Saturday Night Live Accused of Ripping Off Charmin Toilet Paper Skit
Saturday Night Live has returned for its 48th season, and the Charmin Toilet Paper skit from the season premiere has been accused of being ripped off from a popular YouTube sketch online! The late night variety series returned for its long awaited 48th season this weekend with host Miles Teller and artist Kendrick Lamar performing, and fans seemed to respond well to many of the sketches throughout. But as the series continues to make changes due to the flux of shifting talents since the end of the 47th season, there might be some growing pains that fans are noticing more and more.
One of the standout sketches from Saturday Night Live's Season 48 premiere saw host Miles Tenner, along with many of the other show mainstays such as Kenan Thompson, dress up as the bear family from the Charmin brand toilet paper commercials. During the sketch Teller reveals that he wants to do more than just clean his bottom with toilet paper, and revealed that he wanted to become a dancer and had even been practicing a routine. You can check out the sketch in question below:
But one thing Saturday Night Live fans had pointed out (as reported by PopCulture.com) was the fact that this sketch seemed eerily familiar to a sketch filmmaker Joel Haver shared with fans online back in July. Haver's animated short sees the son of the Charmin Bear family approaching his parents about a new interest in graphic design, only for the father to shut him down because they're supposed to be cleaning themselves with that toilet paper. It's far shorter than Saturday Night Live's version, but fans noticed the core root in between both ideas. You can judge for yourselves with Haver's short below:
Haver himself has not responded to the fans tweeting about the sketch and potential plagiarism, but it also wouldn't be the first time that Saturday Night Live has been accused of potentially getting close to other ideas in the past (such as Tig Notaro's fans back in 2017 noting similarities to one of the comedian's sketches from years prior). It's yet to be determined whether or not it's the same case here.
Saturday Night Live Season 48 will continue on Saturday October 8th at 11:30PMEST on NBC. Domhall Gleeson will be hosting with Willow Smith serving as the musical guest.