Not trying to have sex with the pumpkins
Saturday Night Live , compared with Temple Horses
A pumpkin-patch owner confronts staff accused of doing indecent things with his pumpkins, scolds them that children are nearby, and bans them from the patch.
A patch owner has to fire three employees caught having sex with the pumpkins, as they protest and kids wander by. (paraphrase)
SNL — "The Pumpkin Patch" (Awkwafina episode), 2018▶ watch ↗
An October 2014 sketch where the owner catches a group with his pumpkins; they deny it, he points to the children, and they are thrown out. (paraphrase)
YouTube sketch, 2014▶ watch ↗
Same odd premise and a similar caught-deny-kids-ejected arc; NBC says SNL's writers came up with it independently, and no lines can be compared.
- Premise 37/40
- Structure 23/30
- Punchline 15/30
- Premise37/40Both have a patch owner confronting people caught doing sexual things with his pumpkins.
- Structure23/30Similar arc: caught, denial or protest, owner cites the children, ejection; SNL frames them as employees being fired.
- Punchline15/30Both end with the offenders removed, but no lines from either sketch are on record to compare.
Setup
Patch owner confronts three employees caught having sex with pumpkins.
Setup
Owner catches a group doing things with his pumpkins.
Turn
The employees protest while children wander past.
Turn
They deny it, and he points to the children nearby.
Punchline
The owner fires them.
Punchline
They are thrown out of the patch.
Scores and beats are our editorial reading of the public record, not a ruling.
Context
When and where
Temple Horses uploaded 'Not Trying to Fuck This Pumpkin' to YouTube in October 2014 (about 29,000 views by 2019). SNL aired 'The Pumpkin Patch' in October 2018.
What followed
The duo sent NBC a legal letter in 2019. An NBC attorney replied that an internal investigation found the SNL writers came up with the idea independently, and no suit followed.