It is 1991. You are sitting on a couch that probably has a floral pattern. Suddenly, the television flickers to life with a beer commercial that feels exactly like every other beer commercial from the era. There’s a shimmering pool. There’s upbeat, slightly generic rock music. There are two guys—Adam Sandler and Chris Farley—looking incredibly bored while housesitting a mansion. Then, they find the beer.
That beer is Saturday Night Live Schmitts Gay.
If you grew up in the nineties, or if you’ve spent any significant amount of time down a YouTube rabbit hole, you know exactly what happens next. The water in the pool starts churning. Suddenly, a dozen incredibly fit, Speedo-clad men are splashing around while Sandler and Farley look on with pure, unadulterated joy. It wasn’t just a sketch; it was a perfect, frame-by-frame parody of the "Spuds MacKenzie" era of Van Halen-style masculinity.
The Anatomy of a Perfect Parody
The genius of the Saturday Night Live Schmitts Gay sketch isn't just that it’s funny. It’s how it uses the language of advertising to flip the script. In the early 90s, beer commercials were aggressively heterosexual. They were built on the "bikini girl" trope. You know the one. Two average guys crack a cold one, and suddenly, a busload of supermodels arrives at their tailgate.
Writing for SNL back then was a different beast. This sketch, written by Robert Smigel (the man behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog) and Jim Downey, took that exact trope and swapped one variable.
The guys don't look confused. They don't look scared. They look like they’ve just won the lottery. Chris Farley’s face, in particular, is a masterpiece of comedic acting. The way he adjusts his glasses and beams as a muscular man dives over him into the pool is pure gold. It’s not mocking the gay community; it’s mocking the absurdity of how beer was sold to men.
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The production value was surprisingly high for 1991. They used the same high-contrast film stock that real ad agencies used. They used the same fast-cut editing. They even got the voiceover guy right—that deep, gravelly baritone that makes every product sound like it was forged in a volcano.
Why It Worked (And Why It Still Does)
Most comedy ages like milk. What was edgy in the 90s often feels cringey or mean-spirited today. Yet, Saturday Night Live Schmitts Gay holds up remarkably well. Why? Because the joke isn't "haha, gay people." The joke is the sheer, overwhelming exuberance of the situation.
Sandler and Farley play it with such sincerity. There’s no "no homo" wink to the camera. They are just two guys who really, really want to drink Schmitts Gay and hang out with their new friends in the pool. Honestly, it’s wholesome in its own weird way.
Smigel later noted in interviews that they wanted to capture the "excess" of the 80s and early 90s. The song—"Beautiful Girls" by Van Halen—was the template. The sketch uses a sound-alike track that captures that "Big Hair" energy perfectly.
The Chris Farley Factor
We have to talk about Farley. He was the heart of that era of SNL. While Sandler was the master of the "goofy voice," Farley was a physical force of nature. In the Saturday Night Live Schmitts Gay sketch, he isn't doing his typical "loud" character. He’s relatively quiet. He’s just... happy.
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Watching him bounce on a diving board surrounded by bodybuilders is a visual that lives rent-free in the minds of millions. It showed his range. He could be the loudest guy in the room (Matt Foley), but he could also be the guy who sells a joke with nothing but a smile and a pair of tinted sunglasses.
The Impact on Advertising Parody
Before this, SNL did fake commercials all the time. "Bass-O-Matic" is a classic. "Little Brothers" is legendary. But Schmitts Gay changed the aesthetic. It proved that if you make the parody look exactly like the real thing, the humor lands twice as hard.
You can see the DNA of this sketch in later SNL hits like the "Totino's" commercials with Kristen Stewart or the "Pelotaunt" sketches. It’s about the "look." If the lighting is off, the joke dies. The crew for Saturday Night Live Schmitts Gay nailed the lighting. It’s sun-drenched, over-saturated, and looks like it cost a million dollars to shoot.
Real Facts About the Production
Contrary to what some fans think, this wasn't filmed at a random house in Jersey. It was shot on location to get that specific "luxury mansion" vibe.
- The Writers: Robert Smigel and Jim Downey.
- The Cast: Chris Farley and Adam Sandler.
- The Year: Season 17, Episode 6 (Hosted by Linda Hamilton).
- The Music: A sound-alike version of "Beautiful Girls" by Van Halen.
Interestingly, the sketch almost didn't happen because of concerns about how it would be perceived. In 1991, television was still very conservative. But the sheer silliness of Farley and Sandler won everyone over. It wasn't political. It was just funny.
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Misconceptions About the "Gay" Angle
People often ask if the sketch was meant to be a statement. Honestly? Probably not. Smigel has often said they just thought the idea of a beer called "Schmitts Gay" was a funny name that sounded like "Schlitz."
The subversion of the "straight male fantasy" was the goal. At the time, every beer brand was trying to be the most masculine thing on earth. Schmitts Gay took that masculinity and turned the dial so far to the right that it looped back around.
The Legacy of Saturday Night Live Schmitts Gay in Pop Culture
Go to a Halloween party today. You might still see someone in a Speedo with a fake "Schmitts Gay" beer can. It has become a cult classic.
It’s one of the most-watched clips on the SNL YouTube channel. It’s featured in almost every "Best of Chris Farley" or "Best of the 90s" compilation. It represents a time when the show was hitting its stride with a new generation of "Bad Boys."
The sketch also paved the way for more nuanced LGBTQ+ humor on the show. While by no means a "progressive" piece of media by today's standards, it was a rare moment in the 90s where the humor wasn't derived from mocking someone's identity, but rather from the absurdity of the "macho" marketing machine.
Actionable Steps for SNL History Buffs
If you want to dive deeper into this specific era of comedy, don't just stop at the YouTube clip. There is a whole world of "Pre-Tape" history to explore.
- Watch the "Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Farley" DVD. It contains the full version of the sketch along with behind-the-scenes footage that explains how they coordinated the pool stunts.
- Listen to "The Fly on the Wall" Podcast. Dana Carvey and David Spade often talk about the production of these 90s commercials and the "film unit" that produced them. They’ve had Robert Smigel on to discuss the writing process for these specific parodies.
- Compare and Contrast. Watch a real 1990 Miller Lite or Budweiser commercial on YouTube, then watch Saturday Night Live Schmitts Gay immediately after. You will see just how many specific "tells" the SNL team copied—from the way the beer pours into the glass to the specific "thumbs up" gesture Farley gives.
- Check out the "SNL Vintage" airings. NBC often airs these older episodes. Look for the Linda Hamilton episode from 1991 to see the sketch in its original broadcast context.
The Saturday Night Live Schmitts Gay commercial remains a masterclass in parody. It’s short, punchy, and uses visual storytelling to deliver a joke that doesn't need a single line of dialogue to explain itself. That is the mark of great comedy. It doesn't tell you why it’s funny; it just shows you.