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SNL's "Surprise Party" Sketch Introduced One of Kristen Wiig's Favorite Characters
A beloved SNL character was born when Kristen Wiig uttered "ohhhh myyyy goddddd!" in the Season 33 sketch.
In the weeks leading up to February 16's three-hour 50th anniversary celebration on NBC, the team behind Saturday Night Live has selected one sketch from every single season — 50 seasons in 50 days — to reflect the show's rich legacy across five decades. Presenting the sketch chosen to represent Season 33: "Surprise Party" starring Host Christopher Walken along with Season 33 cast members Kristen Wiig, Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Will Forte, and Casey Wilson.
When you saw Kristen Wiig as a squirming redhead in a brightly colored sweater on Saturday Night Live, you'd just know what the writers had in store. Nearly 17 years ago, Wiig’s portrayal of the easily overwhelmed and consistently-destructive Sue made her hilarious debut on SNL, and it’s been a wild ride with her ever since.
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Kristen Wiig's SNL character Sue debuted in “Surprise Party” with Host Christopher Walken
Audiences met Kristen Wiig’s uncontrollably excited and nervous Sue for the first time in the April 5, 2008 episode — the seventh one hosted by Christopher Walken.
In the Season 33 sketch, Walken plays a grandfather who tells his family that he’d like to throw a surprise party for his granddaughter. And Sue — quite literally — can't control her excitement.
“Ohhhh myyyy Goddddd,” Sue squeals with a massive smile on her face, while wiggling around in her seat.
“Sue, what’s wrong?” Will Forte’s character asks.
“Sue likes surprise parties,” Walken chimes in.
“I really love surprise parties,” Sue confirms. “I’m so frickin excited!”
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Sue is so “ecstatic” to help plan this surprise party, her only response when asked if they should get some balloons is to shout “Yeeeaasssss!” She’s also on the verge of passing out and her hands become too “paralyzed” to open a bag of chips.
Forte, Amy Poehler, and Bill Hader's characters' efforts to tell Sue to get a hold of herself prove fruitless. She even fails a “practice” round, doing the absolute most as she throws her arms in the air and dramatically screams “surprise!”
When the person they're surprising (Casey Wilson) enters the scene and asks what’s going on, Sue is frozen in a state of panic, trying to cover her face with her turtleneck. “I can’t tell you about something!” she says, soon leaking details about the secret birthday party. “Oh God, here it comes!”
To save herself from further ruining the surprise, Sue smashes herself in the head with a glass vase before throwing herself out a window — but promptly comes reenters at the mention of ice cream.
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Kristen Wiig’s Sue the Surprise Lady returned to SNL multiple times over the years
Wiig reprised her role as the chaotic-yet-lovable Sue several more times.
While Wiig was a cast member on SNL, Sue returned three more times. In Season 34, Sue got too excited about a surprise proposal. In Season 35, she jumped up a chimney to avoid blowing some exciting baby news in a Christmas-themed sketch.
And in Season 37, Sue hid in a vending machine before bashing herself with a fire extinguisher to stop herself from ruining a co-worker’s promotion.
When Wiig returned as a Host in the November 19, 2016 episode, so did Sue. In the Season 42 Thanksgiving sketch, Sue’s “ohhhh myyyy goddddd” was immediately met with applause from the audience.
And Sue's most recent appearance came when Wiig hosted the December 19, 2020 episode in a Season 46 Christmas sketch.
Kristen Wiig talked playing Sue on "Actors on Actors"
From Target Lady to Gilly to Aunt Linda, Wiig is behind so many iconic SNL characters. Playing Sue, however, is one of the more memorable ones for her.
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In a 2017 interview for Variety's "Actors on Actors" with Saoirse Ronan, Wiig revealed that Sue was one her favorite characters to play on SNL.
“It’s so hard to pick … I have a special place in my heart for the Target Lady, simply because I did her at Groundlings before I got SNL, and I did her in my audition,” Wiig shared. “And I really liked doing Sue, the surprise party lady. It was such a high-energy character for me to play and I don’t normally do that.”
