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Maya Rudolph Explains the Origin of "Sweater Weather" from SNL's Bronx Beat
"I didn't expect that one to be what it became," revealed the SNL alum in an interview on Watch What Happens Live.
Do you feel that? It's a slight chill in the air, ever so brief, signaling the end of summer — making way for a glorious time of year: Fall, and the return of "Sweater Weather."
While SNL's "Bronx Beat" didn't actually coin the term, Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler's unique pronunciation has become an annual meme from a 2007 installment of the recurring talk show sketch featuring Host Brian Williams.
"Finally, sweater weather," Poehler's Betty Caruso tells Rudolph's Jodi Dietz, which launches the two into a volley of "sweata weatha"s that made the sketch an instant classic. That sketch's enduring appeal was a surprise to Rudolph, she told Andy Cohen during an October 2020 Watch What Happens Live interview alongside former longtime SNL writer Emily Spivey.
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"Bronx Beat" was inspired by SNL hair stylist Jodi Mancuso
According to Rudolph, "Bronx Beat" was born from Rudolph, Spivey, and Poehler sitting around their SNL offices, goofing around, and impersonating their friend Jodi Mancuso, who ran the hair department at the long-running series.
"It was the loosest we ever were, and it came out of years of being of that show, years of being friends, years of loving each other and finishing each other's sentences," Rudolph explained to Andy Cohen. Hence the electric "sweata weatha" back-and-forth.
"So I didn't expect that one to be what it became," she continued. "I didn't expect to literally get handed the other day a hand sanitizer called Sweater Weather, or people to get tattoos of Sweater Weather."
All of this "Bronx Beat" talk reminds us that it's time to light our "Sweater Weather" candle.
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The episode was also noteworthy for a couple more reasons: One, it was Rudolph's final show as a regular SNL cast member, concluding a run on the show from 2000-2007. Two, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama put in an appearance as himself in the cold open.
Emily Spivey continued a fruitful collaborative relationship with Poehler and Rudolph: She wrote and co-starred with them in the 2019 movie Wine Country. In August 2024, Poehler shared a throwback video on TikTok of the three singing during a hangout with Tina Fey, Ana Gasteyer, and Rachel Dratch.
Watch "Bronx Beat" from Season 33, Episode 4 of Saturday Night Live above, and stream every season on Peacock anytime.
