Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 2011–12


The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 24, 2011, and May 20, 2012, the thirty-seventh season of SNL.

J-Pop America Fun Time Now

students Jonathan Cavanaugh "san" and Rebecca Stern-Markowitz "san" present a campus TV show based on their obsession with, and profound misunderstanding of, Japanese pop culture. Their Japanese studies professor and reluctant faculty advisor is less than enthusiastic about the show, pointing out that the hosts are not speaking actual Japanese and are the worst students in his class. Unfortunately, he has no choice because he has to be present in order for the show to happen. When accused of racism, Jonathan points out his Japanese girlfriend.
In an interview with Vulture, Bayer said she did not think the "J-Pop" sketch was racist:
We're obviously making fun of a certain kind of person that loves that culture so much and is sort of ignorant about it. That's why we have there to put us in our places a bit. It's certainly not meant to be racist. I hope the majority of people don't think of it that way.

Reception to the sketch has been mixed, with several reviewers growing weary by its fourth appearance. Ryan McGee of HitFix said: "I used to love this sketch, but at this point, I would rather see a digital short involving Jason Sudeikis' horrified professor after a taping of this show. I think they've milked this as far as it can go." The Huffington Post's Mike Ryan felt similarly, writing, "We got the joke a long time ago. Most recurring sketches try to develop personalities for its characters. Unfortunately, when the gist of the joke is, 'These two are doing something offensive and they don't realize it,' it's hard to give them meaningful personalities." However, Vulture's Joe Reid said, "In classic SNL fashion, it's the one-joke premise stretched out over countless repetitions, but I am so fond of Taran Killam and Vanessa Bayer, I could watch them bounce around to that theme song all day." Hillary Busis wrote for Entertainment Weekly that "It’s been long enough since the sketch last appeared for Bayer’s anime eyes, Killam’s wig, and the pair’s cultural insensitivity...to be amusing again."
Rob Bricken of Topless Robot called the skit "a 100% accurate recreation of the most obnoxious portion of anime fandom".
;Appearances
SeasonEpisodeHostNotes
37October 15, 2011Anna FarisFaris appears as an anime fanatic.
37December 10, 2011Katy PerryPerry appears as a Hello Kitty fanatic.
37March 10, 2012Jonah HillHill appears as a samurai sword collector.
38December 8, 2012Jamie FoxxFoxx appears as a salesman.

Lord Wyndemere

Lord Cecil Wyndemere is a 47-year-old man dressed like an 18th-century fop, who prances around and desires "sweets". He is loved by his girlfriend's father and hated by others, such as his girlfriend's brother Steven.
Following the January 31, 2012 announcement that Brittain was departing the show immediately, several sources expressed disappointment that there would be no further appearances by Lord Wyndemere, whom Entertainment Weekly called "wonderfully weird."
;Appearances
SeasonEpisodeHostNotes
37October 15, 2011Anna Faris
37January 7, 2012Charles Barkley

Getting Freaky with Cee-Lo Green!

As Cee-Lo Green, Kenan Thompson hosts a talk show to help people with their sex lives. The show also features Bill Hader as "Colonel Nasty."
SeasonEpisodeHostNotes
37November 5, 2011Charlie Day
37February 4, 2012Channing Tatum

We're Going to Make Technology Hump

Andy Samberg and a female co-host host a television show devoted to acting out pornographic vignettes using various technological devices as the characters.
Both the first and second appearances of the sketch were well received. Calling it "so-stupid-its-funny", Katla McGlynn of The Huffington Post wrote: "The funny part is the dialogue, which is so soap opera-y and over the top that it sounds hilarious coming from an iPad or a curling iron in a tiny yet dramatic bedroom set. Not to mention the notion that this could actually be a show, or that it would be hosted by friendly, upbeat young people and not some creepy techno-file." On the sketch's return, Sarah Devlin of Mediaite noted that "the production values were much higher this time around! I thought perhaps the joke would have worn thin, but then I laughed my head off...They've still got it!" Wired's Angela Watercutter wrote, "'Technology Hump' shouldn’t be funny. It's only mildly amusing when kids make G.I. Joe and Barbie play doctor, so having a beeper and a Nintendo Entertainment System gun engage in a beach rendezvous should be just plain weird. But when it incorporates the age-old trick of making a digital numeric screen spell out "80085" it's just too hard not to laugh."
SeasonEpisodeHostNotes
37November 12, 2011Emma Stone
37February 11, 2012Zooey Deschanel

Drunk Uncle

Drunk Uncle appears on Weekend Update to deliver a rambling monologue deriding the culture of the day, in particular young people, food, and technology. In each sketch, he complains about people not dressing up for a particular event. Each sketch also features Drunk Uncle singing one or more poorly-rendered songs, rambling on about things he's not, Seth Meyers insisting he's too drunk, and Drunk Uncle making one or more politically incorrect statements toward minorities or immigrants. Drunk Uncle is a stereotypical middle-aged blue-collar American who is married and has six kids and several nieces and nephews.
The Huffington Post wrote in November 2012 that "Moynihan provides the perfect vessel for the spirit of avuncular alcoholism...He covers every aspect of your typical drunk uncle, including 'back in my day' folksy-isms, a luddite cynicism of all modern technology and quaint anti-immigration rants, all of which inevitably give way to mournful laments on his own failures in life."
Moynihan told Newsday that Drunk Uncle "is probably the funnest to do right now, by far, just because the process of writing it is the funnest part in the world." Moynihan co-writes the Drunk Uncle appearances with Colin Jost.
In December 2012, Moynihan appeared as Drunk Uncle with Seth Meyers at .
SeasonEpisodeHostNotes
37December 3, 2011Steve Buscemi
37January 7, 2012Charles Barkley
37April 7, 2012Sofia Vergara
38September 20, 2012None
38November 10, 2012Anne Hathaway
38April 7, 2013Melissa McCarthySpecial appearance by Peter Dinklage as Drunk Uncle's brother-in-law, "Peter Drunklage."
38May 18, 2013Ben AffleckAppears with other characters in the background of Stefon sketch.
39September 28, 2013Tina FeyAaron Paul appeared in cameo as "Meth Nephew".
39December 14, 2013John GoodmanGoodman appears as "Drunker Uncle".
39May 10, 2014Charlize Theron
40October 25, 2014Jim Carrey
41November 7, 2015Donald Trump
42May 20, 2017Dwayne JohnsonFinal regular appearance of Drunk Uncle, due to Moynihan leaving the show.

Janet Peckinpah

Bobby Moynihan plays a dowdy, weird, obnoxious woman who's surprisingly successful at seducing celebrities. Moynihan has said Janet is one of his favorite characters.
;Appearances
SeasonEpisodeHostNotes
37February 4, 2012Channing TatumJanet picks up Tom Brady at a bar, on the night before the Super Bowl.
38January 26, 2013Adam LevineJanet brings Levine back to her apartment after a concert.

A Janet Peckinpah sketch was scheduled to air on May 3, 2014; the sketch was cut from the episode before airing, but was released online. The sketch featured Janet bringing host Andrew Garfield back to her apartment after the premiere of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Bein' Quirky with Zooey Deschanel

portrays Zooey Deschanel hosting a talk show from her kitchen. Her sidekick is Michael Cera, played by Taran Killam. The theme of the talk show is to interview "quirky girls", a trait which Deschanel herself is stated, within the sketches, to exemplify. Zooey and her guests have pointed to Mayim Bialik and Björk as exceptionally quirky girls that they look up to as role models.
;Appearances
SeasonEpisodeHostNotes
37February 11, 2012Zooey DeschanelDeschanel appears as Mary-Kate Olsen. Kristen Wiig appears as Björk.
37April 7, 2012Sofia VergaraVergara appears as Fran Drescher.

How's He Doing?

leads a panel discussion of African-Americans reviewing Barack Obama's performance as President of the United States. The other panelists are Ebony writer Ronny Williams and a third panelist played by the host. They conclude with "What Would it Take?", in which the panelists assess what it would take for President Obama to lose their support.
SeasonEpisodeHostNotes
37February 19, 2012Maya RudolphRudolph appears as Althea Davis and they cover issues regarding the president's unfulfilled promises since his election.
39November 2, 2013Kerry WashingtonWashington appears as Alice Roger Smith. The panel discusses topics like the NSA wire-tapping scandal and the troublesome start for Obamacare.
40November 1, 2014Chris RockChris Rock and the cast discuss once again President Obama.

B108 FM

Richard and The Buffalo host a 5:00 morning zoo radio show in Shakopee, Minnesota. Vanessa Bayer appears as the station's serious news reporter, "Karen" whom the hosts call "MC Jigglebutt" and attempt to get her to rap the news, much to her chagrin.
SeasonEpisodeHostNotes
37March 4, 2012Lindsay LohanLohan appears as "Illiterate Lisa."
38January 19, 2013Jennifer LawrenceLawrence appears as intern "Miss Busty Rhymes".

The Californians

A soap opera parody featuring Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, and others as wealthy blondes with Valley Girl accents exaggerated almost to the point of incoherence. Each "episode" opens with the Soapnet logo with Bill Hader's voice-over announcement: "The Californians". The title sequence shows the pouring of a glass of white wine and some beach front property, with an acoustic guitar lick and chords that imitate America's "Ventura Highway" on the soundtrack.
Armisen's character, Stuart, owns the house in which the action occurs. His wife Karina is unfaithful. Hader plays Devin, a romantic rival of and antagonist to Stuart; a recurring line is Stuart's "Devin? What are you doing here?" Every installment includes three scenes, generally involving unexpected guests such as a doctor, a private detective, a runaway, or a lost family member. Stuart will invite them to sit down on the furniture, which he describes precisely. After a shocking revelation typical to soap operas, such as an unexpected pregnancy, the camera zooms in on each character, who displays open-mouthed astonishment. Each scene ends with all of the characters in the room crowded around a single mirror and gazing at their own reflections.
Throughout the melodramatic plot developments, much of the dialogue consists of descriptions of highway routes taken from place to place, with freeways referred to with the definite article, as in "the 10", a usage characteristic of Southern California English. The characters are often seen with white wine or hors d'oeuvres such as nachos and avocado.
Armisen writes the sketches for "The Californians" with James Anderson, and says they originated from casual conversations between Armisen, Hader, and castmate Kenan Thompson: "Just for no reason, we would talk about how we were just in L.A. and what roads we were on, and we'd be talking about directions, and, 'Well, yeah, you go on Vermont and you make a left.'" Anderson added the soap opera element. Armisen claims to make a significant effort to ensure the navigation they describe is accurate, relying on both his memory and Google Maps; in response to an error pointed out by The Huffington Post, he said, "The fact that you called me out on the Umami Burger...I was really hoping that it wouldn't happen, but I was happy that it happened!"
In 2012, LA Weekly reported that a Stanford University research project on Californian accents "suggests that 'The Californians' might be on to something." The story quoted a Stanford grad student describing something called the "California vowel shift": "If you try to think about what you think a surfer or a skater or a valley girl talks like, and do it, you can feel your mouth feels different. And I think that has to do a lot with the way that the vowels are shifting." At a SXSW Q&A panel, Armisen said that to do the "Californians" accent: "You have to pronounce every single consonant and vowel." According to Hader, the accents were not originally so pronounced, but Armisen spontaneously changed them almost to the point of incoherence the first time the sketch aired live.
SeasonEpisodeHostNotes
37April 14, 2012Josh BrolinBrolin plays Greg, Stuart's doctor, who announces that Stuart has cancer.
37May 19, 2012Mick JaggerJagger plays Timothy, Stuart's long-lost father. Steve Martin cameos as a man suffering from amnesia.
38October 13, 2012Christina ApplegateApplegate plays Brie, Stuart's new fiancée, who has a shopping addiction. Cameo appearance by Usain Bolt.
38November 17, 2012Jeremy RennerRenner plays Craig, Stuart's lawyer.
38February 9, 2013Justin BieberCecily Strong appears as Gia, Stuart's date, who turns out to be Devin's wife. Bieber plays a runaway teen.
38May 11, 2013Kristen WiigEstranged wife Karina shows up disguised as gardener Brad, makes out with Devin, then reveals she is still alive. She offers everyone agave margaritas. Maya Rudolph appears in a cameo to reveal that Stuart has a second family in Marina Del Rey.
40February 15, 2015Anniversary specialThe sketch features Bradley Cooper as Craig the pool boy, Betty White as Aunt Lana, Taylor Swift as cousin Allison, Laraine Newman as Karina's mother, Kerry Washington as the doctor, and Kenan Thompson. The sketch was mashed up with David Spade reprising his role from the "Total Bastard Airlines" sketch, with Cecily Strong taking the role of Helen Hunt.
43March 17, 2018Bill HaderDevin is showing the new real estate manager, Marie, around and reveals that Rosa had been deported. Stuart holds a party to celebrate his athleisure wear launch, but it is interrupted when a man from Encino reveals himself as Rosa and Devin's long lost son and is confused by their different accents.