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Did Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's 'Second Wife' skit go too far?

Just when we thought that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler could do no wrong, they went and made the ‘Second Wife’ skit for Saturday Night Live.

The skit features a pretend game show, in which middle-aged men meet their future second wives – who are aged twelve, five, and a baby foetus – as the current wives look on horrified in the audience.

Mmm. Yes. Our thoughts exactly.

One of the men protests that he would never leave his wife, because she stuck by him and supported him as he wrote his first book.

You can watch the ‘Second Wife’ skit below. (Post continues after video)

Fey then asks, “But what if I told you that in a few years one of your novels becomes a surprise bestseller and is even optioned for a movie?”

“Oh yeah, then yeah, no, I get it now,” he replies.

The husbands continue to look super freaked out as the child ‘wives’ are quizzed by hosts Tina and Amy.

Fey and Poehler, the second wife, and the husbands. Ick.

The second wives are increasingly young – finishing with an image of a foetus.

The live audience gasps and laughs awkwardly as each wife is revealed – essentially, the crowd version of: Did they just go there?

The message is clear – second wives tend to be younger (a lot younger) – but the execution of the gag has left a lot of people uncomfortable. The girls were young and the juxtaposition with the older men was creepy.

It’s definitely a dark skit. Watching the men’s faces as they go from shocked to acceptance is deeply disturbing.

Yes, we know that most (read: all) SNL skits push the envelope when it comes to humour, but this one may have gone a little too far.

What do you think?

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