Lovers (Saturday Night Live)

The Lovers, or The Lov-ahs, was a recurring sketch on Saturday Night Live which featured Rachel Dratch and Will Ferrell. Dratch and Ferrell play Virginia and Roger Clarvin, a married, middle-aged couple of professors who are madly in love. Usually they are in a hot tub, however they have been in other places, such as a patio when Christopher Walken once hosted.

The Clarvins are a stereotype of couples who are sophisticated, but decadent, and they have no scruples about discussing their sex lives. They are usually seen in a hot tub, eating spiced meats, and discussing the intimate details of their private life with one another (and anyone who can stand to listen to them) in a tone of melodramatic, lovesick awe; they refer to one another as "lov-ah." The skits usually begin with them entering a hot tub and introducing themselves to a guest; these conversations inevitably degenerate into the Clarvins describing the details of their sexual adventures, which begin with eating meat and end with group sex. At the very end, Ferrell's character, Roger, typically experiences a pain in his back and exclaims "GET THE HELL OFF ME!" to his wife, proving that the Lovers are simply putting on an act. Another recurring character is Dave (Jimmy Fallon), a traveling businessman who keeps running into the Clarvins by chance, and tries to escape their company as soon as possible.

NL episodes featuring The Lovers

*Season 24, Episode 16 (March 20, 1999): with Drew Barrymore as Barbara Hernandez
*Season 26, Episode 20 (May 19, 2001): with Christopher Walken as Walter
*Season 27, Episode 20 (May 18, 2002): with Winona Ryder as Clarissa, Dave's girlfriend