“What Up With That” is, by now, a Saturday Night Live classic. The sketch is pitched as a BET talk show with an enigmatic host, played by Kenan Thompson, who simply cannot get through an interview without reverting to the show’s theme song.
Part of the subtle joy of the show, however, is the accompanying hype men that come with those musical interludes. And so perhaps it was no surprise that the return of Jason Sudeikis to Studio 8H would come with a reprisal of that sketch on Saturday. The latest “What Up With That” featured Sudeikis dancing, while Fred Armisen returned to “play” saxophone in the background as well.
The guests for the show included Dune star Oscar Issac, Emily Ratajkowski, and even Cousin Greg from Succession: Nicholas Braun. He got the coveted role as the butt of the sketch’s infamous Lindsey Buckingham joke, which still hits all these years later. The whole thing works, somehow, mostly because of Thompson selling the concept so hard. And everyone involved is a good sport here, including a pirate-costumed Issac who never quite gets to make his promotional appearance count for much.
The sketch also got some high praise from another Ted Lasso star.
I would happily watch a 90 minute movie spin off of What’s Up With That. https://t.co/YFAUAaquUR
— Brett Goldstein (@brettgoldstein) October 24, 2021
You can watch the longest sketch of Saturday’s episode above.
