Puerto Rican megastar Bad Bunny set the internet ablaze during Saturday Night Live’s Season 51 premiere on October 4, 2025, with a pitch-perfect parody of the beloved Mexican sitcom “El Chavo del Ocho,” slipping into the sailor suit of the spoiled Quico for a sketch that sparked waves of nostalgia and viral photo comparisons. The three-minute-plus segment, a highlight of the episode’s close, saw Bad Bunny—real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio—nailing Quico’s puffed-cheek tantrums, whiny outbursts, and signature flair in a tribute to the Televisa classic that left Latino fans cheering and new viewers curious. Though the Studio 8H crowd’s reaction was lukewarm—likely due to unfamiliarity with the 1970s show—the online response exploded, with side-by-side images of Bad Bunny and the original cast flooding social media, celebrating the sketch’s authenticity.

The sketch, titled “The Kid From Number 8,” faithfully recreated the chaotic charm of “El Chavo del Ocho,” the Roberto Gómez Bolaños (Chespirito) creation about an orphan boy living in a barrel in a lively Mexican courtyard, surrounded by quirky neighbors. Bad Bunny leaned into Quico’s bratty persona, taunting Don Ramón and wailing dramatically under Doña Florinda’s scolding slaps, all while leading a star-studded SNL cast through the vecindad’s antics. Marcello Hernández, as El Chavo, captured the character’s naive charm with his earflap hat and barrel-dwelling sadness, while Sarah Sherman embodied La Chilindrina’s sly mischief. Andrew Dismukes played the down-on-his-luck Don Ramón, Chloe Fineman delivered Doña Florinda’s haughty slaps, and Kenan Thompson rounded out the ensemble as the landlord El Señor Barriga, hilariously renamed “Mr. Stomach” in the English adaptation.

A standout moment came with Jon Hamm’s surprise cameo as Profesor Jirafales, complete with the drawn-out “Tauuuuu” greeting to Doña Florinda, a nod that sent knowing fans into a frenzy. The sketch leaned heavily on the show’s slapstick roots, with pie fights, rent-dodging schemes, and Quico’s iconic “¡Tóma torta!” moments adapted for American audiences while preserving the core humor. Social media lit up with photo comparisons: Bad Bunny’s Quico mirrored Carlos Villagrán’s original, from the sailor hat to the exaggerated pout, while Hernández and Sherman echoed Bolaños and María Antonieta de las Nieves with eerie precision.

“El Chavo del Ocho,” which ran from 1973 to 1980, remains a cultural titan in Latin America, its 300-plus episodes still airing on TelevisaUnivision’s Vix and other platforms. Chespirito’s creation, blending class satire with physical comedy, resonated across generations, spawning spin-offs like “El Chapulín Colorado” and a 2025 HBO Max docuseries, “Chespirito: Not Really on Purpose,” that reignited global interest. The original cast—Villagrán as Quico, Valdés as Don Ramón, Meza as Doña Florinda—became icons, despite later feuds that saw some actors exit.

Bad Bunny, a lifelong fan of the show, brought authenticity to the role, his Puerto Rican roots aligning with its pan-Latino appeal. Hosting SNL for the second time after 2021, he also teased his 2026 Super Bowl halftime performance during the monologue, quipping in Spanish, “If you don’t get what I’m saying, you’ve got four months to catch up.” The episode featured additional star power, with Benicio del Toro in a language-themed sketch and K-pop cameos in a Netflix spoof, reinforcing SNL’s knack for big-name draws.

Online, the sketch became a phenomenon, with X posts sharing clips and praising the tribute: “Bad Bunny as Quico was perfection,” one user wrote, while another said, “SNL just made El Chavo a U.S. thing!” Some fans noted the live audience’s tepid response, likely due to cultural unfamiliarity, but lauded the sketch for introducing the show to new viewers. Spanish-language outlets like El Universal called it a “global win” for Chespirito’s legacy, while Los40 highlighted the accurate recreation of moments like Don Ramón’s dodging and Quico’s pie-in-the-face gags.

The tribute reflects a broader surge in Latino representation, with Bad Bunny’s post-residency stardom amplifying his cultural bridge-building. YouTube clips of the sketch surged in views, introducing “El Chavo” to younger audiences unfamiliar with its syndication. SNL’s 51st season, fresh off its 50th anniversary, continues to embrace global influences, with this sketch joining its legacy of parodies like telenovela spoofs. As one Reddit fan noted, “Seeing El Chavo’s chaos on SNL was surreal and hilarious.”

Though some purists felt the English translation softened the humor, the overwhelming response was joy, with Bad Bunny’s Quico cementing a moment of cultural pride. As the sketch fuels calls for more Latino tributes, it’s clear Chespirito’s vecindad lives on, uniting fans across borders with laughter and nostalgia.