The First Ever Bill Swerski's Superfans Sketch on Saturday Night Live

With Mike Myers reprising one of his Saturday Night Live characters for a Super Bowl commercial, it's worth remembering that he was part of another, more football-centric sketch as well: Bill Swerski's Superfans. This is the first ever Superfans sketch from 30 years ago.

Joe Mantegna was hosting SNL that week in January 1991, and he liked this pitch from writers Bob Odenkirk and Robert Smigel about a group of Chicago-style sports fans hosting a local show and imagining crazy ways the Bears could win the Super Bowl, no matter how they were actually doing in real life. So Mantegna became Bill Swerski, Chris Farley became Todd O'Connor, Myers became Pat Arnold, and Smigel became Carl Wollarski. 

Their predictions include "Da Bears" beating the New York Giants 79-0, and still beating them if Da Bears were only 14 inches tall, but by a somewhat closer score, but not as much if legendary Bears coach Mike Ditka was still full grown. If Ditka was the only one that showed up for the game, he alone could still beat the Giants. But when Kevin Nealon shows up as oddsmaker Danny Sheridan and is asked what the point spread would be for a Ditka vs. Giants game, his realistic answer gets him kicked off the show. The only team that could beat Da Bears, in their estimation, is the assembled choir of heavenly angels, although Todd still picks Da Bears. They all pick Ditka to beat God in a golf match. 

The sketch would recur several times, although George Wendt took Mantegna's place as Bill's brother Bob Swerski, who explained Bill's absence each time by saying he was recovering from "anudder heart attack." 

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Andy Hunsaker has a head full of sitcom gags and nerd-genre lore, and can be followed @AndyHunsaker if you're into that sort of thing.