How ‘SNL’s’ Birthday at Friendly’s Sketch With Lady Gaga Was Inspired by ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’

If the ritualistic scenes during the “Birthday at Friendly’s” sketch on “Saturday Night Live” looked familiar, your eyes didn’t deceive you.

The big skull, red cloaks, chalice and chanting were inspired by Steven Spielberg’s 1984 film “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”

“A lot of that was brought in,” says Emmy-nominated production designer Keith Raywood. He is nominated alongside his colleagues Akira “Leo” Yoshimura and N. Joseph DeTullio.

The idea started with the writers, says DeTullio. “The idea was someone was claiming it was their birthday when it wasn’t, and they got into trouble.”

Host and musical guest Lady Gaga played one of the sketch’s many creepy wait staff. Appearing alongside her were Heidi Gardner, Mikey Day, Bowen Yang, Andrew Dismukes, Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim and Sarah Sherman. In the sketch, things get dark when the staff learn that a patron has been lying about their birthday.

The set required more than usual. “They aren’t as detailed or as involved,” says DeTullio. They needed specialty props, including a cage and skull. It also needed the other departments, such as hair, makeup and costume to work closely together.

“A propmaker was required for the turntable wheel. It was a riff on ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.’ The way we get the show done is we have to split up responsibilities,” Raywood says. “Joe’s building in the shop, Lee is taking care of what’s going on in the studio, and I’ve got prop guys making things. We divide and conquer.”

DeTullio adds that Raywood had the red leather booths made for the sketch. The art department also made signage and had photographs made for the wall art. “We did research and looked at what Friendly’s would look like.” He adds that with everyone working on their own sections, there’s a danger in the last minute. “Sometimes it’s not even shared between departments until we see it Saturday, and we say, ‘This is wrong. Maybe we should change the color or the fabric.’ But, it is very organic.”

The team had slightly more time for the sets of the “Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special,” for which they are also nominated. Conversations for the special started back in June 2024 for what the show would look like.

Yoshimura says the musical ode to New York City was Colin Jost’s idea. “It’s fairly broad,” Yoshimura laughs. “We tried to talk to him about the various scenes, and how we would accommodate those scenes?”

One idea Jost had was for a high-end restaurant like Delmonico’s. The other was a scene from “The Little Shop of Horrors.” And lastly, was to recreate Times Square in the 1970s.

DeTullio explains, “This would move through certain areas of New York. It started in Times Square, and there were other scenes in between, and some happened in the audience on home base.”

The challenge was that the studio was filled with 200 extra seats for the special. “Moving scenery around is very challenging for those specials. Leo was the one who came up with the classic rotating pieces, so they had three sides to them, and it just allowed us to change that set very quickly and still in a theatrical way.”

A video wall helped the team go from scene to scene. “Those early Times Square moments were captured on the video wall,” reveals Yosihmura.

He adds, “The one thing I loved about the end, was that in the chaos of all of this, it all ended up on home base, our signature look, and has been our signature look for many years. To have 50 or so actors in different costumes standing there celebrating New York is something very special and very appropriate for ‘SNL 50.’”