# Saturday Night Live - striking sets in two minutes flat **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saturday-night-live-striking-sets-in-two-minutes-flat/809101 "2018-02-19T04:30:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saturday-night-live-striking-sets-in-two-minutes-flat/809101/1 "2018-02-19T04:30:28Z")
[Here’s a fun video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04kop3CvE_s) of what happens in Studio 8H during the theme song, between the cold open and the monologue. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saturday-night-live-striking-sets-in-two-minutes-flat/809101/2 "2018-02-19T05:37:20Z")
Y’all better believe that the stagehands rehearse like crazy to get that right, complete with blocking. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saturday-night-live-striking-sets-in-two-minutes-flat/809101/3 "2018-02-19T06:12:24Z")
Every show basically gets two rehearsals, a tech run-through at 1pm and the full dress at 8pm. These guys are this good because they’ve been doing it every week for years. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saturday-night-live-striking-sets-in-two-minutes-flat/809101/4 "2018-02-19T15:06:41Z")
I’ve always said (never on this board though) that the crew of any show deserves more credit than they get. The set designers, prop masters, makeup artists, lighting techs, etc. all make it look good. Kudos especially to those who work on shows like SNL when time really counts. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saturday-night-live-striking-sets-in-two-minutes-flat/809101/5 "2018-02-19T15:17:41Z")
That’s surprising they’d put themselves in the situation of having to do such a quick turnaround. Has there ever been a case where they didn’t get it cleaned off in time for the monologue? It seems there’s a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong. To see what goes during the whole week to create the show, check out this documentary: [Saturday Night](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1580427/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3). ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saturday-night-live-striking-sets-in-two-minutes-flat/809101/6 "2018-02-19T15:38:24Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > That’s surprising they’d put themselves in the situation of having to do such a quick turnaround. Has there ever been a case where they didn’t get it cleaned off in time for the monologue? It seems there’s a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong. I don’t know, but I know the theme montage has extra footage and the band can vamp if they need a few more seconds. SNL is controlled chaos every week. They make timing decisions and rework sketches up until the last minute to get everything to fit. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saturday-night-live-striking-sets-in-two-minutes-flat/809101/7 "2018-02-19T15:39:09Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > That’s surprising they’d put themselves in the situation of having to do such a quick turnaround. Has there ever been a case where they didn’t get it cleaned off in time for the monologue? It seems there’s a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong. > … The titles indicated this happens pretty much every week. They had time to spare with 20 seconds of a couple guys arranging poinsettias when the “dissolve” order was said. I’m sure there are contingency plans and planned stalling techniques anyway. I love this kind of stuff. I did AV and stage stuff for a few years at a video-enabled conference and training facility inside a Silicon Valley tech company. Even before that, a highlight of a high school drama club field trip to the Ashland Shakespeare Festival was getting to stay in the theater to watch them change over from one set to another. It went from the interior of the Victorian mansion of Tom Stoppard’s _Arcadia_ to a fantastical outdoor setting for _The Winter’s Tale_ in exactly 30 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saturday-night-live-striking-sets-in-two-minutes-flat/809101/8 "2018-02-24T10:03:09Z")
> [@Leo\_Krupe](#): > > I’ve always said (never on this board though) that the crew of any show deserves more credit than they get. A theater friend told me of having seen a production of _Noises Off!_ and he said that, between acts, the stage crew did the set change with the curtain open for all the audience to see. He said they did such an amazing job he felt compelled to give them a (one-man) standing ovation. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saturday-night-live-striking-sets-in-two-minutes-flat/809101/9 "2018-02-24T15:24:49Z")
I’m telling ya, we rehearse that stuff. It’s like a military drill or a choreographed dance routine and when done correctly (which it has to be: we’re a part of the performance too) it’s a fantastic thing to be a part of, like any well-executed group activity. The stagecrew at that _Noises Off!_ were prolly both a little embarrassed and very proud of their work: proud because of the praise but also embarrassed because part of our normal role is to be inconspicuous. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saturday-night-live-striking-sets-in-two-minutes-flat/809101/10 "2018-02-24T15:49:55Z")
The set change in _Noises Off_ is supposed to be seen by the audience; it’s in the script that way. It goes along with the whole show-within-a-show concept. That’s not to take away from the impressive nature of stage crews, and that SNL video was cool; I’m just saying it is supposed to be that way for that show.