Saturday Night Live (SNL) aired its first episode on Oct. 11, 1975. The show quickly became a staple of American late-night television with its sketches that left no stone unturned in the program’s quest for laughs.
After a brief departure in the early 1980s, SNL’s original showrunner, Lorne Michaels, took control of the show once again in 1985 and hasn’t let go since.
SNL is currently celebrating its 50th season, which makes this the perfect time to revisit the fire- and EMS-related sketches that have made their way to the airwaves over the years.
Shallon: Fire Safety
(Season 39; Aired 12/15/13)
Host John Goodman portrays a firefighter who visits a classroom to give the young students safety tips during the holiday season. Unfortunately, an overly inquisitive student named Shallon (played by Nasim Pedrad) derails his plans.
Rorschach Test
(Season 50; Aired 11/9/24)
A Boston firefighter (played by host Bill Burr) describes the bizarre cartoon imagery he sees while taking a psychological Rorschach test. Burr sells this one well as the psychologist (played by Heidi Gardner) steadily loses hope in him.
CPR Class
(Season 33; Aired 10/28/13)
Host Steve Carell teaches a CPR class with the help of his assistant, Greg, who is played by Andy Samberg. While displaying hands-on CPR techniques on Greg, Carell compresses a bit too hard and collapses his assistant’s chest cavity. Morbid hilarity ensues.
Warehouse Fire
(Season 43; Aired 4/17/18)
Host Chadwick Boseman plays a firefighter who has to leave the scene of an active blaze to get back to his house so he can potentially make billions “by the end of June” via his life-sized dolls that comfort dogs while their human owners are out.
Water Park
(Season 50; Aired 10/5/24)
Host Nate Bargatze and cast member Michael Longfellow play two EMTs who were called to a water park to respond to a death that occurred at the top of a waterslide. Looking for ways to avoid carrying the deceased body down 255 stairs, the pair consider an easier option, albeit one that’s questioned by the park’s lifeguards.
Firehouse Incident
(Season 38; Aired 1/26/13)
This sketch centers on a quick-tempered firefighter (played by Bill Hader) becoming increasingly irate as his ex-girlfriend (from nine years ago!) chats a fellow firefighter at a work event. On a side note, this is likely the only instance in the show’s history that features a fake Dalmatian attacking a cast member.
Paramedics on MLK Day
(Season 30; Aired 3/19/05)
Finesse Mitchell and Kenan Thompson play two black paramedics who question their supervisor’s decision to send them to a car accident on Martin Luther King Day.
Earthquake News Report
(Season 44; Aired 1/19/19)
A local news team covers a building collapse caused by an earthquake, but the jokes come from the endless array of witnesses with strange names. Cast member Pete Davidson pops up as a firefighter who can’t help but laugh at some of them. On a related but non-comedic note, it’s fitting to see Davidson play a firefighter, as Davidson’s father, Scott Davidson, was an FDNY firefighter (Ladder Company 118) who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
BONUS: FDNY alum Steve Buscemi on SNL
Before Steve Buscemi rose to prominence as an actor in films such as Fargo, Reservoir Dogs and The Big Lebowski, not to mention his work on prestige TV projects such as Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos, he was a New York City firefighter stationed at Engine Company No. 55 until 1984. After the 9/11 attacks, Buscemi spent a week working 12-hour shifts with his former department digging through the debris at Ground Zero. Buscemi has hosted SNL twice. Here is a collection of sketches that showcase his talents on the acting side.
Coach Bert
(Season 37; Aired 12/3/11)
Buscemi plays the assistant coach of a college basketball team who discovers during one of his team’s press conferences that he has been the subject of a sex crimes investigation. He is found guilty of no crimes, but his strange behavior continuously enrages the investigators and those in attendance.
Crazy Boss Job Interview
(Season 23; Aired 04/04/98)
Buscemi plays a confrontational boss who is interviewing a bewildered applicant played by Chris Kattan. As the interview progresses, the boss’s intelligence (and sanity) comes into question.
Digital Short: Batman
(Season 37; Aired 12/3/11)
Buscemi performs his version of Gary Oldman’s portrayal of Commissioner Gordon from the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy. The joke here is Batman’s knack for showing up (and then quickly vanishing) at the most inopportune times.
READ NEXT | Did you know Steve Buscemi was an FDNY firefighter?
