Bill Hader Reveals the Story Behind ‘The Californians’

Bill Hader was on Late Night with Seth Meyers, and he revealed how a writer’s room bit that he and fellow Saturday Night Live castmate Fred Armisen started was the genesis of the popular-yet-polarizing sketch, “The Californians.”

Hader explained how the earliest version of “The Californians” began as a way for he, Armisen, Kenan Thompson, and Andy Samberg to waste time while waiting for SNL producer Lorne Michaels, who was often ten to twenty minutes late to table reads. When you’ve got 40 years of producing SNL under your belt, people can wait on you. Without Michaels, we may have never known the names Charles Rocket, Victoria Jackson, or Jimmy Fallon… At the same time, had Michaels been prompt, we may have never heard Kristen Wiig’s uniquely hilarious pronunciation of “Marina Del Rey.”

Late Night With Seth Meyers airs weeknights at 12:35 a.m. on NBC.

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What was your favorite “Californians” sketch? And would you take the 10 to Pico to the PCH? Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Khail Anonymous, on Twitter.