The 74th Emmy Awards are being hosted by Kenan Thompson this year, and it did not take the long for the Saturday Night Live star to bring out the corniness. After a brief monologue in which he noted that many of the nominees are from streamers this year — with a pretty on-point joke comparing “Netflix an chill” to “Paramount Plus and eating alone” — Thompson kicked off a techno dance-themed music number remembering some of television’s best moments.
The segment started with a tribute to Friends, perhaps in a bid to relive NBC’s glory days, complete with the signature couch and umbrellas. Unfortunately, the thing took a turn when a barrage of young dancers came out and the ubiquitous theme song was given a techno-fied update, which still somehow managed to feel immediately dated.
But while the dance number may have been as cheesy as all get out (moving onto to tributes to everything from The Brady Bunch to Game of Thrones), viewers watching at home couldn’t help but notice a very subtle dig as Thompson directed a question to the mostly white dancers, asking them “Y’all ever seen Living Single? I think you’ll like it.”
Living Single, which focused on six friends who lived together in a Brooklyn brownstone, ran on Fox for five seasons from 1993 through 1998, and it’s little known fact that Friends was directly influenced by the former series. So as we’re now living in an era that puts the spotlight on cultural appropriation, it was the perfect crack about white folks once again ripping off Black entertainment and culture.
Suffice to say, people on Twitter came out to applaud Thomson for the joke.
One fan even evoked a clip from The Late Late Show With James Corden in which Living Single star Queen Latifah even explained how the hit NBC series had been inspired by her show.
Latifah complimented Friends by remarking that it was an “amazing show” and that if you’re gonna rock it, that’s the way to do it.” Still, we have to imagine she’s probably having a nice, long sip of whatever beverage she’s enjoying this evening.