Every nerd or geek from I.T. (like me) loved the “Nick Burns, Your Company’s Computer Guy” sketch from Saturday Night Live. Jimmy Fallon was hilarious and dead-on as the cynical sarcastic helpdesk hero. While most of the jargon and technical props were way off base in regards to realism, the sentiment of the sketches were always eerily right on the money. Fortunately, most tech support personell never really behave the way ole Nick does, but many do “think” what he has the audacity to say and do, like telling someone to “MOVE!” so they can fix the problem themselves.
Nick Burns has been on SNL five times, and each skit has involved the guest host.
- 11/20/1999: host Jennifer Aniston – Plays an employee whose computer was crashing with a new program
- 1/8/2000: host Jamie Foxx – Plays an employee who matches wits—and knowledge of computers—with Burns
- 5/20/2000: host Jackie Chan – Plays a new IT guy, Wang, who is replacing Nick for his vacation
- 11/11/2000: host Calista Flockhart – Plays an IT girl, Rhonda, who has a thing for Nick
- 11/17/2001: host Billy Bob Thornton – Plays Nick’s dad Here are a couple of sketches that stand out.
Jennifer Aniston is the guest star in this sketch.
This one has future Academy award winner, Jamie Foxx, who gives the Nickster a run for the money when it comes to troubleshooting.
Jackie Chan stars in this Nick Burns edition.
Calista Flockhart stars in this one.
Here’s the one with Billy Bob Thornton as Nick’s geek dad!