SNL brought Sex and the City to The Handmaid’s Tale, and praise be

By Jessicabooth

May 13, 2018

By Jessicabooth

May 13, 2018

Picture of SNL Handmaid's Tale Sex and the City

Sex and the City and The Handmaid’s Tale are two shows that you probably wouldn’t normally think of together. After all, they couldn’t be more different: Sex and the City is an entertaining look at the romantic lives of four fabulous women in New York City. And The Handmaid’s Tale is a somber story about a dystopian world in the not-too-distant future where fertile women are forced to provide children for powerful men. But during the May 12th episode of SNL, the show did the impossible. They mashed up Sex and the City with The Handmaid’s Tale. And it was painfully funny.

Host Amy Schumer helped bring the sketch to life. It was darkly hilarious and a not-so-subtle nod at today’s politics. The sketch, simple titled “New Hulu Show,” imagines a TV show called Handmaids in the City “from the executive producer of Sex and the City and author Margaret Atwood.” It mashes together the classic Sex and the City conversations with the reality of life in The Handmaid’s Tale, and it works a little too well.

The sketch starts off with Amy Schumer dressed in handmaid clothing, having a classic Carrie Bradshaw inner monologue moment.

Then, the ladies of SNL join her. They sit around and talk about their life in Gilead, the fictional future nation in The Handmaid’s Tale. The women talk about the depressing things they have to do in the spirit of the SATC ladies — a gossipy tone, a bunch of corny jokes, and lots of laughter. They add in The Handmaid’s Tale lingo, like “praise be,” and even reference scary moments from the fictional show.

The Handmaids in the City voiceover explains it perfectly. “It’s a show critics are calling ‘so brutal’ and ‘more uplifting than the news.’ You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll say, ‘Oh my god, this so could be me and my friends with the way things are going.’”