Where Have You Gone, Joe Piscopo?

Saturday Night Live can’t claim to be a “watercooler show” anymore, and that’s not solely because there aren’t any companies where people sort of just hang around some watercooler, pounding water and staring at each other until somebody thinks of something shocking that happened during a recent television show (should we change the name of such shows to something that better reflects where coworkers hang out now, like “trendy, pompous, fruity coffee maker show” or “dirty cubicle wall show”?).

No, SNL has lost relevance mostly because it blows—severely. People no longer come in on Monday morning and say, “Did you see that hilarious sketch on Saturday Night Live this weekend?” Gone are the days when SNL sketches would ingrain themselves into the culture itself and spur buzzwords with surprising longevity, inspire recurring characters or even lead to the creation of dolls (above) There have been a handful here and there—“Lazy Sunday,” the Natalie Portman rap, “D$%k in a Box,” the MySpace instructional class—but for the most part, Lorne Michaels’ cavalcade of non-stars has been a big swing and a miss in recent years.

Since this is the case, we need to cling to the truly hilarious sketches and treasure them, because we know not whether they will ever come again. Therefore, I give you “Taco Town.” In a certain demographic, it is not possible to go to a Mexican restaurant, or even Taco Bell, without referencing this particular sketch. Enjoy … and remember the good old days of Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Kevin Nealon, Jan Hooks, Dennis Miller, Victoria Jackson, et al.

“Pizza?! Now that’s what I call a taco!”