SNL's "Mom Jeans" Was Inspired by Tina Fey's Experience at a Store in 30 Rock

In the weeks leading up to February 16's three-hour 50th anniversary celebration on NBC, the team behind Saturday Night Live has selected one sketch from every single season — 50 seasons in 50 days — to reflect the show's rich legacy across five decades. Presenting the sketch chosen to represent Season 28: "Mom Jeans."

Upon its debut on May 10, 2003, SNL's "Mom Jeans" commercial parody was a big hit. Its cultural imprint — and the distinctive silhouette it calls out — remains strong today, as the term is still shorthand for a certain denim cut. 

The sketch that launched 1000 Halloween costumes first aired during Adrien Brody's episode with Musical Guest Sean Paul. Like so many SNL sketches, its concept drew from real life  — namely, Tina Fey's "unfortunate" pants purchase at a store that's still located in 30 Rock today.

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"Mom Jeans" starred the women of SNL's Season 28 cast

Starring Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Rachel Dratch, "Mom Jeans" accomplishes a lot in under a minute. The ad parody's shrewd script gets laughs while making sly commentary on the often-jarring identity shift many women experience when they become mothers (and the self-esteem wallop any woman can experience after trying on an ill-fitting pair of pants).

"So this Mother's Day, don't give Mom that bottle of perfume," Maya Rudolph's voiceover says, as Fey, Poehler, and Dratch dreamily cavort in their giant jeans and manageable-haircut wigs. "Give her something that says, 'I'm not a woman anymore. I'm a mom!" 

The ad's jingle drives the point home with, "When you've given up, given up, put on your Mom Jeans," offering a free/hideous "appliqué Mom Jeans vest" with every purchase.

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It's basically the spiritual ancestor of Kristen Wiig's "Christmas Morning" sketch, in which Mom got a robe.

Tina Fey wrote "Mom Jeans" after a rough visit to the 30 Rock J. Crew

During a chat with Sirius XM's Entertainment Weekly Radio in 2018, Fey revealed the inspiration for "Mom Jeans." 

"That was written on a week of SNL when I had gone down and bought a really unfortunate pair of jeans for myself at the J. Crew in the lobby," Fey recalled. Once Fey was back upstairs in the SNL offices, "it was writing night, so it was like, 'well, we'll try to use that!"

And so Fey's regrettable purchase became SNL fans' joy when she turned it into a celebration of high-waisted "Mom Jeans."

Fey, who has two daughters with husband Jeff Richmond, joked that in the sketch, she's "wearing a prosthetic butt and belly that is now my goal weight."

Savannah Guthrie, Jenna Bush Hager, and Meredith Viera recreated "Mom Jeans" for Halloween 2014

In what was then a tribute to the SNL40 anniversary, Savannah Guthrie, Jenna Bush Hager, and Meredith Viera dressed in full "Mom Jeans" cosplay for TODAY's annual Halloween celebration.

You can watch their amazing shot-for-shot recreation of the sketch at TODAY.