Saturday Night Live is a television institution, and a dream job for countless comedians. The sketch show (which is streaming with a Peacock subscription) has created many stars, including Bowen Yang, who earned 5 Emmy nominations during his tenure on the show. And he recently recalled the way fellow alum Tina Fey supported him in his post SNL career, specifically the Las Culturistas Culture Awards.
For ten years now, Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers have hosted the Las Culturistas Podcast, which is a deep dive on pop culture and their personal lives. In 2022 they introduced a spoof Awards Show called the The Culture Awards, with the last two years being televised on Bravo and Peacock. In a video from The Wall Street Journal, the Wedding Banquet star shared a story about Fey related to the Culture Awards, starting with:
Tina Fey our friend, our advisor. She came to SNL earlier in the fall and she was like, 'Will Forte's wife is going around bragging to everyone that he's a Culture Award winner.' And I was just like, 'Oh my God, that's ridiculous. Doesn't she know that it's not a real award?'
While televised and star-studded, The Culture Awards are ultimately one hilarious gag. Categories include "Best Vibe Hands Down", "The Allison Williams Cool Girl Award" and "Most Beautiful Name for a Daughter You Haven't Even Thought of Yet". So while Bowen Yang left SNL, he's still been busy writing laugh-out-loud bits for us to enjoy.
Later in the clip, Yang revealed how Tina Fey propped him up about The Culture Awards. The faux Awards Show has become legitimate in her eyes, as he revealed:
And she goes, 'No, Bowen. You guys have done what every Award Show does, which is you create a little club, and then you just hand out these statues to whoever you decide it should go to.' And I'm like, 'Oh, she gets the essence of what this is.'
Touché. And since Tina Fey has hosted the Golden Globes so many times, she knows a thing or two about Awards Shows. While The Las Culturistas Culture Awards are indeed a tongue-in-cheek evening, it has become a star-studded even that people end up taking seriously. And in that way it's just like every other Awards Show.
While Yang departed SNL, he's kept super busy and Las Culturistas continues to be a wildly popular podcast. He and co-host Matt Rogers are also going to write a book The Rules of Culture, Volume 1, further cementing the pod's place in the entertainment world. And I'm hoping we're getting a third televised Culture Awards next year.
The Las Culturistas Culture Awards are streaming over on Peacock as part of the 2026 TV schedule. He's also part of the voice cat for the new Cat in the Hat movie, which will hit theaters November 6th.
