Heidi Gardner had a parting gift for SNL—well, actually, it was just for Mikey Day.
Day, now in her tenth season of Saturday Night Live (as a performer; she started as a writer three years earlier) and her fourth or fifth season (depending on how you count) of Is It Cake? on Netflix, doesn't have time to decorate her office at 30 Rock. Or maybe she just doesn't care. Last season, Gardner, her SNL co-star of eight seasons, decided to do something about it.
Stars: Sonny Robinson, Vanessa Barcelo, Paul Bosley
Gardner wasn't so much concerned about Day's taste as she was about embarrassing him. So she hung Christmas lights, random Tiger Beat-style posters of '90s stars, and a strategically placed worn Kansas City Chiefs cap.
“Every time I opened my door and people walked by, I had to explain, ‘Oh, how ironic! How ironic!’ Especially last season, because there were so many celebrities here constantly (for the 50th anniversary),” Day told The Hollywood Reporter. “You had Tom Hanks walking by, and I was like, ‘Let me explain that Tori Spelling poster…’”
SNL’s 51st season premiered last weekend with Bad Bunny as host; four days later, Netflix released its (full) four-part Halloween special, Is It Cake?, featuring guest judges Kevin Nealon, Pete Holmes, Ron Funches, and Whitney Cummings, among others. Is It Cake? has a rather absurd premise: contestants try to guess whether something is, in fact, a cake, but what follows is no joke. All three official seasons of the show have been on Netflix’s top 10 list for at least a few weeks.
David S. Pumpkins, the inexplicable Halloween character co-created by Day (along with Bobby Moynihan and SNL writer Streeter Seidell) and played by Hanks on Saturday Night Live, doesn't appear in a crossover for Netflix's themed baking competition. If he had, Pumpkins would surely have resorted to his catchphrase, "Any questions?" Don't worry, because he had tons.
Day, who's currently pitching sketches to Saturday Night Live alum (and this weekend's host) Amy Poehler, took a break from his, well, day job to chat with THR about both gigs, as well as the cold open that turned out to be the highlight of Emmy night.
I think it was the latter. I thought it was a fun premise, but I had no idea how the kids, especially, would react. I thought there would be a fun family dynamic, like the show has in terms of the outcome, because you're guessing the ending, and that's just plain fun. Even if you don't care about cake or anything, if you see six objects and think, "One of them is made of cake," I feel like your reptilian mind is thinking, "Let me spot the imposter."
But I was pleasantly surprised when, after the first season premiered and the huge response from kids, they started having "Is it cake?"-themed birthday parties. I don't know how much fun I'd have having kids play guessing. I also had no idea how engrossed they'd be in the baking part, where they build the cakes. So it was really cool. I guess it's almost like a magic trick: they watch the bakers build an illusion. It's been hilarious to see how many people have said, "Hey, I see you on SNL. You're great, but my kids are going to freak out when I tell them I met you."
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