I used to wonder this a lot, and I guess it depends on what you consider a sketch comedy show. Some variety/talk shows do sketches. Keeping in mind, I'm not talking about who has been in the most sketches, I think that would go to Keenan Thompson from his long career at SNL and All That.

I could name a ton of people who appeared in at least two based on watching SCTV, SNL, In Living Color, MadTV and Chapelle's Show. But two isn't a lot.

My best guess is Keegan-Michael Key. He was a cast member on MadTV, starred in Key&Peele, and hosted an episode of SNL. After browsing his Wikipedia page, he's done voices on Robot Chicken, appeared in w/Bob and David, and did a sketch on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. While the last one is a comedy news show, it does regularly have sketches to end episodes. So I would count that as six for Keegan.

But there's a lot of sketch shows I haven't seen. Michael Che's, I Think You Should Leave, the new Kids in the Hall, etc...

I'd love to hear others' guesses. I might discover some new favorite sketches in the process.

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UHeardAboutPluto t1_jd3vc7b wrote on March 21, 2023 at 5:24 PM

Bob Odenkirk: SNL; The Ben Stiller Show; Mr. Show (multiple iterations); Crank Yankers, Tim and Eric (multiple variations); Sarah Silverman Project; Jon Benjamin Has a Van; The Birthday Boys; Comedy Bang Bang; Bob and David; Drunk History; I Think You Should Leave.

GamblerShinobi OP t1_jd42z9y wrote on March 21, 2023 at 6:12 PM

Wow, Bob Odenkirk has a long resume. Do you have a favorite sketch of his?

I haven't heard of half of these. I got some searching to do.

ProfGilligan t1_jd4yw00 wrote on March 21, 2023 at 9:33 PM

“Van Down By the River,” hands down.

Latter_Feeling2656 t1_jd3wwin wrote on March 21, 2023 at 5:34 PM

"Keeping in mind, I'm not talking about who has been in the most sketches, I think that would go to Keenan Thompson from his long career at SNL and All That."

The Red Skelton show was on for 20 seasons, 1951-71. The primetime show finished #4 in the annual Nielsen ratings in 1951-52, #7 in 1969-70, and in the top 20 thirteen other years. Skelton was in every sketch.

GamblerShinobi OP t1_jd43a3t wrote on March 21, 2023 at 6:14 PM

I forgot about the Red Skelton show. I've only seen a few from VHS tapes my late grandparents owned. I had no idea it was on air for 20 years.

How many of Skelton's sketches have you watched?

Latter_Feeling2656 t1_jd5desi wrote on March 21, 2023 at 11:11 PM

I don't know. It seems there were 672 episodes of the show produced. It wouldn't surprise if Skelton was in close to 2000. This is on top of a radio career that started about a decade before and continued for about five years after he started on TV.

Fryceratops t1_jd4121c wrote on March 21, 2023 at 6:00 PM

That's 20 years. Keenan has done 18-19 years on SNL plus his 20+ years of sketch before then.

beesmakenoise t1_jd3tcee wrote on March 21, 2023 at 5:12 PM

The new KITH series has a bunch of talking head segments from some big stars - Katherine O’Hara, Pete Davidson, Colin Mochrie, etc so you could add to some people’s tally from that show.

Whose Line is it Anyway has tons of guests you might want to count too, though a lot are actors and not sketch comedians.

RusevReigns t1_jd6no66 wrote on March 22, 2023 at 5:37 AM

In terms of number of episodes the Who's Line guys have been doing this fooooorever. Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles are ahead of Wayne Brady as they were on the UK predecessor.