Top Five Bill Hader SNL Sketches & Moments From Season 31

The following blog post is a companion piece to the latest episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast with special guest, Jon Schneider of the Saturday Night Network.

Give us a listen, won't you?

5. Laser Cats (Lindsay Lohan/Pearl Jam - 04.15.2006) 

• Normally, I run pretty hot and cold on these sketches and tend to tune in and out of them a bit (I didn't think the fourth one had that much business being in a Steve Martin hosted episode, for example) but this being the first one makes things a bit different. 

• Yeah, there isn't much to these beyond the joke of Bill and Andy presenting a purposely cheap and bad looking short to a quietly irritated Lorne but I have to say Bill and Andy's commitment to the “acting” of their ridiculous sci-fi roles in such drastically budget-less short makes them fun and there's usually other small moments in these that are worth seeing, like the hallway fights between Will Fortes’ “Robot Tron” and Fred Armisens’ “bad guy”. These are the type of things they would improve on in later installments.

• Possibly my favorite moment in this inaugural short of the series would be Lindsay Lohan in the commissary suddenly being “replaced” with Rachel Dratch as the “princess” after not wanting to go along with any of this nonsense.

• There's no denying that this was one of the tone setting moments of the new SNL era viewers were about to fully enter back in 2006.

4. Weekend Update: Friendly New Guy Impression Off (Steve Carell/Kanye West)

• Hey, speaking of tone setting moments for a new era…it's Bill and Andy's first appearance as “themselves” on the show.

• It's not often that the show just gives new featured players their own guest spots on Weekend Update in their very first episode to carve out their respective niches in front of a live audience in real time, but amazingly we get to see Bill firmly establish himself as the shows’ next “go to” impressionist and Andy as the new big, silly goofball that the kids will love.

• Even doing impressions of long deceased silver screen stars from at least half a century ago (and repeatedly referencing a six year old beer commercial), both Bill and Andy exude an effortless command over the audience that let's viewers know the show will be in good hands once the old guard of the early aughts either moves on or gets completely swept away.

3. Joplin: Alive! Podcast (Matt Dillon/Arctic Monkeys - 03.11.2006)

• Speaking of moments that let viewers know the show is being left in good hands, here is another one.

• This sketch may be an obscure one off that never recurred, but it's carried solely by the featured players of SNL Season 31 and it showed they could easily carry sketches driven by detailed writing as well as they could big broad character pieces.

• Plus, it also came at a pivotal time in culture when new web media was coming into its own and showed that more traditional media like SNL could respond to those trends in real time (even if, at that time, they seemed to think podcasts were pretty much the same thing as live radio shows, but that's OK. It takes time for these things to be fully embraced and accepted by the public)

2. Vincent Prices’ 1961 St. Patrick's Day Special (Matt Dillon/Arctic Monkeys - 03.11.2006)

• Speaking of long deceased silver scree…oh no wait, that segues’ not gonna work now. Never mind.

• Anyway, this was a much funnier and more tightly written follow up to a similar sketch that aired previously in the Eva Longoria/Korn episode from 11.19.2005 so this officially marks the point where Bill has established his first recurring character on the show.

• In one fell swoop, Bill Hader has suddenly made the late Vincent Price both funny AND relevant to modern day SNL audiences (ditto for Kristen Wiig as Kate Hepburn).

• Bill also gets some great assists here from Darrell Hammond as Don Knotts and Matt Dillon as Rod Serling but this is a sketch that cements beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hader could easily carry any sketch.

1. Decicco Bros Unicornery (Matt Dillon/Arctic Monkeys - 03.11.2006)

• Speaking of obscure one off deep cut sketches from SNL season 31, this one tops my personal list.

• I've seen this one a few times now for the podcast, but it has never failed to make me laugh due to its sheer outlandish absurdity.

• Bill Hader and Matt Dillon as two very non-distinctly “Jersey” guys with slightly Midwestern vibes aggressively upsetting the magical powers of various “unicorns”. What else can I say? 

• It was an absolute joy to rediscover this forgotten gem of a sketch for this podcast.

Honorable Mention: American Taser (Jason Lee/Foo Fighters - 11.12.2025)

• No, Bills’ character may not be the central focus of this sketch, but he delivers such a standout performance in such a uniquely written sketch that I felt the need to mention it (even though it was a last minute cut from my personal list).

• Pretty much this seasons’ whole cast (minus Tina, Horatio and Kristen) and the star of “My Name Is Earl” electrocute each other one by one in this long form commercial for Americas’ leading stun gun manufacturer.

• Bills’ character tases Kenan just before saying the line “Was that man a criminal? Weeellll, he sure looked like one!”. After he gives his plug, he is tased by Finesse Mitchell who delivers a sincere statement on racial profiling in America, who is then tased by Andy Samberg promoting the Star Trek model taser in an extremely nerdy voice (which I also thought was pretty funny).

• Bills’ sheer charisma mixed with his wacky Charles Bronson-esque Chicago cop accent not only put this one over but save a slightly questionable joke by today's standards and actually make it laugh out loud funny. 

• Yes, Seth Meyers and Will Forte may have lines that would be considered…well, let's say “chauvinist” by today's standards especially but they also have likable enough personalities on and off the show to make those work, too.

Closing Thoughts

• …and that's my list of top five Bill Hader sketches and moments from his very first season of SNL which, once again, is the topic of the newest episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast. 

• Of course, my regular co host Deej Barens and our gracious guest Jon Schneider each made up their own lists which you will have to listen to the podcast to get from them.

• Also, I have more in depth thoughts on some of these sketches that I have already gotten into in previous episodes of the We Heart Hader Podcast. If you would like to hear them, please listen to this episode as well as this one (oh yeah, and our very first one as well).

• My next blog entry will be a review of the upcoming Walton Goggins/Arcade Fire episode of SNL which I will publish by the evening of Sunday, May 11th. 

• I will say I'm glad SNL is booking hosts with proven comedic talent showcases on other network TV shows in the lead up to the 50th Season finale, so…I'm heading into the end of this season with the same feeling I had going in: extremely cautious optimism.

• See you then!