James Franco Tries To Change The Way You Think About Pizza In This Eye-Opening ‘SNL’ Sketch

On a basic level, this is the type of sketch that would be forgettable from a night of strong segments on SNL. But James Franco elevates this mid-show oddity to great heights thanks to his performance, taking a silly premise and pushing it to be even sillier before a grand payoff. And it all comes down to pizza.

Who doesn’t love pizza? It’s a classic and it goes by many different names, including some you never really think about. Naturally, you’d think “za” would be a reference to pizza after you shorten the name, but Franco manages to change the stakes. Throughout this sketch, he’s trying to catch Pete Davidson in a lie about his whereabouts during a crime and it all revolves around the meal he allegedly ate. Davidson says he had two pieces of “za” and Franco insists that this means he had lasagna, which is not on the menu at the restaurant he says he was at.

It’s a stretch, sure. But by the end of the sketch, you kinda get where Franco is going and your mind changes with him. There is a definite “suh” when you say pizza, where lasagna fits the bill for when you order “za.” The real problem here is that the defense team didn’t do anything to counter this argument and merely said it had nothing to do with the case. If she would have taken a recess, maybe ordered some za from another restaurant to see what was delivered, it would’ve helped her out.

Of course, none of it matters in the end with that incriminating photo. Where do you stand on the pizza vs. lasagna issue?

(Via SNL)