Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by DuckinaHoodie (talk | contribs) at 05:01, 31 October 2024 (→Background: first draft). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Diner Lobster" is a comedy sketch that aired on Saturday Night Live on April 14th, 2018.

Background

"Diner Lobster" was written in 2010 by John Mulaney and Colin Jost, both writers at the time. The sketch was written for an episode hosted by Zach Galifianakis, and would have featured him as the Jean Valjean-esque lobster in the sketch, eventually played by Kenan Thompson. The sketch never made it past the table read for that week's episode. Jost would later say of the table read, "The read-through is usually around 40 sketches. You can sometimes have a sketch and it's just in a weird place in the read-through, where maybe the sketch before had something strange in it that threw the room off. Or it's late in the read-through and people are tired. never ignited people. It just didn't work as a sketch at the table read."

When Mulaney returned to host the show in 2018, a revised version of the sketch was produced for the episode, alongside another sketch that was written during his tenure as an SNL writer ("Switcheroo," written alongside Simon Rich and Marika Sawyer.)

Synopsis

Sequels

"Bodega Bathroom"

"Airport Sushi"

"New York Musical"

"Subway Churro"

Reception and legacy

Reception for "Diner Lobster" was generally positive, with reviewers praising its absurdity, ambitious production choices, and musical theater knowledge. Joe Reid noted in Primetimer that the sketch was written before the release of the 2012 film adaptation of Les Misérables, and aired five years after it, making it less dependent on contemporary pop culture. David Sims of The Atlantic expressed nostalgia for the earlier generation of SNL the sketch came from, writing that "there's a sad irony... to the fact that two of last weekend’s best sketches were written almost a decade ago". Reid agreed, arguing the sketch could have been better if it starred SNL alumni such as Andy Samberg or Kristen Wiig. Sims and Martin Garrett of Paste also laughingly noted the relatively small core observation of the sketch compared to the massive production value meant to emphasize it. Reviewers for Paste, Vulture, and The Washington Post ranked "Diner Lobster" as the best SNL sketch of the year; reviewers for Mashable ranked it fifth.

References

1. Andrews, Travis M. (March 2, 2020). "John Mulaney brings out the best in SNL with a recurring sketch that has nothing to do with politics". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
2. EST, Joe Reid Friday 2/28/2020 at 3:00AM (2020-02-28). "Please SNL, Give Us Another John Mulaney Diner Lobster Sketch". primetimer.com. Retrieved 2024-10-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. "John Mulaney on the origins of "Lobster Diner," his new walk, and bringing Kid Gorgeous to Netflix". AV Club. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
4. ^ "Colin Jost on how the 'SNL' Diner Lobster sketch avoided disaster, twice". EW.com. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
5. Sims, David (2018-04-17). "The Throwback Delights of 'Diner Lobster'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sims 2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. Cite error: The named reference Reid 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
8. Cite error: The named reference Garrett 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
9. Martin, Garrett (December 28, 2018). "The 10 best Saturday Night Live sketches of 2018". Paste. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
10. Love, Matthew (December 20, 2018). "The 10 best Saturday Night Live sketches of 2018". Vulture. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
11. Butler, Bethonie (December 29, 2018). "The 10 most wonderfully weird SNL sketches from 2018, ranked". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
12. Khosla, Proma; Rosenberg, Adam (December 20, 2018). "The 10 best Saturday Night Live sketches of 2018". Mashable. Retrieved October 30, 2024.

External links

• "Diner Lobster", "Bodega Bathroom", "Airport Sushi", "New York Musical", and "Subway Churro" on YouTube

Category:Saturday Night Live sketches Category:Saturday Night Live in the 2010s