Tina Fey Agrees with “SNL” Fan TikToks Claiming Her Era Was the Show's Best: ‘You Know What? Actually, Yes.'
Tina Fey Agrees with “SNL” Fan TikToks Claiming Her Era Was the Show's Best: ‘You Know What? Actually, Yes.'
Victoria Edel, Meredith WilshereTue, April 21, 2026 at 2:09 PM UTC
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The cast of 'Saturday Night Live.' From left: Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Darrell Hammond, Will Forte, Chris Parnell, Fred Armisen, Jimmy Fallon, Finesse Mitchell, Horatio Sanz and Kenan ThompsonCredit: Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty -
Tina Fey reflected on her Saturday Night Live cast, which included Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch and more
Fey said even at the time, she knew the cast was doing something magical
Fey was with the series from 1997 to 2006
Tina Fey is pretty sure her Saturday Night Live cast was the best.
Fey, 55, spoke about her long career at HISTORYTalks, held at Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 18, in a conversation with Damian Holbrook, senior writer for TV Guide.
Holbrook mentioned how many incredible people worked on Saturday Night Live during Fey's tenure, from 1997 to 2006. “You were working with Amy Poehler, Will Forte, Rachel Draft, Seth Meyers, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, Horatio Sanz, Keenan Thompson, who's still there,” he said. He also noted that Fey became SNL's first female head writer. “Were you aware at the time that you were working with greatness?” he asked.
Tina Fey (left) and Jimmy Fallon on 'Saturday Night Live'Credit: Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
“I knew that people like Amy and Maya and Keenan, there are people that I had worshiped them even though we're all the same age, for sure,” Fey said. “I feel like I knew that they were some of the greatest to ever do it.”
She continued, “But it is nice now, enough time has passed that I see a lot of nostalgic TikToks and stuff like, ‘Ah, SNL in the 90s.' And I'm like, ‘You know what? Actually, yes.' ” Holbrook called it a “golden era.”
Fey began writing for SNL in 1997. At first, she didn't appear on camera, but in 1998, she was an extra in a sketch. In 1999, she was made head writer and in 2000, she and Jimmy Fallon began hosting Weekend Update together. When Fallon left in 2004, Poehler took his spot behind the Update desk. Two years after Fey left the series, she returned to portray Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Other cast members Fey overlapped with during her time included Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer, Tim Meadows, Molly Shannon, Tracy Morgan, Chris Parnell, Jason Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg and Bill Hader. Fey cast Meadows and Poehler in her 2004 movie Mean Girls, and reunited with Morgan, Parnell, Dratch and Sudeikis on her series 30 Rock, which aired from 2006 to 2013.
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Maya Rudolph (left) and Tina Fey on 'Saturday Night Live'Credit: Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Though Fey had high praise for her own cast, she also complimented another cast. Holbrook asked when Fey knew she wanted to do comedy, and she said it was because she watched SNL.
“Your cast is whoever was on the show when you were about 13 or 14,” she said. “And so for me, that was Jan Hooks and Dana Carvey and those guys.” She said it soon became her “dream.”
Back in 2024, Fey told Sunday TODAY about how she and Poehler, 54, still watch SNL together.
“If it's a Saturday, we go to our room, and we watch SNL from the hotel room,” she said; she and Poehler were on the road for their "Tina Fey & Amy Poehler: Restless Leg Tour" at the time.
“We love watching it together. If we're not together, we'll live text during it,” she said. “It's like someone who played sports, like, ‘Oh, I see. You know what? I bet this moved up from dress [rehearsal].'”
“The head writer in me is always like, ‘Huh. Interesting. Maybe the game could've been clearer,' ” she said, but added that they “root for everybody” to have a good show.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
