Tina Fey pays homage to British comedy on ‘Saturday Night Live UK’ opening night
Longtime Saturday Night Live alum Tina Fey honoured British comedy during her opening monologue in the show’s inaugural UK episode last night, as a host of big names appeared in cameo roles.
As she joked about being “the youngest person ever” to host SNL UK, Fey immediately acknowledged the US/UK divide, asking the audience why they would decide to do a UK version of the show in the first place. “Well, like so many large-scale American operations these days, no one really knows why,” she joked.
She was then interrupted by a series of famous guests, including Nicola Coughlan, Michael Cera and Graham Norton, the latter of whom poked fun at Fey’s “deep love of British comedy”, to which she asked, “Are you interviewing me now?”
Fey then said that she grew up thinking that “watching anything British was educational”, claiming to have enjoyed the work of iconic comedian Benny Hill before honouring a series of popular British comedy shows, including Keeping Up Appearances, Fawlty Towers, Are You Being Served?, Monty Python, and EastEnders.
A running joke throughout the entire segment, Caughlan also called attention to Fey’s involvement, asking her why it made sense for an American host to launch the first episode rather than “a British icon”, like “David Beckham, Judy Dench, or Shrek”.
“The way it was explained to me was that for this first episode, anyway, how do I put this politely, none of you fuckers would do it,” she said. “Does that make sense?”
Fey first joined as a writer on the original SNL in 1997 before joining full-time as the show’s first-ever female lead writer. Fey eventually left in 2005 to work on 30 Rock, but still appears from time to time, remaining an integral member credited with being a fundamental contributor to its longstanding success.
While it remains unclear whether SNL UK will follow in the same footsteps, Fey’s involvement no doubt establishes a strong foundation, capturing its potential to achieve the same level of cultural resonance as the show in America.
The UK version was recently extended to eight episodes, with host Jamie Dornan set to take centre stage next week, followed by Riz Ahmed on April 4th. Following Wet Leg’s stint as the inaugural musical guest, Wolf Alice and Kasabian will also perform in upcoming episodes.
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