‘Saturday Night Live’ Returning From Hiatus This Weekend With A New Episode Produced From Quarantine
Saturday Night Liveis just one of dozens of shows that went on a production hiatus due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and around the world. Since the show is filmed with a live audience and is produced in the span of a single week with a staff of writers and a full crew, it was believedSNLwould be shut down until the pandemic had passed. But in the wake of late night television’s revival with special social distancing episodes, we’ll seeSaturday Night Livereturning this weekend.NBCannounced news ofSaturday Night Livereturning in its usual 11:30 P.M. EST time slot this weekend with remotely produced content, including sketches featuring the cast and a new edition of Weekend Update. However, at this time, the length of the episode and whether or not the sketches will actually be done live remains to be seen. But executive producerLorne Michaelsclearly thinks they can pull it off, and they haven’t run out of coronavirus material despite having several sketches dedicated to the pandemic inthe last episode before hiatus, featuring host Daniel Craig.
Late night talk shows are a bit easier to revive since they mostly rely on a single host and celebrity guests. Even though the production value isn’t there, the formula of the show mostly remains intact. But canSaturday Night Liveproduce fully formed sketches through Zoom or other teleconferencing services? Perhaps they’ve figured out a way to use the restrictions to their advantage comedically, not unlikethat forthcoming workplace comedyidea from the two executive producers ofThe Office.
Honestly, I’m surprised that NBC didn’t just try to bring backSNLin the form of the half-hour Weekend Update episodes they used to do every now and then during summers. That would be easy to accomplish remotely, and there are plenty of current events to skewer with one-liners fromColin JostandMichael Che.
However, Michael Che has been hit a little closer to home by the pandemic sinceChe’s grandmother passed awaydue to complications from coronavirus. The comedian posted about his grandmother’s passing on Instagram, but has since deleted all of his posts. Furthermore,SNLwas hit with another casualty asHal Willner, a record producer and longtime music producer for all the show’s sketches,also recently diedof complications believed to be associated with the coronavirus.
Since we usually review new episodes ofSaturday Night Live, check back this weekend to get our take on this surprising revival of the series. Maybe they’ll even round up a cavalcade of surprise special guests remotely in order to lift everyone’s spirits. How fun would a self-quarantineWayne’s Worldbe if they could somehow pull it off? If it doesn’t work, we can always see what comedian Ian Abramson is doingwith his own rendition ofSNLthat he’s been doing since the show went on hiatus.
