The Brilliant SNL ‘Goodfellas’ Parody

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Jimmy Two-Times: “I’m gonna go get the papers… get the papers”

There are so many memorable scenes in Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese’s motion picture about the mob. And if you were to close your eyes, you’d be able to picture the moment when such lines as “What do you mean I’m funny?,” “Make that coffee to go,” “Never rat on your friends,” “I settle down with a nice girl every night,” and “Here’s a wing! were delivered”

And then there’s “I’m gonna go get the papers… get the papers.”

It comes early in the film when we’re just getting to meet the cast of characters that occasionally show up to support Joe Pesci’s Tommy DeVito, Robert De Niro’s Jimmy Conway, and most importantly, Ray Liotta, whose Henry Hill serves as the film’s narrator. The scene at the Bamboo Lounge in Brooklyn, NY, is often described as “Meet the crew.” Take it away, Henry…

Goodfellas had its premiere on Sept. 9, 1990, at the Venice International Film Festival and opened in the U.S. ten days later. Fast forward to Feb. 12, 1994. Alec Baldwin and his wife at the time, Kim Basinger, are hosting Saturday Night Live during Season 19 and the cold open that night was a brilliant parody of that great “Meet the crew” scene. You’ll spot SNL cast members Jay Mohr, Chris Farley, Rob Schneider and Phil Hartman (in their final season), Norm Macdonald, Kevin Nealon, Ellen Cleghorne, Julia Sweeney, David Spade, Tim Meadows, Mike Myers, and Adam Sandler, among the gang. Rounding out the bar crew was Basinger, and many of the show’s writers.

As of June 2024, the clip had only 65,000 views on YouTube even though it was uploaded onto the sketch comedy series’ YT channel in 2014.

Though it earned six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and one for Scorsese as Best Director, Goodfellas scored only one win: Joe Pesci got the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. It was overshadowed on the big night by Dances With Wolves, which won seven awards among its 12 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Kevin Costner. We bet the voting members wish they had a do-over.