While perusing some comedy clips on the internet, I came across the first clip below - it was labeled "SNL - Phobia Party," but clearly was not from Saturday Night Live, as it starred various folks who were never on SNL but who are recognizable from other places (Mary Lynn Rajskub, Kaitlin Olson, others). A little research reveals it was the short-lived Kelsey Grammer Sketch Show, which was only around in 2005.
But in watching it, I got a sense of specific deja vu - not only had I heard of this kind of sketch before, but the details were exactly the same as in another sketch I'd seen in Hebrew, by the sketch group Ktzarim (clip has English subtitles). In the Hebrew clip, the phobias folks were in therapy instead of at a party, but the fears themselves were all the same.
Which came first? Well, after some interwebs research, I discovered the answer: neither. The first version was a British version of the group therapy sketch from The UK Sketch Show (2001). It is a great concept and takes great timing to pull it off - even though they were all in different countries, I still can't believe that three different televised sketch shows used the same sketch. Has this ever happened before? (And will it keep happening again on the amateur level? Check out this clip from Grace Church.)
All three sketches are below (in what I believe is the correct chronological order) - which sketch group did it best?
The UK Sketch Show
The Israeli Version - "Ktzarim"
The Kelsey Grammer Sketch Show
Wow, Esther-you are a serious detective.
Posted by: Benji Lovitt | October 22, 2012 at 02:21 AM
Both the Hebrew version and the Kelsey Grammer show were licensed versions of the UK show. The SNL sketch is just a rip-off...
Posted by: Ohad Ouziel | April 13, 2013 at 11:15 AM
I don't think i t appeared on SNL. I think the youtube clip was mislabeled. (I'm quite well-versed in SNL sketches, and would have remembered. :)) Thanks for commenting, Israeli superstar Ohad!
Posted by: EstherK | April 14, 2013 at 09:03 AM