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Bowen Yang Explains Reference to 'SNL' Skit in 'Fire Island'

by Kilian Melloy

EDGE Staff Reporter

Monday June 6, 2022

You heard right: A scene in "Fire Island" (streaming now on Hulu) has two characters talking about "Saturday Night Live" recurring skit "Gays in Space." Bowen Yang explained the connection to Entertainment Weekly.

Noting that the film is a modern (and gay) take on "Pride and Prejudice," EW recounted that in an early scene Yang's character, Howie, can be heard explaining the skit to new friend — and instant love interest — Charlie, played by James Scully.

Yang, who is a "Saturday Night Live" cast member and who has brought memorable LGBTQ+-themed comedy bits to the long-running show in recent seasons, disclosed his doubts about the dialogue, which was written by director and star Joel Kim Booster.

"I was kind of, for a second, side-eyeing Joel as we were going into production," Yang told EW. "I was like, 'Is it obnoxious if my character references "SNL?" Does that seem so masturbatory?' But Joel was like, 'No! We have to keep this in.' This is because this is how we talk as friends."

The article explained that the reference was part of the script from its early stages, pre-dating Yang joining the "SNL" cast.

Booster said that the dialogue as it appears in the finished film is "actually cut down" from an earlier draft in which "we talk in depth about 'Gays in Space.'"

The two comedians have been watching the skit for years — ever since Maya Rudolph brought the bit to "SNL."

Yang called Rudolph's material "formative comedy" for himself and other comedians of his generation, and explained that, "for a lot of queer men our age, it was Maya Rudolph in the early aughts."

In a further twist, Booster and Rudolph now both star in the AppleTV+ comedy "Loot," EW noted. Booster told EW that he and Rudolph "bonded over 'Gays in Space'" while working on "Loot."

"It was so funny to go straight from 'Fire Island' to working with Maya," Booster told the entertainment news site, adding that "to be on a show with Maya, for Bowen to be saying that line [in 'Fire Island'] as a cast member on 'SNL' — is so wild."

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.