How ‘SNL’ Inspired Curtis Sittenfeld’s Book ‘Romantic Comedy’: ‘I’m Not Sure This Novel Would Exist if Pete Davidson Didn’t Exist’

New York Times-bestselling novelist Curtis Sittenfeld broke out with her 2005 debut Prep, which unpacked the layered coming-of-age of a teenager at a private boarding school. Since then, shes spun Pride and Prejudice for the 21st century with 2016s Eligible and reimagined the fictional lives of Laura Bush in American Wife and Hillary Clinton in Rodham. Now, with Romantic Comedy, Sittenfeld crafts a lighthearted romance between a late-night comedy writer and an aging pop star, framed within a smart, funny commentary about the dynamics and perceptions of celebrity relationships.

Romantic Comedy follows Sally Milz, who writes for a fictional Saturday Night Live-esque show called The Night Owls. While not necessarily cynical about love, Milz has had enough experiences under her belt to mitigate her own expectations romantically. When her friend and colleague, Danny Horst (by all accounts an average-looking, if talented, man) gets engaged to a gorgeous actress named Annabel Horst, Milz puts pen to paper to write a sketch called the Danny Horst Rule, riffing on the trend of very normal men pairing off with successful and captivating women all the while emphasizing that the opposite never happens. But when the shows guest host, a pop star named Noah Brewster, begins to show interest in her, Milz finds her life upended and her own assumptions challenged when she starts to live in her own romantic comedy.

In a conversation with Variety, Sittenfeld reveals how a lifelong affinity for Saturday Night Live led her to write the romance novel.

How did you decide on the title for your novel?

While my family was watching a lot of SNL during the pandemic, I thought to myself: Someone should write a screenplay for a romantic comedy about a woman whos a writer at a place like SNL who writes a sketch making fun of the phenomenon of men from the show dating these stunningly beautiful,super famous celebrities who are guests on the show and how that phenomenon doesnt seem to happen with the female writer and the gorgeous, famous male celebrity. It tends to only happen in one direction. A few months passed, and I thought, Oh, maybe that screenplay that someone should write is a novel, and maybe that someone is me. In that way, I think the title Romantic Comedy naturally arose from that.

Tell me about your obsession with Saturday Night Live. How did it begin?

So in Romantic Comedy, Sally mentioned that she is the same age as The Night Owls, which is obviously the stand-in for Saturday Night Live. But in real life, Saturday Night Live and I are the same age. We both were born in 1975. My first memories are from when I was about 10 and being at my friend Annies house, and her older brothers showing us sketches in the attic not even necessarily getting all the humor, but being really captivated by the energy and thinking it seemed like a really fun parallel universe inside the TV. Im obsessed enough with Saturday Night Live to have written a novel about it and done a ton of research and loved doing the research. Ive watched it off and on for my whole life. Its not like Ive watched it every week for 35 years or something I probably have seen 99 percent of the entire episodes of the last five years.

What are your favorite sketches that you rewatch?

Every Christmas my family watches Schweddy Balls. Its a classic, its amazing. I think its from the early 90s, and it has Alec Baldwin, Anna Gasteyer and Molly Shannon, who play NPR hosts. Its really good. So thats on an annual basis. These are all so kind of bodily focused, but my family has definitely watched Undercover Office Potty. Another one that my family loves is Crucible Cast Party.

What did your research for this novel look like?

I started with doing research and writing at the same time, because it helps me to write a scene and, in writing, realize what I dont know and where the gaps in my knowledge are. Theres the oral history of Saturday Night Live, which has been revised and expanded a few times, but its called Live from New York. Thats a treasure trove. Theres a ton of memoirs, including Molly Shannons memoir which actually was published during the time I was writing is really great. Colin Josts, Jay Mohrs is really good. Sarah Silvermans, and then, of course, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Tracy Morgan. SNL makes its own digital shorts about how its various department works, and its fascinating and very detailed. Theres also a documentary that James Franco made thats called Saturday Night. Its about like a week in the life of a show. That was really useful. Then theres all these podcasts where cast members or former writers or current writers or whatever are interviewed, including Conan OBriens podcast and Marc Marons podcast and Mike Birbiglias podcast. This came out during the time I was writing the book, but Fly on the Wall, which is Dana Carvey and David Spade. That is very explicitly SNL focused. I also did interview two people whove worked there.

What real-life SNL couples inspired Danny and Annabels and also Sally and Noahs relationships?

I dont think theres a one-to-one relationship between real people and the characters in the book. I think Ive fleetingly met a cast member or two, but Idont know them. Im not sure this novel would exist if Pete Davidson didnt exist. But even so, I would not say that theres a Pete Davidson in the book. Noah has a career that resembles certain real musicians, or I think of his music as most resembling some real peoples, but he has his own personality. Thats true for all the characters I was writing and making up their dialogue. I wasnt trying to take anything that anyone has said in real life and repurpose it.

Romantic Comedy focuses on Sally and Noah when theyre in their mid- to late 30s, whereas a few of your other novels like Rodham and American Wife have spanned the course of your characters lives. What went into that decision to have your characters be at that age this time around?

Theres kinds of confusion that people commonly feel in their twenties. Theres different kinds of confusion you feel as you get older, and I think Im more interested in the older confusion. [Sally] had a so-called starter marriage, so her perspective is not like, Oh, Ill find someone and the ultimate dream is that Ill get married, and then that will resolve whats wrong with my life or whats missing with my life. She never really thinks that. But shes both open and not open to romantic connection, and I think a lot of the novel is her having to figure out, isshe more open or is she less open?

What are your favorite romantic comedy films?

Im a fan of When Harry Met Sally. I dont know if Dirty Dancing counts as a romantic comedy; I am a big fan of that. I like Notting Hill. I feel like this [novel] has a little bit of inverted Notting Hill inside.

Youve previously cited The Idea of You by Robinne Lee as a book that you enjoyed recently, and its being adapted into a film with Anne Hathaway. What about the book will the film need to capture and preserve in order to maintain the original appeal of the story?

First of all, that book does so many things very well. The sex scenes are great, and theres a lot of them. The chemistry between the main characters is very persuasive. In theory, it shouldnt really add up that like, a 40-year-old woman and a 20-year-old boy band heartthrob are into each other in both directions, but I feel like their chemistry is very believable. Theyre both very appealing, and theyre three-dimensional characters. I will definitely make time to see that one.

What makes a well-written sex scene different from a poorly written sex scene?

Theres the famous Supreme Court definition of pornography: Ill know it when I see it. This might be a spin on that. Its hard to say, but you know it when you see it.

To what extent do you think your book simply fulfills the fantasy of what we might want to be true?

Thats an excellent question. I think that its very hard to speak in generalizations. Its almost funny to me that a novel writes a specific book about very specific characters and then, because of that, the novelist is asked to make sweeping generalizationsBut I dont know. Is romance an illusion? Or is it a real and beautiful and special connection that doesnt happen for everyone, but does happen for people who are lucky? I dont know. It depends how you define everything or any relationship between two people. There can be some beautiful romance when people have known each other for two years and then when theyve known each other for 18 years its not as beautiful. Im certainly old enough that I know a fair number of people who are divorced. It depends on the marriage, but it doesnt mean the marriage was a mistake or nothing good came of it. Every story can be told and in multiple ways, and almost every argument about humans and human nature can be made. I write to try to sort out what I think. I dont always come to a conclusion.

Romantic Comedy is available in bookstores now.

This interview has been edited and condensed.