Things We Saw Today: Emma Thompson, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler Interpret MomSpeak on SNL

The Mother’s Day episode of Saturday Night Live is usually one of its best, where the host is usually joined by special guests, and the moms of SNL cast members often pop in for a cameo. Last night’s episode was no exception, where host Emma Thompson was joined during her monologue by SNL legends and moms Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

The trio offered a language lesson in decoding momspeak, explaining the meaning behind classic mom quotes and phrases. When your mom says that all she wants for Mother’s Day is “to relax in the backyard and maybe get a massage”, she’s really saying “how does one buy weed?”. Other translations include “you look tired” meaning “you look bad”, and “let’s not talk about politics” becomes “please don’t ruin Joe Biden for me, he’s what I picture.”

The three moms effortlessly cycled back and forth between quotes, delivering gems like “son, I love you just the way you are” meaning “I’m bored of waiting for you to tell me you’re gay, just do it so I can buy rainbow stuff!” The trio are delightful together, and there’s nothing better than Thompson describing “book club” as “getting turnt at Linda’s.” We also get Fey and Poehler rolling out their respective Philly and Boston accents.

Honestly, if the entire show was just Thompson, Fey, and Poehler riffing I would have been happy. Other Mother’s Day shoutouts included Pete Davidson bringing his mom onto Weekend Update, and later introducing her to Jon Hamm during the closing credits. Thompson’s monologue is sure to become an SNL Mother’s Day classic.

Happy Mother’s Day to you all, and in the meantime enjoy one the all-time great Mother’s Day sketches:

(image: NBC)

• RIP Peggy Lipton, star of The Mod Squad and Twin Peaks (and mom of Rashida Jones), who passed away at 72. (via LA Times)
• Avengers: Endgame continues to be unstoppable at the box office, surpassing Black Panther as the highest grossing domestic MCU movie. (via CBR)
• Check out this artwork by Jackson Sze for Microverse City, an unseen world within the Quantum Realm. (via Instagram)
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• The Harvard professors who are representing Harvey Weinstein in court will not be invited back to the university, after students protested. Good. (via The Hill)
• RIP Pua Magasiva, the Red Ranger on Power Rangers Ninja Storm, who passed away at 38. (via io9)
• Weird Al reminds us to celebrate another badass lady today (via Twitter)
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Happy Mothra’s Day! pic.twitter.com/Ja6n3MzXfl

— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) May 12, 2019

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Chelsea Steiner

Chelsea was born and raised in New Orleans, which explains her affinity for cheesy grits and Britney Spears. An pop culture journalist since 2012, her work has appeared on Autostraddle, AfterEllen, and more. Her beats include queer popular culture, film, television, republican clownery, and the unwavering belief that 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' is the greatest movie ever made. She currently resides in sunny Los Angeles, with her husband, 2 sons, and one poorly behaved rescue dog. She is a former roller derby girl and a black belt in Judo, so she is not to be trifled with. She loves the word “Jewess” and wishes more people used it to describe her.

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