--- title: SNL's 'Joker' Parody Is a Super Dark Take on 'Sesame Street' description: Stranger Things’ actor David Harbour plays a grim Oscar the Grouch in a Saturday Night Live parody of Joker. canonical: https://time.com/5699249/snl-joker-sesame-street-oscar-the-grouch/ author: Sanya Mansoor article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-10-13T13:51:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:31.721Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Saturday Night Live' Takes on 'Joker' With a Super Dark View of 'Sesame Street' og:description: 'Stranger Things’ actor David Harbour plays a grim Oscar the Grouch og:url: https://time.com/5699249/snl-joker-sesame-street-oscar-the-grouch/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e8f9b438aa96bee/698a0430e76ad273a56369a1/david-harbour.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: David Harbour on SNL og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Saturday Night Live' Takes on 'Joker' With a Super Dark View of 'Sesame Street' twitter:description: 'Stranger Things’ actor David Harbour plays a grim Oscar the Grouch twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e8f9b438aa96bee/698a0430e76ad273a56369a1/david-harbour.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Saturday Night Live' Takes on 'Joker' With a Super Dark View of 'Sesame Street' > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: JOKER - Final Trailer [Watch (HLS stream): JOKER - Final Trailer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WPhjrkhP.m3u8) (2:24)  _Published 2019-08-28. JOKER - Final Trailer_  by [Sanya Mansoor](https://time.com/author/sanya-mansoor/)  ## Sanya Mansoor Oct 13, 2019 1:51 PM UTC  David Harbour delivers the monologue on Saturday Night Live on Oct. 12, 2019. David Harbour delivers the monologue on Saturday Night Live on Oct. 12, 2019. Will Heath—NBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images  by [Sanya Mansoor](https://time.com/author/sanya-mansoor/)  ## Sanya Mansoor Oct 13, 2019 1:51 PM UTC After watching this new “Grouch” parody, you probably won’t be asking anyone how to get to _Sesame Street_. In a new _Saturday Night Live_ sketch, the classic children’s TV neighborhood has become a haven of crime and corruption with pimps and drug users on every corner. And at the center of it all is a grim Oscar the Grouch, played by _Stranger Things_’ actor David Harbour. Harbour’s gritty antihero garbage man is intended to be a parody of the new movie [_Joker_](https://time.com/5684823/joker-movie-controversy/), which stars Joaquin Phoenix as a failed comedian who eventually becomes Batman’s arch-nemesis. The movie portrays the Joker as a lonely man, who lives with his mother and faces constant disappointment, violence and isolation — pushing him into a life of crime. _SNL_‘s Oscar the Grouch, also appears to be beaten down by life in the same way as Phoenix’s _Joker_. “If everyone calls you trash, everyone treats like you like trash, why don’t you just become trash?” Harbour’s Oscar says as he is shown descending into a trash can. The rest of the _Sesame Street_ cast are struggling, too. Cookie Monster is shown begging on the street with a sign that says “Need money for cookies,” while Elmo is getting arrested, telling cops, “Elmo innocent, Elmo didn’t sell no crack.” Watch _SNL’s_ skit here: ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5699249/snl-joker-sesame-street-oscar-the-grouch/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5699249/snl-joker-sesame-street-oscar-the-grouch/"},"headline":"'Saturday Night Live' Takes on 'Joker' With a Super Dark View of 'Sesame Street'","datePublished":"2019-10-13T13:51:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:52:31.721Z","description":"'Stranger Things’ actor David Harbour plays a grim Oscar the Grouch","url":"https://time.com/5699249/snl-joker-sesame-street-oscar-the-grouch/","keywords":["Saturday Night Live","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e8f9b438aa96bee/698a0430e76ad273a56369a1/david-harbour.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sanya Mansoor","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sanya-mansoor/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e8f9b438aa96bee/698a0430e76ad273a56369a1/david-harbour.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"David Harbour on SNL","caption":"David Harbour on SNL","creditText":"Will Heath—NBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/saturday-night-live/","name":"Saturday Night Live"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5699249/snl-joker-sesame-street-oscar-the-grouch/","name":"'Saturday Night Live' Takes on 'Joker' With a Super Dark View of 'Sesame Street'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"JOKER - Final Trailer","description":"JOKER - Final Trailer","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WPhjrkhP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-08-28T17:56:43.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WPhjrkhP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5699249/snl-joker-sesame-street-oscar-the-grouch/","duration":"PT2M24S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5699249/snl-joker-sesame-street-oscar-the-grouch/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```