Saturday Night Live gave a nod to the Bronx over the weekend during its 50th Anniversary episode with two iconic characters from the Boogie Down.
The iconic sketch comedy show brought back the long-running, faux talk-show sketch, “Bronx Beat,” in which Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph play the fast-talking, gum-smacking Bronx babes Betty Caruso (Poehler) and Jodi Deitz (Rudolph).
The long-running sketch simulated Betty and Jodi’s talk show and featured the two housewives chatting, ranting and flirting with celebrity guests like Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal, Zach Braff and Andy Samberg – all of whom play their own colorful characters for the sketch.
For the show’s star studded 50th anniversary episode, the girls interviewed Miles Teller, playing himself, who they pulled from the audience. They teased Teller over his role in “Top Gun Maverick” which they incorrectly called “Top Gun 2” and about “Miles’s smiles for miles.”
The sketch went viral after an episode in 2007 when Poehler and Rudolph ranted back and forth about their love for the approaching fall, or “sweater weather.” The phrase, delivered in Poehler and Rudolph’s impression of a Bronx accent, cemented the success of the sketch.
That success is due in part to Bronx native Jodi Mancuso, whom Rudolph credited in a 2020 interview with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live as the inspiration for the sketch. Mancuso, who grew up in the Bronx, is the lead hair designer for SNL and has been with the show for over 20 years.
In the interview with Cohen, Rudolph said that she, Poehler and one of the show’s writers were inspired by Mancuso and came up with the idea while they were doing impressions of her Bronx accent.
Mancuso has had a successful career in her own right, earning 12 primetime Emmy Nominations and eight wins. Mancuso celebrated the night on social media with an appreciation post.
“This Bronx Kid is living her dream of being part of a NYC iconic legend for 23 years and going,” Mancuso said in an Instagram post.
