Papyrus - SNL

Name: Papyrus - SNL
Uploaded: 2017-10-01T05:58:45Z
Duration: 3 min 6 s
Channel: Saturday Night Live
Description: A Saturday Night Live sketch in which a man (Ryan Gosling) is haunted by the Papyrus typeface used in the Avatar logo. It plays the font's overuse and the designer's guilt for laughs. HN pulls it out whenever Papyrus, Avatar's title treatment or tired typography comes up, as the shared joke that explains itself.

Saturday Night Live

2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2020–2026

YouTube

25.9M views · 9 years ago · other · evergreen

A Saturday Night Live sketch in which a man (Ryan Gosling) is haunted by the Papyrus typeface used in the Avatar logo. It plays the font's overuse and the designer's guilt for laughs.

HN pulls it out whenever Papyrus, Avatar's title treatment or tired typography comes up, as the shared joke that explains itself.

“this SNL skit on Papyrus is brilliant”

Type design & fonts Design critique & analysis

#papyrus #snl #avatarlogo #comedy #fontchoice

22 comments from Hacker News

@chrisweekly2025 · in “Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri”

yes! the first one^1 is hilarious! the sequel^2 is somehow equally funny. 1. ▶ this video 2. link

RecommendsView on HN

@pell2020 · in “Comic Mono”

You probably have seen it but for anyone who hasn't, this SNL skit on Papyrus is brilliant: ▶ this video

RecommendsView on HN

@maxweylandt2026 · in “Fonts In Use – Find out where a font is used”

related, now-classic SNL skit linked in the article: ▶ this video

CitesView on HN

@RobotToaster2026 · in “How to make your text look futuristic (2016)”

For those who don't get it ▶ this video

CitesView on HN

@Apocryphon2026 · in “Buttered Crumpet, a custom typeface for Wallace and Gromit”

I feel like hipster typography is as much an intrinsic part of 2010s design culture as cafes that look like farmhouses, or startups named after common nouns. Saturday Night Live made a sketch about Papyrus nearly ten years ago: ▶ this video link

CitesView on HN

@esafak2023 · in “KernType – A Letter Spacing Game”

Papyrus! As it happens I have a friend who worked on Avatar's graphic design and he loves this SNL sketch: ▶ this video

CitesView on HN

@thegabriele2023 · in “Word-as-image for semantic typography”

Avatar (billions in box office) and papyrus come to mind (classic: ▶ this video ). Sometimes the triteness it's just...ok?

CitesView on HN

@froh2022 · in “Yep, I created the new Avatar font”

As I had to search for the SNL avatar papyrus thing here it is: ▶ this video

CitesView on HN

@schiffern2026 · in “Show HN: Make cursed fonts like Times New Bastard”

>Papyrus and Comic Sans MS Obligatory: ▶ this video Apparently there's a sequel: link