Saturday Night Live Veteran Tina Fey reflected on her years at the NBC sketch institution and acknowledged that some of her jokes were “on the wrong side.”
Speaking at the History Talks event in Philadelphia, Fey said that over time she realized that not every punchline was fair.
The two-time Globe Globe winner added frankly, “I was pretty stupid.”
Fey came along SNL in 1997 and later became head writer.
She recalled how she navigated some of the show’s most difficult broadcasts, from the first post-9/11 episode to the anthrax scare and even President George W. Bush’s visit to meet Will Ferrell.
Over time, she said, the line between comedy and current events became thinner, with politicians and public figures often reacting directly to the sketches.
One of her most memorable stretches came in 2008 when she teamed up with Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler to create the now iconic Sarah Palin sketches.
Fey explained that the team worked hard to ensure their material was “a reasonable hit”, based on truth rather than random exaggeration.
“If it’s not true, it won’t be fun,” she noted.
Reflect on the influence of SNLFey said it was both exciting and terrifying to know that what she wrote could be taken seriously by those in power.
She emphasized that the show never aimed to control politics or the national narrative, but admitted that some of her own jokes don’t age well.
Fey appeared alongside Nicole Kidman, Ted Danson, Kate McKinnon, Colin Jost and others at the event, which marked the nation’s 250th anniversary.
