to keep a straight face as Dismukes digs into his delivery.
Crime Scene (Season 37; Aired 11/5/11)
Host Charlie Day plays a Colombo-esque detective who is so clueless he doesn’t even realize the apartment he’s in is a nearly exact replica of Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment from “Seinfeld.” He then proceeds to reinforce the notion that he has no grasp of current events, history, sports, or pop culture, except for “CSI,” of course.
Good Cop Bad Cop (Season 10; Aired 1/19/85)
Host Roy Schneider plays a good cop complemented by Martin Short’s bad cop in this vintage interrogation sketch. Short’s character has a difficult time wrapping his head around the concept, so Schneider’s character eventually plays both roles.
The No. 2 Detective (Season 12; Aired 4/18/87)
Host John Larroquette plays a detective at a crime scene who is incredibly skilled at lifting pieces of evidence with a pencil. His enthralled fellow cops challenge him to lift items from a microwave to an eyelash in this vintage sketch.
NYPD Press Conference (Season 49; Aired 5/18/24)
Host Jake Gyllenhaal plays a police sergeant holding a press conference inspired by the real-life assault on actor Steve Buscemi that had occurred two weeks before this show’s airing. The message for the press conference becomes, “Stop punching character actors in the face,” as it goes on to mention the potential dangers for fellow character actors such as Stephen Root, Paul Giamatti and Stephen Tobolowsky.
Thirsty Cops (Season 45; Aired 2/8/20)
Two cops (RuPaul and Ego Nwodim) pull over a man (Pete Davidson) for texting while he was driving. The duo then proceeds to compete for Davidson’s affection, until another officer (played by Kate McKinnon) joins the competition.
