Perhaps more eventful than the release of the Tina Fey/Amy Poehler comedy Sisters is the promotion surrounding it. From a sketch with Broad City girls Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer called Sisters Helping Sisters to the recent re-teaming of the two on Saturday Night Live, it’s been a non-stop blitzkrieg of their signature humor.
And one of the most talked about skits from the December 19th episode was the uncomfortable “inappropriateness” of Meet Your Second Wife!, a game show centered around the premise of three married men in their thirties-ish being introduced to their future second wife–a trio of contestants who are disgustingly much younger than them.
The laughs start out innocently enough when Poehler begins,”I’m Helen Walsh” and Fey adds, “And I’m Tina Fey.” Unbeknownst to the men standing in front of them Helen iterates, “This is the only show where happily married men get a chance to meet the person who will one day become–their second wife.” But the audience grows somewhat more uneasy about tittering during the introduction of the first second wife, a middle school student who really likes horses. When Brian (Horatio Sans) gets a look at Hannah, he avers, “I love my wife, she’s supported me while I’ve been writing my novel.” Tina Fey returns, “What if I told you in a few years one of your novels becomes a surprise bestseller and is even optioned for a movie?” Kevin caves, “Ehrm yeah. No I get it now.”
Yet again, the strength of Poehler and Fey lies in their brutal honesty about exactly how it is when it comes to men and women. The cherry on top (no virgin reference intended) comes when Toby’s (Kenan Thompson) future second wife comes out in the form of a pregnant mom–cut to a sonogram of Toby’s bride-to-be. As grossed out as audiences might have been by this sketch, it is uncannily accurate, if not by marriage two, at least by marriage four.
