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Millennial culture has never been safe from “Saturday Night Live’s” sharp satire. From the caution-filled “YOLO” anthem to the awkwardness of talking to kids and the hopeless quest for love in “Settl,” SNL nails every millennial mood and milestone with biting humor. Watch sketches that capture the exhaustion, anxieties, and social quirks defining a generation trying to adult in a baffling world.
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00:00Welcome to Usmojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most hilarious Saturday Night Live sketches that took
00:06direct aim at millennial culture.
00:08Okay, that sounds easy.
00:10It sounds easy, but I know how you millennials love anything that challenges your world view.
00:1710. YOLO
00:30You Only Live Once was practically the millennial battle cry, a convenient excuse to do something reckless, even though it's
00:37almost guaranteed you'd regret it later.
00:40Leave it to the Lonely Island to completely dismantle that energy.
00:44In this 2013 musical sketch, Adam Levine and Kendrick Lamar joined Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone to flip
00:52the concept entirely on its head.
00:54Because you should never trust the bank, they've been known to fail, and never travel by car or busport or
00:59by rail.
01:00And don't travel by plane, and don't travel at all. Build a bombshell to raise me with titanium wall.
01:06Rather than using YOLO to justify skydiving or spontaneous road trips, the song deployed it as a reason to wear
01:13a seatbelt, avoid crowds, and consult a physician.
01:17Take no chances, just stop freelancing. Defender your future, don't dilute your finances.
01:23401k. Make sure it's low rhythm. Get some real estate. How much? 4.2%.
01:28Every verse doubled down on cautious, anxiety-riddled behavior.
01:32In this parody, the catchphrase becomes a joke about being young, terrified, and still somehow determined to make it through
01:39the night.
01:40Only have a set for a short time, time, so don't go outside, cause you don't wanna die, die.
01:46Just take your advice and hide, and scream your word to the sky.
01:53You oughta look out.
01:54Number 9. Duolingo for talking to children.
01:58Do you have no idea how to talk to children?
02:02Does it make you feel like a bad person that you can't?
02:05Mm-hmm.
02:06It's never too late to learn with new Duolingo for talking to children.
02:10There's a specific kind of social panic that hits when your friend group starts having babies,
02:14and nobody warns you that knowing how to talk to a four-year-old is a required skill.
02:20In this sketch, host Kristen Stewart plays an adult who has no idea how to speak to a kid without
02:25making the interaction painfully awkward.
02:28The one thing you know about talking to kids is you're not allowed to call girls pretty, but then it's
02:33like, what do you say?
02:34You look not pretty.
02:37I mean, you're smart.
02:38I mean, you're an engineer one day.
02:41Are you okay?
02:42After a friend introduces her son, Stewart's attempts at conversation veer from odd compliments to questions that leave the child
02:49frightened.
02:50The fake app promises lessons for childless adults whose friends and co-workers are starting families.
02:56Practice traditional greetings.
02:58I've got your nose.
02:59Build your stamina for long, meandering, pointless stories.
03:03I really like the pizza they have, too.
03:05Uh, cool.
03:07In as little as six weeks, you'll be ready for all kinds of kinder conversations.
03:12They may still be figuring their own lives out, but apparently, that's no excuse for not being fluent in toddler.
03:19So I bet you like chicken fingers.
03:22Hey, high five.
03:26Too slow.
03:31Duolingo for talking to kids.
03:33Also available in Your Dad.
03:35Number eight, Settle.
03:36With the rise of a plethora of dating apps, finding a soulmate can be genuinely exhausting.
03:42And that's the problem this fake commercial for a dating app aims to solve.
03:46There's nothing wrong with the men on Settle.
03:49They're just normal guys with characteristics I am now willing to overlook.
03:52I already bought my wedding dress, so I just needed a groom.
03:56I joined Settle and went on tons of okay dates.
04:00That's how I met my Henry.
04:01Settle presents itself as the last stop for people who have abandoned the dream of finding a soulmate and simply
04:08want to avoid dying alone.
04:09Unlike Tinder or Match.com, Settle skips bios, photos, and those lengthy questionnaires entirely,
04:16opting instead for a random matching generator.
04:19Men are only allowed to upload their passport photos or ones of them pretending to hold the leading tower of
04:25Pisa.
04:26That way we can't focus on their looks.
04:29Hi.
04:30Sorry I'm late.
04:31I don't have a car.
04:33Whatever.
04:34No chemistry required.
04:35No standards necessary.
04:37You can't even swipe left.
04:39With the slogan,
04:40Tick Tock, the sketch captures the bittersweet anxiety of millennial dating culture,
04:45showing just how exhausting and hopeless the quest for the one can sometimes feel.
04:50Settle.
04:51Tick Tock.
04:53Would you like to have another glass of wine?
04:55Oh, no thank you.
04:56I'm usually in bed by now.
04:58Number 7.
04:59Millennial Millions.
05:01Well, the good news is you millennials can win lots of cash and prizes.
05:04Just don't let it all get taken by our baby boomers.
05:09Yes, that's right.
05:11Behind that wall are several boomers just waiting to take that money for themselves.
05:15A mortgage, health insurance, and freedom from student debt were the highly coveted prizes
05:20in the Millennial Millions sketch from 2019.
05:22Rachel Brosnahan plays a 20-something-year-old freelancer working for Google without benefits,
05:28while Pete Davidson's character, also of the same age,
05:32has a master's degree from NYU and interns at Burger King.
05:49To keep their winnings, contestants must endure lectures from baby boomers,
05:54who treat their own cheaper college education and easier path to home ownership as proof that
06:00young people simply need better advice. If millennials can endure this gaslighting
06:05without interruption, they keep their hard-won rewards.
06:08It's too much? What am I supposed to do?
06:11There's someone, you dumbass. Nobody needs that many houses.
06:15Oh, too bad. Looks like Dylan left in a Millennial snit.
06:20I guess he had to find a safe space.
06:22What makes this comedy gold is that it doesn't just lampoon Millennial problems.
06:27It also takes aim at baby boomers and Gen X.
06:30Well, I was going to explain that I don't have student loans because I worked my way through college.
06:35Get right, Dad, because college cost $300 back then.
06:38Oh, don't y'all start without me now. This is going to be good. We'll be right back.
06:43Generational differences may divide us, but great entertainment brings us together.
06:48There's plenty of that over on the Miss Mojo 24-7 livestream.
06:51Scan the QR code on your screen to join.
06:54It's just, it feels so unfair.
06:56Well, maybe you can tweet about it. That'll solve everything.
06:596. Why'd you post that?
07:01Social media handed Millennials the unprecedented ability to broadcast their lives to hundreds of
07:07people who didn't ask. If only there was someone who could interrogate them about that.
07:12Kemp, answer this question. Why is it so blurry? And when you took it,
07:17were you thrown from the building when you took the picture?
07:20No, Darnell. I thought I actually had a pretty good view.
07:23Oh, this is a good view to you? This here?
07:26In this sketch, host Kevin Hart steps into those shoes, playing Darnell Pepper,
07:31a TV host who grills guests played by Vanessa Bayer, Aidy Bryant, and Kyle Mooney about their
07:37deeply questionable Instagram posts.
07:40Why the hell would you post this photo?
07:42I don't know. It's a funny story, Darnell. A horse ran over my big toe,
07:47and it got really bruised, and then the nail broke off, and I was like,
07:50oh my god, that would make the perfect Instagram.
07:53The discomfort was the point. Millennials were the first generation whose adulthood
07:58was truly shaped by social media, curating identities online long before anyone thought
08:03critically about what that meant. Watching the characters squirm under a spotlight while
08:08explaining their poorly focused photos felt both hilarious and a little too familiar.
08:14This is not about Paris. It's about you trying to show off your little,
08:18orangutan nipples. That's what this is. Okay? Have you ever been to Paris, Travis?
08:23Yes, sir. I love the culture there, but the Eiffel Tower was smaller than I thought,
08:26and I lost a lot of money. That was Vegas.
08:29Number five, Marcelo Hernandez translates Gen Z terms.
08:34What's up? So you are here to translate some Gen Z slang?
08:37Yes, I am calling to help out older folks like you.
08:41We're basically the same age.
08:44Never give up.
08:45Being up to date on the latest slang comes with an expiration date,
08:49as Colin Jost discovers when Marcelo Hernandez stops by Weekend Update to explain Gen Z terminology.
08:56Hernandez breaks down words like chopped and glow up,
08:59even using Jost's old photos to suggest the anchor might qualify as the former.
09:04This picture of Colin from middle school is chopped.
09:10You get it from my parents? Also, joke's on you. That picture is actually of me from college.
09:18It's worse.
09:20Jost attempts to keep pace, but the exchange highlights how quickly slang loses its cool once
09:25it reaches the mainstream.
09:27That was awesome. Yeah, and made total sense. I guess you could say that Hitler was chopped.
09:31And judging by Jost's final rant, any Gen Z viewer watching
09:36probably cringed hard enough to shed their skin.
09:39It's a brutal reminder that yesterday's trendsetter can become today's confused adult
09:43asking what the kids are saying.
09:45You come to my desk trying to drag me when you're the one sipping the dumb bitch juice?
09:53Okay, you must be Delulu, boo-boo.
09:56Because I'm about to crash out right now. Fuck!
09:59Number four, The Millennials. Presented as a mock trailer for a workplace drama,
10:04this sketch crammed every millennial stereotype into one gloriously exaggerated package.
10:10I'm sorry, what do you want?
10:12A promotion. And I don't want it. I deserve it.
10:18Why? How long have you even worked here?
10:20Three full days.
10:22Yeah, I'm sorry, who are you again?
10:24The employees demanded promotions after barely settling into their jobs, requested trips to
10:29the south of France for professional perspective, and stayed glued to their phones regardless of
10:35what was happening around them.
10:36Oh yeah, I'm so glad you're here. I need to go to the south of France to get some perspective.
10:43So you're quitting?
10:44No, I'm not a quitter. I just won't be here at all.
10:49See?
10:50Host Miley Cyrus, Kate McKinnon, and Pete Davidson fully embraced the caricature,
10:56playing young professionals whose sense of entitlement rivaled their need to document every waking moment.
11:02Even their exaggerated vocal deliveries suggested people accustomed to being told they were special.
11:08Jaden, don't do it.
11:10Get away from that window.
11:13I can't go on like this. I can't even.
11:17No, don't.
11:20The satire was hardly subtle, but subtlety wasn't the point.
11:24Apparently, even the workplace needs a safe space from these employees.
11:28I'll never die.
11:30Oh my god.
11:38I hate these kids.
11:40Number three, Forever 31.
11:43Your 20s are over, mama. It's time to close that book and move on.
11:47What comes next?
11:49Introducing Forever 31.
11:51For the woman who's stylish, but tired, fun, but not like fun fun.
11:56Forever 21 built its brand on youthful, disposable fashion.
12:01The kind of thing you'd grab before a night out and retire after three wears.
12:05Forever 31 has a different customer in mind entirely.
12:21Host Quinta Brunson leads this parody commercial for a store catering to exhausted millennial women who still want to look
12:28stylish, but have quietly prioritized comfort,
12:32practicality, and emotional survival above everything else.
12:35Hey, didn't you wear that yesterday?
12:38No, but basically yes.
12:40Come to Forever 31.
12:49Gone are the flimsy miniskirts.
12:51In their place, clothing that acknowledged their relentless fatigue and the creeping realization that keeping up with youth culture requires
12:59energy they simply don't have anymore.
13:01It's not a surrender, it's a wardrobe evolution, and a deeply relatable one at that.
13:06In your 20s, you carried a loose debit card in your shorts.
13:09But now you have a giant purse for sensible flats, iPad, and hummus.
13:16Who says you can't experiment with style in your 30s?
13:20Everyone with Forever 31.
13:22Number two, the girl you wish you hadn't started a conversation with at a party.
13:27There are homeless people out there who can't even pay their mortgages.
13:35Is that what George Washington had in mind when he started America?
13:39It's like, read something sad, learn a book.
13:42Cecily Strong's recurring Weekend Update character is a master class in social discomfort.
13:48She drops into conversations uninvited, checks her phone mid-chat, and spouts half-baked opinions about politics and hot-button
13:55issues with complete confidence.
13:57Would you relax? I'm just asking what you want for Christmas.
14:00Okay, well, I was hoping to get the new iPad.
14:02I asked for an end to genocide, okay?
14:07So maybe next time you're on your new iPad, look up how to be a decent human being.
14:13The character is painfully familiar.
14:16The party guest who wants to seem informed and morally engaged,
14:20but ends up revealing just how shallow their understanding really is.
14:24While the bit works beyond any one generation, the millennial flavor is unmistakable.
14:30What did you do for spring break?
14:31Oh, for spring break, some friends and I went to the Bahamas.
14:33I went to Rwanda, okay?
14:36I heard about an awesome hotel there and a movie I saw.
14:39Maybe you've heard of it, Madagascar.
14:41There's the need to be seen, the hunger for approval, the social media-shaped worldview,
14:46and the nervous performance of having it all together.
14:49She's a walking reminder that being online a lot is not the same as being informed.
14:55Sis! Sis!
14:56What, is your sister here?
14:57No, I'm calling out cisgender people out there.
15:03I'm serious, Michael. I need to go to Cuba so bad before white people ruin it.
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15:25I can make an apology video.
15:27Oh, you so would.
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15:35Number one, Zillow.
15:37You used to want sex, but you're in your late 30s now.
15:41And sex isn't really doing it for me anymore.
15:44You need something new.
15:46Something exciting.
15:47I need a new fantasy.
15:49Then you need Zillow.
15:51Housing anxiety has become such a defining millennial experience
15:54that SNL turned real estate browsing into something resembling softcore fantasy.
16:00In this sketch, host Dan Levy, Heidi Gardner, Mikey Day, Egon Wodham, and Bowen Yang
16:06play adults who grow increasingly almost erotically overwhelmed
16:10while scrolling through Zillow listings.
16:12An updated colonial with mature landscaping.
16:17I want to unleash your passions.
16:20I want to flip that, satisfying your every fantasy.
16:24They react to guest houses and open floor plans with the kind of breathless reverence
16:29usually reserved for very different content.
16:33The joke is painfully obvious in the best possible way.
16:36For a generation priced out of home ownership by skyrocketing costs and stagnant wages,
16:42scrolling through houses they'll likely never afford has become a legitimate hobby.
16:47Don't worry, if you get too carried away with the fantasy, just click contact the listing agent.
16:53For a rude awakening.
16:56Aspirational, melancholy, and absolutely hilarious,
16:59this sketch understood the assignment.
17:01But it still hurts just a little.
17:03We're in your late thirties.
17:05Time for a new fantasy.
17:07On Zillow.
17:08On Zillow.
17:10On Zillow.
17:11Hello?
17:11Hi, Donald, it's Rudy again.
17:13No.
17:14Some 13 calls.
17:15Yeah, no.
17:16They have an offer.
17:17Ma'am.
17:17I have another place on May.
17:18I don't want to buy.
17:19Am I living next to a synagogue?
17:21Which SNL sketch roasts your generation the hardest?
17:24Sound off in the comments below.