What SNL‘s Michael Che Means When He Says ‘It’s the ’90s’

When Michael Che joked during Saturday Night Live‘s Weekend Update that National No Bra Day was “a huge flop,” the audience laughed uneasily. As co-anchor Colin Jost protested, Che cheerfully replied, “The ’90s are back, Colin!”

Che has made some version of “It’s the ’90s” or, more specifically, “It’s the ’90s, Colin” his go-to response whenever the audience gives that awkward, “we’re not on board” reaction to an edgy joke. It’s both an excuse when a punchline bombs, and a playful challenge to Jost and the audience.

While the live crowd has rolled with the expression, the online discourse has been more mixed, with many viewers questioning just what the deal is with “It’s the ’90s.” So what is the comedic idea behind the not-quite-a-catchphrase?

It goes back to the 1990s notion that we’re in a hip, modern world, signaling progress while arguing that you shouldn’t be so scandalized. It’s what kids on the decade’s TV shows would tell their parents, a phrase deployed to celebrate gender equality, LGBTQ+ acceptance, and racial inclusion.

But Che has twisted it from its original optimistic usage. He delivers the expression with that same free-spirited sense that you need to lighten up, but in defense of punchlines that go after the modern, more progressive audience’s own beliefs. He uses it to critique modern sensitivities while pushing boundaries.

The tag was recently used by the former-SNL co-head writer while talking about fruit flies, with the punchline relying on the now-considered offensive use of the word “fruit” to mean “gay.” As Jost shook his head and the crowd delivered a mixed response, Che replied, “OK, you know what? It’s the ’90s, Colin.”

The phrase has an added regressive edge today, coming nearly 25 years since the decade ended. It’s both an excuse for the joke being something that would have been acceptable back in the ’90s, while also pointing to our culture taking a turn back in time.

In the 1990s, the idea that liberals were pushing being “politically correct” became a common trope, and one that prominent in the comedy community at the time.

It’s an idea that’s been repackaged in the pushback against “wokeness.” Che’s comedy style embraces a portion of that, delivering irony-laced takes on women listening to men and other outdated thoughts.

Che hammering the “It’s the ’90s” motto week after week follows a pandemic-era peak in political activism, and its inevitable backlash.

The phrase also harkens back to the edgiest Weekend Update anchor in the show’s history, Norm Macdonald, as several fans have pointed out online. Macdonald delighted in an audience cringing at O.J. Simpson jokes and non-sequitur punchlines.

As LateNighter’s own Bill Carter recently highlighted, both Jost and Che have embraced the “whoooh” joke. The jokes that generate a gasp signaling, “Yeah, it’s funny, but how could you?”

But the sensibility Jost and Che have brought back no longer comes with Macdonald’s absurdist edge. Instead, it’s been replaced by a razor aimed at the new audience’s own sources of discomfort.

To better understand how much the phrase “It’s the ’90s” has changed, we recommend this 2011 supercut from video artists Everything Is Terrible, which features a series of”It’s the ’90s” references from actual 1990s pop culture:

The phrase has fully turned inside out on itself since, ending up at Che’s version after passing through the era of Carrie Fisher’s aging hippie on 30 Rock dropping “It’s the ’90s” to justify drinking more wine back in 2007.

30 Rock creator (and SNL alum) Tina Fey would deploy that joke yet again on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt with Titus Burgess telling Ellie Kemper’s Kimmy, “Everybody’s gay, Kimmy. It’s the ’90s.”

Che uses the phrase to shield himself when a joke falls flat, while also going on the offensive. It’s an ironic nostalgia from Che in the face of criticism from fans.

We’re waiting with bated breath to see which punchline Che drops “It’s the ’90s” in defense of. The ’90s may be long over, but as X/Twitter shifts hard right and an old president re-takes the office, that decade’s culture war is making a roaring comeback.