Daaa Superfans: Bears Week Day 4

     Saturday Night Live has come out with some groundbreaking sketches over the years, but only one of them succinctly wraps up the mindset of the stereotypical Bears fan so well. It premiered in 1991(mere hours before the Bears were to take the field for a playoff match up with the New York Giants), and originally featured Joe Montegna(who is from Chicago), Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Rob Smigel, and Kevin Nealon. The plot as it first went was that Bill Swerski(played by Montegna) and his cronies are all camped out in Mike Ditka's Restaurant, holding court over copious quantities of brats, Polish Sausage, and beer, all while discussing the fortunes of the Bears at that specific moment in time, kind of like this:

     The sketch was originally written by Rob Smigel in 1988 for another comedy show he was attached to, basing the characters on Chicago broadcast personalities from the 70s and 80s. Since Montegna was just the host for that first sketch, he was replaced in subsequent airings by George Wendt, who played his brother Bob. Bill's absence was explained away by Bob saying that his "brudder had anudder heart attack"(heart attacks were quickly becoming their go-to ailment). The fans made several more appearances on SNL, discussing such things as how well Ditka would do in a Hurricane, how he'd do in the Indy 500(he'd finish in first place driving the team bus), and how Da Bearss would do against Da Bullss.  The fans also branched out into talking about the Bulls a bit, pondering over how Jordan would perform in a game played while lounging on a recliner, or saying that Da Bullss would blow out the Pistons 402-0(but Jordan would be held to under 200 points).  In their heyday, both Jordan and Ditka would make appearances in the sketch.

     Their final appearance on SNL came in 1997, courtesy of a comedic "where are they now" sketch hosted by Bill Kurtis.  Chris Farley died 2 months later, precluding any more skits.  Regardless, the Superfans have popped up in various media over the years since, including appearances by a relative of the Swerskis on Weekend Update, a few appearances on ESPN, a call-out in a GEICO commercial, and this ad for State Farm: