For weeks on end, The Try Guys have monopolized headlines across the internet…for some reason. Wondering why the extramarital affair of a guy you probably only heard about when this business started has all the hoopla of a major political scandal? You’re not alone, and the Saturday Night Live writers are apparently just as dumbfounded as the rest of us. This weekend, they lampooned the YouTube celebrities’ attempt at an apology to hilarious effect.
If you’ve missed it, The Try Guys are a YouTube group that has amassed a healthy following of nearly eight million followers by living up to their name. They try everything, including taking a lie detector test, making a pie without a recipe, sampling everything on a Taco Bell menu, and wearing a corset for 72 hours. It’s best not to attempt those last two at the same time.
The group built its fame as a Buzzfeed series in 2014 before gaining independence and becoming a YouTube phenomenon in 2018. Part of the appeal was the closeness of the group’s four members and the qualities Keith Habersberger, Eugene Lee Yang, Zach Kornfeld, and Ned Fulmer brought to the show.
Fulmer was known as the “wife guy” as his spouse of 10 years, Ariel Fulmer, was regularly mentioned in videos on Try Guys media and co-authored a cookbook with her husband. It made for a scandal when Fulmer was caught cheating with associate producer Alex Herring. The story went viral when a video of Fulmer kissing his co-worker was posted online. It was soon deleted, but not before articles, Reddit threads, and TikToks led to Ned and Ariel releasing statements.
It’s had added zing in the wake of revelations about Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine—shining a light on men who often talk publicly about their love for their wives before multiple public cheating incidents go viral. The whole concept of a “wife guy” has been begging for some scrutiny.
The Try Guys go off-brand
The rest of the Try Guys said they found out about Fulmer’s affair on Labor Day weekend. The following fevered month saw them preparing for the news to break publicly along with Fulmer leaving the group. Suffice to say, their reaction to the situation was not what many expected.
The remaining Guys appeared like never before in a video that went into incredible detail about the scandal and the future of the Try Guys. It’s been called somber and intense, with Habersberger, Yang, and Kornfeld going through their difficult month, how they learned about it, HR reviews, and legal involvement. As Habersberger solemnly explains, “We can’t talk about the details of the review, but suffice to say that Ned had engaged in conduct unbecoming of our team.” The group also explained they are going as far as to have Fulmer digitally removed from videos and merchandise.
It was a long way away from the group trying on nail polish, but naturally, Saturday Night Live tried it on for size.
“There’s a lot of anger on this couch.”
In the five-minute sketch, which parodies the video, Bowen Yang, Mikey Day, and Andrew Dismukes play the remaining members with pitch-perfect lampooning. It starts with a CNN reporter, Played by Ego Nwodim, questioning why a report on U.S. support for Ukraine is bumped for the breaking news that The Try Guys have responded to the Fulmer’s actions, or as they dub him, “white-guy, wife-guy Try Guy Ned.” The trio is interviewed in a brilliantly earnest and respectful style by guest host Brendan Gleeson, who’s standing outside the White House.
Nwodim tries to steer the conversation back onto newsworthy stories like the uprising in Iran, only for the Try Guys to talk about “the battle of our lives.” A great spin is Gleeson’s reporter pointing out the seriousness of a Try Guy having an affair with a Food Baby—a spinoff show under the brand which Herring helped front.
The skit ends with each Try Guy stressing the tragedy (“This is the face of grief.”) against a bed of patriotic music, with the SNL stars struggling to keep straight faces. Gleeson signs off, telling the remaining group members, “Know that the country is with you.” It’s an excellent stitch-up of a video that surprised everyone with its particularly off-brand seriousness.
Naturally, the skit went down well with viewers, particularly on Reddit, that played such a role in breaking the scandal in the first place, with this kind of spoofing seeming inevitable.
Some Reddit users with great memories remembered previous links between The Try Guys and SNL.
Perhaps there’s a great reason the show could go so hard on one of the absurdly big social stories of the past couple of weeks.