Alabama’s most iconic Saturday Night Live moments

“Saturday Night Live” has been making us laugh for five decades now, since the show premiered in October 1975.

“SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration,” will air at 7 p.m. CST Sunday, Feb. 16, on NBC and Peacock to celebrate the iconic show’s anniversary. Lots of the show’s iconic alumni, like original cast members Chevy Chase, Laraine Newman, Jane Curtin and Garrett Morris, are reportedly returning for the special. Also on deck is Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, Amy Poehler, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, Andy Samberg, Maya Rudolph and others.

This celebration got us to thinking back on all the Alabama moments that have happened on the show.

Let’s look back on some of our favorites, shall we?

READ MORE: SNL and Alabama

Charles Barkley’s four appearances as SNL host are more than any other sports star.

Charles Barkley hosts season premiere

Leeds native and former Auburn and NBA star Charles Barkley hosted the Season 19 premiere of “Saturday Night Live” in 1993, when he famously introduced the Seattle supergroup, that show’s musical guests, in this promo — a clip that made the cut in the recent NBC documentary “Ladies & Gentlemen . . . 50 Years of SNL Music.” While Barkley, by most accounts, made a solid first impression, he would not host “SNL” again until 2010. He subsequently hosted a third time in 2012 and a fourth in 2018, and his four appearances as host are more than any other sports star, including his former friend Michael Jordan, who only hosted once. – Bob Carlton

Katie Britt gets lampooned, courtesy of ScarJo

It had the Norman-Rockwell-on-acid feel of a David Lynch movie. Alabama U.S. Senator Katie Britt’s delivery of Republicans’ 2024 State of the Union response, beamed in from her kitchen, was perfectly teed-up for “SNL” satire. And it got it. The show’s March 9, 2024 cold-open emulated CNN coverage of then-President Joe Biden’s SOTU address, before cutting to Britt’s response. Surprise! Scarlett Johansson, one of the world’s biggest movie stars and wife of “SNL” cast member Colin Jost, was playing Britt. Johansson nailed it. In a green top, cross-charm necklace, and brunette hair to resemble Britt, ScarJo deftly channeled the surreal SOTU response. Britt, a 43-year-old mother of two kids and married to an ex-Alabama footballer, could still take pride though. Just in the fact “SNL” had Johansson, twice named by Esquire magazine as the “sexiest woman alive,” play her. — Matt Wake

READ MORE: Katie Britt responds

Kate McKinnon portrays Jeff Sessions

While many folks with Alabama ties, including political figures, celebrities and more, have been depicted on Saturday Night Live, Kate McKinnon’s reoccurring portrayals of former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, of Selma, has to be one of the best. The Emmy-winning “SNL” star played Sessions in a slew of skits in 2017 and 2018, and with so many good ones to choose from, it can be hard to pick a favorite. That said, the cold opening from March 4, 2017, that featured Montgomery native and host Octavia Spencer alongside McKinnon portraying Sessions playing his own version of Forrest Gump always comes to mind first because of the Alabama of it all. Another one worth mentioning? The Nov. 11, 2017, cold opening that included McKinnon’s Sessions giving advice to then-Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, played by “SNL” cast member Mikey Day, because it featured a double-whammy of Alabama politicians that — as is the case for so many skits featuring legislators from our state — you had to laugh at to keep from crying about. – Amber Sutton

Morgan Wallen gets dropped – then rehired

Country star Morgan Wallen was dropped as a musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” in October 2020, after he was caught partying in Tuscaloosa during the coronavirus pandemic. No mask, no worries, just up close and personal with his adoring fans. Wallen was invited back to the show two months later, however, and writers incorporated the incident into a skit. Wallen played himself, bursting into an Alabama bar that was full of Crimson Tide logos, hats and other gear. An exterior shot of T-Town’s Innisfree Irish Pub was shown on screen, too. “I’m sure he’s taking all the necessary COVID precautions,” Beck Bennett said in the skit. Wallen was having none of that; he simply raised a beer and said, “Alabama! To no consequences!” Jason Bateman and Bowen Yang then showed up, however, dressed in the same clothes as Wallen and saying they were “you from the future.” Their goal? To stop the singer from making a big mistake. The sketch ended with Wallen singing an ditty about mending his ways, focusing on the future and getting a “second Yankee chance.” – Mary Colurso

Jason Sudeikis, left, told The Birmingham News that a gray wig and a “nice blazer” were essential to any impersonation of “American Idol” favorite Taylor Hicks. Sudeikis spoofed Hicks during a “Weekend Update” segment in April 2006, shortly before Hicks won the crown on the reality TV series.(NBC photo)

Soul Patrol comes to ‘SNL’

Birmingham’s Taylor Hicks was arguably one of the most famous people in America in 2006, when he won the title on “American Idol.” Viewership for the reality series peaked that year, with about 30 million people tuning in per episode. Hicks also received perhaps the ultimate compliment from “Saturday Night Live,” with a parody segment on “Weekend Update.” Jason Sudeikis portrayed the gray-haired soul singer, tossing his head and shouting “Soul Patrol!” ‘’I watch the show all the time, and he’s actually my favorite guy on it,‘’ Sudeikis told The Birmingham News. ‘’It’s the enthusiasm that pulls everyone in.” Sudeikis said he wrote the Hicks sketch with “SNL” writer John Lutz, also a Hicks fan. One key to the impersonation was getting the voice right, Sudeikis said: “Just sound like you’re having a blast.” — Mary Colurso

Daniel Craig tries out an Alabama accent

“Why don’t we take a little trip down to … Ahhl uh bahmah,” says Beck Bennett, and it’s awl ovah. Bennett plays dialect coach Franklin Hughes, who’s guiding Daniel Craig at a “Knives Out” audition where Craig is trying to develop the deep-fried vocal persona of detective Benoit Blanc. Hughes’ take on Alabama-speak: “Oh, they got some good tuhtles down thayah. Hoo lawd! You bettah get me a fan because it’s haht. My butt is haht!” It’s a gratuitous and silly skit and you get a little taste of the real Benoit Blanc toward the end, a plummy take on Tennessee Williams and Shelby Foote that would make Foghorn Leghorn blush. Eventually Hughes admits he’s never been to the South, “But I have studied the region, mainly through cartoons.” Yeah, we get that a lot down here. – Lawrence Specker

READ MORE: Daniel Craig on SNL

Chris Farley impersonates Howell Heflin

This raunchy cold open to this 1991 episode, which satirized the salacious Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, featured a cast of “SNL” All-Stars as bawdy Senate good ol’ boys who make easy targets for parody. Kevin Nealon as Joe Biden. Phil Hartman as Ted Kennedy. Dana Carvey as Strom Thurmond. Al Franken as Paul Simon. As funny as they all were, though, viewers from Alabama laughed loudest at the late, great Chris Farley’s extra-large impersonation of Howell Heflin, the folksy Democrat from Tuscumbia with a drawl as thick as sawmill gravy. – Bob Carlton

Channing Tatum hosts right before ‘Magic Mike’ fame

Channing Tatum had to bust out some dance moves, of course, when he hosted “Saturday Night Live” in February 2012. “Magic Mike” had yet to be released, but viewers got a preview during the Cullman native’s monologue. “It is such an honor to be on this stage, especially considering my first job in show business was as a male stripper,” Tatum said. He gave the studio audience some ground rules (“No touching!”) and proceeded to spot some former “customers” in the crowd. All of them — including embarrassed characters played by Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen — denied getting lap dances from the actor. “I don’t go to strip clubs!” Wiig said. “I sit at home and I pray.” To jog their memories, Tatum began to shimmy, sway and shake his groove thing. He even ripped open his shirt. If anyone wondered if Tatum was a good sport — or if he could make fun of himself — this monologue proved it. — Mary Colurso

Actors Patrick Fugit and Kate Hudson in DreamWorks Pictures’ “Almost Famous.” Kate Hudson starred in “Saturday Night Live” fresh off the film’s success. (Photo: Neal Preston/2000 DreamWorks LLC.)bn

Kate Hudson in an UA shirt

As the name implies, “Girls Gone Wild!” featured risqué real-life footage of college-aged gals, often filmed during spring break debauchery. The video series, launched in the late ’90s, was sleazy entertainment for many Axe-Body-Spray-wearing dudes. But it was a nightmare scenario for parents with daughters in their late teens or early 20s. An “SNL” skit from an episode hosted by Kate Hudson in 2000 perfectly captured this dynamic. At the time, Hudson was one of Hollywood’s hottest young actors, after an Academy Award nominated performance as a ‘70s rock groupie in “Almost Famous.” In the “SNL” skit, Hudson wears a University of Alabama T-shirt as she portrays a daughter home from college visiting her parents, played by Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon. Dad, mom and daughter are on the couch together watching TV when a commercial for “Girls Gone Wild!” appears. The commercial includes, whoops, a clip Hudson’s character drunkenly flashing the camera. An awkward family moment ensues. Roll Tide! — Matt Wake

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