Saturday Night Live (SNL) parodied The Weakest Link on a May 5, 2001 episode; former alumna Rachel Dratch portrayed Robinson.
The sketch comedy series MADtv had two parodies of the show.
The Missing Link[]
Originally airing on May 19, 2001; Lorraine Swanson (Mo Collins) is on the show where she is playing against two monkeys named Professor MacFuzzy and Huckleberry. However, all three contestants did not get the answers right so they leave empty-handed. Professor MacFuzzy, believe it or not, was the missing link in the final round while Lorraine was the missing link. Robinson did not make an appearance as herself so instead, the alumna who portrayed Robinson was Nicole Sullivan.
The Weakest Link: Retro TV[]
Originally airing on November 24, 2001; this was a retro tv edition. Like the last skit, Robinson did not make an appearance as herself, instead Alex Borstein took her place as Robinson.
NOTE: The announcer for the current Jane Lynch version was former MADtv alumna Debra Skelton (nee Wilson).
The show was referenced in Scary Movie 2 (released July 4, 2001), where a little bird says the famous catchphrase "You Are the Weakest Link! Goodbye".
The formerly popular satire magazine MAD in issue #409 (September 2001) parodied the show as The Wicked Link! written by Dick DeBartolo and illustrated by Bill Wray hosted by Anne RobotOne (parody of former host Anne Robinson).
The show was referenced in the Family Guy episode "From Method to Madness" (originally January 24, 2002), when Stewie signs up for an acting class, one girl out of the auditioners says the most famous catchphrase on the show, "You are the Weakest Link. Goodbye!".
In an episode of the drama series Providence called "The Whole Truth" (originally April 5, 2002), Sydney Hansen (Melina Kanakaredes) plays The Weakest Link as one of her dream sequences, playing against Dr. James Hansen (Mike Farrel), Joanie Hansen (Paula Cole), Robbie Hansen (Seth Peterson) & Lynda Hansen (Concetta Tomei) as her opponents. Anne Robinson herself makes a brief cameo appearance in this said episode, the round lasted for 39 seconds. In the end, Sydney failed to bank $10,000 due to her wasting time ranting as obviously four of her opponents voted for Sydney as "The Weakest Link" while Sydney never revealed who she voted for. Additionally, two male security guards had to escort her out of the studio.
NOTES:
Unlike the NBC Primetime version their were 5 contestant podiums instead of 8.
On Dr. James Hansen's podium his name says "Jim".
Host Anne Robinson appeared in an episode of Celebrity Deathmatch called "The Mysterious 'T'" (originally April 11, 2002) dispatching against former host of The Price is Right Bob Barker. Robinson is voiced by Gigi Marceau-Clarke while Barker is voiced by Hamlet Sturman.
The show's former host Anne Robinson is sometimes spoofed on episodes of Whammy!: The All-New Press Your Luck (shortened to Whammy! in 2003) where the Whammy stands on a purple podium with spotlights along with a Weakest Link-like cue in the background asking in an Anne Robinson-like voice to the contestant: "Who's one spin short of being the winner? Bye-Bye!"
The show was referenced in an episode of The Brak Show called "Brakstreet: Men in the Band" (originally November 3, 2002) PrimeCut (voiced by CeeLo Green) claims in his rap that "It's time to say goodbye cuz you're clearly the weakest link".
In the series finale of the short-lived sitcom Watching Ellie entitled "Feud" (originally May 20, 2003); after Ellie Riggs (Julia-Louis Dreyfus) and her family failed to go to Hawaii after competing on Family Feud (Karn) Ellie winds up being a contestant on The Weakest Link at the end of the episode.
NOTE: George Gray makes a brief appearance in the episode. There was also a brief reference to Hollywood Squares as well.
On a 2008 episode of the VH1 mini-series I Love the New Millennium, The Weakest Link was briefly mention as a topic in a "2001 Episode".
On How I Met Your Mother, in the episode "Glitter" from 2010, Barney Stinson (played by Neil Patrick Harris) says the catchphrase "You are the Weakest Link. Goodbye!"
The classic horror show Svengoolie did a parody of The Weakest Link entitled, "The Lowest Price!". This parody featured archived vintage clips of Vincent Price playing different acting roles in different movies as the contestants.