Bowen Yang really wants to be able to say “s–t” and “f—” on Saturday Night Live.
“We are so hampered in our comedy at SNL by not being able to say s–t and f—,” Yang said on the latest episode of his Las Culturistas podcast featuring former cast member Amy Poehler. “Let us say s–t and f—. Like, it’s us, it’s Abbott, it’s Ghosts,” he said of other network shows that have to follow traditional “standards and practices.”
“We should be able to say at least five s—’s and five f—’s on SNL per season,” he added.
To support his argument, Yang pointed out that one of the show’s most talked about moments this season came when the SNL audience dropped an s-bomb during Ego Nwodim’s appearance as “Ms. Eggy” on “Weekend Update” earlier this month.
“Cory Booker out here with his filibuster—shoot, I’ve had my fill of busters,” Nwodim joked in character, before asking the crowd, “These men ain’t what?” When some crowd members responded, “s–t” in response, the moment quickly went viral. The answer she had in mind was “worth a damn.”
“First of all, favorite moment in televised history ever,” Yang said of the moment Wednesday, as he opined that FCC rules about on-air profanity mean that kind of great comedic moment is harder to come by. “Can you give SNL an exception, an exemption?” he went on. “If we’re dismantling the FCC because of Trump, can we at least—can one boon, can one silver lining be that we get to say s–t and f—?”
While he doesn’t believe the show needs to be riddled with profanities, Yang suggested a pre-set “allotment” for how many curse words can fly each season. “It would bring a sketch to the next level,” he said. “It would make it so that you would be able to know, ‘Oh, this is the real world, not this heightened sketch reality.’”
As for the aftermath of the Ms. Eggy moment, Yang said the show didn’t face any consequences, despite Nwodim joking the crowd would have to pay a fine for cursing during the live show. “I don’t think anything came down, which I love,” he said. “And Ego was like, ‘No, I didn’t hear anything.’” Still, he said, the show could use that same leniency for its cast members.
“S–t and f— are such comedically powerful words, I really think it would help us,” he concluded.
