HIGHLIGHTS: A list of the most controversial “SNL” moments includes Chevy Chase saying the N-word to Richard Pryor. . . Charles Rocket accidentally dropping the F-bomb . . . and the guys in Nirvana making out with each other.
FULL STORY: “Saturday Night Live” has caused its share of controversy over the years. The website Ultimate Classic Rock put together a list of what it thinks are the 20 MOST controversial moments.
Here are 7 of them:
1. Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor’s Word Association, (1975): It was only the show’s seventh episode, and they were already busting out the N-word.
2. Buck Henry’s “Uncle Roy” sketches, (1978 – 1980): Roy, an obvious pedophile, would babysit his young nieces, played by Gilda Radner and Laraine Newman, and make them play really questionable games.
Despite the controversy, the sketches were created by two FEMALE writers, and were really kind of a public service announcement about child abuse within the family.
3. Charles Rocket drops an F-Bomb, (1981): The show was in reboot mode after Lorne Michaels and the entire cast had quit after the previous season. It was an accident, but Rocket was fired soon after.
4. Dana Carvey’s offensive Asian character, (1986 – 2000): It’s pretty interesting to look back now at what USED TO be okay. Like Carvey’s Chinese shopkeeper Ching Chang. (???) He appeared on the show SEVEN TIMES.
5. Conan O’Brien loves the penis, (1988): Back when he was an “SNL” writer, Conan came up with a sketch called “Nude Beach”, in which the characters . . . including host Matthew Broderick . . . say the word “penis” more than 40 times.
6. The guys in Nirvana make out with each other (1992): After performing on the show, the band used the night’s sign out to send a message to the bigots and homophobes in the audience.
Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, and Krist Novoselic started sucking face. Sadly, NBC CENSORED the guy-on-guy-on-guy action from the reruns . . . and the version streaming on Peacock.
7. Jimmy Fallon impersonating Chris Rock. . . in blackface, (2000): Interestingly, nobody even made a big deal out of this until it resurfaced in 2019.
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