Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Bill Swerski's Superfans
Bill Swerski's Superfans was a recurring sketch on the American sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live. The sketch first appeared on January 12, 1991 starring Joe Mantegna as Bill Swerski along with Chris Farley as Todd O'Connor, Mike Myers as Pat Arnold and Robert Smigel as Carl Wollarski. Subsequent sketches starred George Wendt as Bob Swerski with occasional appearances by Beth Cahill as his daughter, Denise Swerski. The inspiration for the characters were Chicago radio hosts during the 1970s and 1980s.
The characters were typically shown in a sports bar, drinking large amounts of beer and gorging themselves on ribs, sausages, and similar foods. All of the characters wore dark sunglasses and thick mustaches to resemble Mike Ditka, the popular coach of the Chicago Bears at the time. Ditka was the idol of all the Superfans, so much so that Chris Farley's character would have a heart attack in every sketch because Ditka had suffered one himself. The group would discuss upcoming sporting events and inevitably predict a victory for the local team using an exaggerated Chicago accent, normally culminating in a uniform toast to "Da Bears", "Da Bulls", or "Da Cubs". Their predictions were likewise exaggerated and their topics of conversation often ludicrous. Typical debates concerned Mike Ditka versus a tornado or how many points Michael Jordan could score if he played an entire game by himself while sitting in a recliner.
The characters appeared in nine episodes in two years. With Ditka's departure from the Bears in 1993 and significant cast changes on SNL, the sketch and characters all but disappeared. The final appearance of the Superfans was on October 25, 1997 in an episode hosted by Farley. This sketch featured the first (and only) appearance by their idol Mike Ditka, although he was at the time coaching the New Orleans Saints much to the chagrin of the Superfans. Farley's death two months later ended the possibilty of future Superfan sketches, although Bob Swerski made a solo appearance on a Weekend Update segment in 2003.
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