Today, I explain what the proper terminology is for the performances on Saturday Night Live, sketches or skits.
In Pop Culture Questions Answered, I answer whatever questions you folks might have about movies, TV, music or whatever (feel free to e-mail questions to me at brian@poprefs.com).
Saturday Night Live is a famous live comedy show with a series of short comedy performances by its cast and its guest host for the week (with the occasional celebrity cameo).
The question is, though, what are those performances CALLED?
I did a recent post about the latest episode of the series, and someone corrected me for my use of the word “sketch” instead of “skit.”
As is common for the internet, the correction, delivered with conviction, was not accurate.
A skit is a single joke (think Laugh-In), while a sketch is a longer exploration of a comedic concept.
So Saturday Night Live has sketches, not skits.
Al Franken noted it recently, as well, when an interviewer called them “skits,” “Lorne is very strict about this. They’re called sketches.”
There ya go!
If anyone has a pop culture question, drop me a line at brian@poprefs.com!
