Perhaps the biggest, if maybe a bit cynical, question one might have approaching the just debuted UK version of sketch series perennial Saturday Night Live is can the eleven cast members of SNL-UK deliver the same kind of laughs that its American cousin does with nearly twice that many. And the answer is – yes.
Ably assisted SNL-US former writer/cast member Tina Fey who serves as this premier episode’s first guest host, the cast for this new iteration of the sketch comedy series is certainly game and give it their all. There may not any breakout stars yet, but that’s OK. In fact, it may play to the show’s strength by presenting as more of an ensemble.
That said, George Fouracres as a feckless UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, anxious over a call he needs to make to Trump over declining to help with his newly launched war against Iraq, certainly delivered a solid performance in the show’s cold open to help kick the show off to a strong start. A sketch with the rather tortured premise of David Attenborough having cloned famous Brits for a Last Supper-style group interview is at least a spin on SNL-US‘s celebrity impression parade trope. Ania Magliano and Paddy Young do a nice job as the Weekend Update anchors with some material that has a bit more bite than the Colin Jost/Michael Che version here..
Saturday Night Live‘s time-honed template is very much in effect for this new UK version. The cold open dealing with the political moment, pre-taped commercial parodies, the musical guest performing right before the Weekend Update news parody. Fey’s monologue used the familiar audience question and answer trope featuring celebrity cameos. (Fey’s monologue outfit of a vest and suit jacket called back to what George Carlin, the very first host of SNL back in 1975, wore for his monologue during the show’s premier. A nice touch.) One could almost be forgiven if they tuned in and – outside of authentic English accents instead of marginally passable ones from American comedians – thought they were watching something originating from 30 Rock’s 8H Studio.
And by dint of the the show being live, it did have its share of small blunders – a false mustache becoming unstuck in the middle of a sketch, a flubbed line, a moment where a performer’s microphone wasn’t brought up in time, another where a performer was caught on camera sneaking back onto set. But that’s live television for you.
Of course, there are some differences. The lesser number of commercials for the program dictates a slightly different pacing for the overall show. The show is not afraid to take a simple premise – in this case a film junket reporter who flat out tells the two stars he is interviewing that he absolutely hated their new film – works the premise for just enough laughs and then cuts out. It feels as if this joke had been pitched for the US version of the show, it would have wound up running three (interminable) minutes longer.
And oh yes, because SNL UK airs after Britain’s nine o’clock watershed time, the language can be a lot saltier. In fact, during her opening monologue, Tina Fey becomes the first Saturday Night Live cast member in history to say “fuck” on the air intentionally. And she wasn’t the only one as many in the cast dropped a couple of different words that could have gotten them on the receiving end of a stern phone call from network executives had it happened on this side of the Atlantic.
The original five seasons of Saturday Night Live are usually rightly hailed as a golden era of a show that would go on to run ten times as long and still shows no signs of stopping. Outside of some tinkering with the format, the cast and writers pretty much hit their stride in the first few weeks thanks to having worked with each other in various groupings over the previous couple of years. The show’s UK cousin has the advantage of a format well in place, and seems to be fairly well jelled together. If anything, there is an energy and bite here as they are all coming to this venture fresh, whereas sometime the American SNL may show its age around the edges. It should be interesting to see how this new group further polishes themselves over the remaining seven episodes of this initial run.
