'SNL' goes off the rails with bizarre and funny 'Jury Duty' sketch

Unserious people.
 By 
Chance Townsend
 on 
A judge named Judge Smith sits at the bench with flags behind her
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Saturday Night Live’s "Jury Duty" sketch feels like what happens when the writers have too many absurd character ideas and decide to throw them all in one room. The result is a chaotic courtroom of misfits all trying (and failing) to dodge civic responsibility, much to the dismay of Ego Nwodim’s increasingly unamused judge.

Host Mikey Madison and nearly the entire cast rotate through as over-the-top jury candidates, including a male feminist, a clocked bisexual who’s pro-mass incarceration, a prank-calling radio host who impersonates Jay-Z, and the return of Luigi Mangione —alongside a woman who wants to know if her nudes got to him.

Madison plays a "celebrity" juror claiming fame as "one of the people Caitlyn Jenner hit with her car." Shockingly, that excuse doesn’t fly.

There’s no real point to the sketch, and that’s kind of the point. It’s dumb, it’s chaotic, and the cast is clearly having a blast.

Topics SNL

Headshot of a Black man
Chance Townsend
Assistant Editor, General Assignments

Chance Townsend is the General Assignments Editor at Mashable, covering tech, video games, dating apps, digital culture, and whatever else comes his way. He has a Master's in Journalism from the University of North Texas and is a proud orange cat father. His writing has also appeared in PC Mag and Mother Jones.

In his free time, he cooks, loves to sleep, and greatly enjoys Detroit sports. If you have any tips or want to talk shop about the Lions, you can reach out to him on Bluesky @offbrandchance.bsky.social or by email at [email protected].


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