It’s just been announced that SNL will have a live episode this weekend (live only in the Eastern timezone) with everyone practicing social distancing.
The question is, will Michael Che be doing it over grandmother-murdering 5G?
Are all of the jokes going to be about how they’re keeping six feet apart? During the last new episode, one of the skits was a parody of a soap opera with the characters keeping apart (using a fake arm on a stick to touch another character’s face, making out with plastic sheeting between the two people, etc)…
The media release that says it will be “produced remotely,” which I assume means the cast will be broadcasting from home, similar to how the late-night shows are handling things. I was initially worried they would all be in the same studio standing 6 feet apart, which doesn’t seem wise.
Alec Baldwin’s role should be interesting, to say the least.
I demand a lonely Lenny Pickett sax solo instead of the regular theme!
Zoom-style table reads might be just as funny as skits with props, if not more so.
Glad to hear it. I really miss the Weekend Update, so I hope they include that.
That part at least shouldn’t be a problem to include; Che and Jost can just be in two windows addressing each other. The skits are harder to do separately.
I imagine that there will be at least one remote conferencing sketch with everyone in it. There may be some monologue-type stuff but that’s not really SNL’s kind of thing beyond the guest host’s opening monologue. Weekend update would be easiest I imagine and maybe they could do some green screen stuff. I am interested in seeing this to see how everything goes down.
Three SNL alums – Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig and Jimmy Fallon – recently posted a skit called The Longest Days of Our Lives that shows the kind of things that can be done remotely.
Meh – there were some good sketches, but overall meh (kind of like SNL normally is ;)). I found the laugh track during Weekend Update distracting.
The conference call sketch (which we all knew was coming) was OK. I kind of like “Middle Aged Mutant Ninja Turtles”
Brian
And it was not live , so far what I saw was boring.
It showed me that Kate McKinnon is still the funniest comedian working today.
Some things I laughed at; some things fell flat for me; but overall I had fun and was glad they did it.
It had an amateurish, made-from-home feel, of course (as many of the late-night shows do nowadays). It felt less like a professional show, and more like what a group of genuinely talented high school or college or local community performers might come up with. And which would be a lot more fun to watch if they were your high school or college or local community performers, rather than a group of complete strangers. So, I guess, recommended for fans of SNL, not so much for people who don’t watch the show regularly.
Agreed. The laughter during Weekend Update was very disconcerting. Did anybody else notice they announced a new episode next week with John Mulvany hosting? Is that going to be the same format as this week, or are they somehow able to get back to the studio?
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Pretty sure that’s a rerun.
Wow, tough room.
Granted, it wasn’t sketch comedy, you didn’t have the energy of performers feeding off each other, and some of the bits looked like they were recycled from the performers’ auditions.
But it was funny people trying and generally succeeding in being funny, which is about all you can ask.
Two observations: as for the laughter in Weekend Update being disconcerting, Michael Che had it exactly right - “telling jokes with nobody just looks like hostage footage.”
And Chole Fineman has a bright future.
Her bit was one of the ones that fell flat for me, because I didn’t recognize any of the people she was doing. But that’s on me, not her.
It’s John Mulaney and it’s the episode from February 29, with David Byrne as the musical guest. I recommend it. There’s a sketch that’s a worthy follow-up to the Diner Lobster sketch from Mulaney’s first time hosting.
And the bit at the end of last night’s episode honoring Hal Willner was really very nice.