SNL parodies Charles Barkley; Barkley says SNL doesn't have enough black actors

In the comedy sketch, Barkley laughs it up with a pop-up character named Mark who appears repeatedly on the bottom of the screen. "Mark's back. And he's got a baby and a dustbuster," says the fake Barkley. "Hey Mark, you can't dustbust a baby."

The use of Mark apparently references TNT's persistent promotion of Tyler Perry's "Meet The Browns" and "House of Payne" shows that appear on the network. TNT has been using the "lower-thirds" of the screen to promote its shows during the popular NBA finals broadcasts.

The NBC comedy skit featured Bill Hader as host Ernie Johnson and Kenan Thompson as Barkley, but the skit left out fellow studio analysts Chris Webber and Kenny Smith. Asked what he thought about the skit on the air on Sunday, Barkley said he enjoyed it but questioned why they chose to omit Webber and Smith. Barkley's answer: SNL doesn't have enough black actors on the show. "They don't have enough black people," Barkley said repeatedly.

In fact, the most famous regular African American character on the show, Barack Obama, is played by a white actor, Fred Armisen. SNL has no other black cast members listed on its Web site but Thompson.

As one critic wrote on the Basketball Fiend blog: "My other beef is that the SNL staff decided to cut Kenny the Jet and C-Webb from the sketch. Just because the cast isn't diverse enough to support three black characters in the same sketch, doesn't mean they have to forget Kenny and Chris altogether. Those guys are vital to the Inside the NBA crew. I demand more Chris and Kenny! Figure it out, SNL."