Days ahead of the 50th anniversary special of “Saturday Night Live,” and it’s really starting to feel like the “Avengers” for comedy nerds. While on “The Tonight Show,” Tina Fey told Jimmy Fallon about the “amazing” pep talk Bill Murray gave her while she was preparing for the event. Also, Amy Poehler was there, in case you want another cast member name drop.
Fey revealed she returned to “Saturday Night Live” to be a staff writer on the 50th anniversary special alongside Seth Meyers, Paula Pell, Emily Spivey and John Mulaney.
“Going back to being on the writing staff, I immediately regressed,” Fey said on Wednesday night. “I was eating garbage. I was really grouchy. But then something amazing happened.”
That amazing event was a certain beloved “Groundhog Day” star also returning to the halls of 30 Rock.
“An angel appeared in the form of Bill Murray. He was in this incredibly wonderful mood. He was just like, ‘Hey guys, what’s going on in here? Maybe open a window. You seem like you’re all about to cry,’” Fey recalled. “Then he just gave us this pep talk. I could have started crying because this is the pep talk I’ve been dreaming of since I was a kid watching ‘Meatballs.’ He was just like, ‘The show’s going to be amazing. I’m so excited. I’m seeing everybody at rehearsal. I feel like we’re all brothers and sisters.’ I kept waiting for it to turn into a bit, and it never did.”
Fallon, Fey and Poehler were all on “SNL” together from 2001-04. Originally, Fey and Fallon were on the Weekend Update desk before Poehler replaced him, marking the show’s first-ever two-woman anchor team.
“I’m kind of like Tina’s second wife because you guys did it first and I came in and I got all the second wife goodness,” Poehler joked.
Fallon also reminisced about the first time he saw Poehler perform. “Amy Poehler came out and I had never seen a performer like you in my entire life. I was blown away,” he said. “There’s no one funnier.”
“I got cast because I was technically a nepo friend,” Poehler said, crediting Fey for pushing for her to be hired. “‘SNL’ feels like college to me. I would never get into it now.” Watch the full NBC interview, above.
