--- description: A sketch that's both funny and touching title: SNL: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Mike O'Brien Star In Monster Pals Sketch image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50e502d72ca75264/69868a7b06f2c1047032e5f2/screen-shot-2014-04-13-at-10-15-04-am.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # James Franco Stars in _SNL'_s Beautiful Story of 2 Monster Pals by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 13, 2014 2:43 PM CUT  by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 13, 2014 2:43 PM CUT This pre-recorded short opens with a couple of buddies who just happen to be monsters — ugly, green, disfigured monsters. Some awful bully, played by Seth Rogen, makes them feel terrible about themselves, prompting one of them to undergo expensive plastic surgery so he can look like a normal human (the surgery goes pretty well, because he comes out looking like James Franco). Mike O’Brien also stars as Franco’s fellow monster, who eventually gives in and gets the human-transformation surgery too. When the friends reunite afterward, Franco asks O’Brien why he chose that face. “It’s just a little bit cheaper,” he explains. The tone of “Monster Pals” is reminiscent of the excellent [“Sad Mouse” sketch from 2012](http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/21/snls-5-best-skits-inevitable-debate-parodies-and-a-few-surprises/slide/bruno-mars-as-a-sad-mouse/ "undefined"), though the former is much lighter and funnier. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/60709/james-franco-snl-monster-sketch/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/60709/james-franco-snl-monster-sketch/"},"headline":"James Franco Stars in SNL's Beautiful Story of 2 Monster Pals","datePublished":"2014-04-13T14:43:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:08:45.271Z","description":"A sketch that's both funny and touching","url":"https://time.com/60709/james-franco-snl-monster-sketch/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Comedy","SNL","Saturday Night Live","Arts","james franco","Seth Rogen"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50e502d72ca75264/69868a7b06f2c1047032e5f2/screen-shot-2014-04-13-at-10-15-04-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50e502d72ca75264/69868a7b06f2c1047032e5f2/screen-shot-2014-04-13-at-10-15-04-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2014-04-13 at 10.15.04 AM","caption":"","creditText":"","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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/60709/james-franco-snl-monster-sketch/","name":"James Franco Stars in SNL's Beautiful Story of 2 Monster Pals"}}]}] ```