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SNL's "Maine Justice" Explained: Jason Sudeikis on Those Louisiana Accents
Seth Meyers told Sudeikis he had misgivings about the Louisiana accents in "Maine Justice," but now admits, "I was wrong."
Long before his Ted Lasso days, Jason Sudeikis was a Saturday Night Live cast member for nine seasons — and a staff writer for two years before that. Sudeikis had so many memorable moments on the show, you'd be forgiven if his "Maine Justice" sketches don't immediately jump to mind. But if you do recall loving the absurd premise, you may have one lingering question about it: Why was SNL's "Maine Justice" courtroom Louisiana-themed, complete with Cajun accents?
It turns out Seth Meyers had the exact same question when, during his time as a head writer at SNL, Sudeikis pitched the first "Maine Justice" sketch co-starring December 8, 2012 Host Jamie Foxx. Meyers and Sudeikis looked back on the sketch in a 2023 Late Night with Seth Meyers interview — and Meyers admitted of his initial misgivings about the logic, "I was wrong."
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Seth Meyers was confused by SNL's "Maine Justice" accents too
"Maine Justice" was a sketch that aired twice: First during Jamie Foxx's 2012 episode, and again on March 9, 2014 with Host Justin Timberlake offering up his best Creole accent.
In both, the main joke is largely the same, with Sudeikis's judge and most of the courtroom bringing a heavy Louisiana bayou flavor to the proceedings set in Maine. And in each one, a confused defendant (Bobby Moynihan and Andy Samberg, respectively) struggles to make sense of the cultural mismatch. The crowd response to Foxx's sketch was uproarious, and apparently enough to spark a sequel.
"Maine Justice with Jamie Foxx"
"You and Lorne were very picky about wanting context and logic," Sudeikis told Meyers when the talk show host brought up the vintage sketch's inexplicable accents.
"I would like to concede the point now that I was wrong," Meyers said.
"That's very big of you," Sudeikis answered.
"I had a lot of questions about the logic behind 'Maine Justice,' and then you did it for the audience, and I'm like, 'They don't care!'"
"I do feel bad, because after this crushed, during that commercial break, I went out and I yelled at the audience," Meyers joked. "I'm like, 'I tried to stand up for you! And it turns out you didn't care about any of it!'"
Watch Jason Sudeikis's "Maine Justice" sketches above, and stream every season of Saturday Night Live on Peacock anytime.
