Fifty years after Saturday Night Live launched in the US, it is arriving across the pond as the UK enters the fray – and the cast and crew are ready to make it uniquely British.
It’s no understatement to say that the weekly live sketch comedy variety show is a comedy institution. It’s been the training ground for some of the biggest comedians alive today, including Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Eddie Murphy.
For those Brits unfamiliar with the premise, every Saturday night (as it says on the tin), SNL will have a celebrity guest host, a musical guest and its regular crop of writers and cast who will put on a series of timely sketches to entertain the nation.
Now, the UK is hoping to recreate the magic with SNL legend Tina coming on board to host the first-ever episode this Saturday, March 21. She’ll be followed by Jamie Dornan and Riz Ahmed with Wet Leg, Wolf Alice and Kasabian joining the trio as musical guests, respectively.
Some fans have worried that the show’s American sensibilities won’t translate over to a UK audience, but the main players behind the spin-off are here to assuage any panic, as they told Metro.
Speaking on the Sky Up Next red carpet, producer James Longman and cast members Paddy Young and Ania Magliano reflected on going once more unto the breach – but with a British twist.
‘We’ve just got an amazing writer’s room full of different voices, full of modern British voices, and they’re just so funny. It’s just a different perspective, a real British perspective.
‘The American show is obviously amazing. We’re very lucky to have it as our brother, our sister, however we want to call it, [but] it’s our version of it,’ producer James shared.
Meanwhile, Paddy and Ania were keen to emphasise this was also airing much earlier than its American counterpart – a bonus if we’ve ever heard one.
With a comic legend like Tina (or should we say Mary Poppins) on board, Ania praised her as ‘a genius’.
‘It’s incredible. She came and sat in on one of our writing sessions and was pitching us jokes. It was like: “These are so funny”. It’s amazing to work with someone who’s so successful and has still got it.
Paddy echoed: ‘It’s an honour, a privilege. The great thing about having Tina on the first one is that she’s helping us, she’s representing us, she’s there for us.’
Of course, if the US version is anything to go by, this show could be a launchpad for budding comedians.
So what were our stars’ reactions to landing the life-changing gig? Utter shock, of course.
Taskmaster star Ania explained: ‘[When I heard] I was really excited, really relieved, because it had been a long audition process, and then I had to go do a gig, and I was so happy and giddy that it didn’t translate at all, and I just died on my ass for 20 minutes…. That’s the Britishness of SNL.
As for Paddy, he also took the British approach and headed to the pub.
‘I think I was just really stupid with disbelief. It took a while to process it for sure [and] now it is happening,’ he added.
With the eyes of the world on them tonight – and already an extended eight-episode season to look forward to – the pressure is on to kick things off to a good start.
And who knows, if it works out, one day it could boast its own half-century-long legacy.
But for now, producer James has just one simple wish.
‘I just hope that people enjoy it,’ he said.
Then continued: ‘The world is in a rough place at the minute. We’re just excited to try and make people laugh on a Saturday night.
‘So hopefully they’ll watch it. They’ll join us. These are an amazing group of people to hopefully hang out with on a Saturday night. And we just hope we can do it justice.’
And will there be any surprises in store?
Wryly, Paddy quipped: ‘I think people will be surprised how funny it is. Don’t you reckon?’
Saturday Night Live UK launches on Sky at 10pm tonight. It will be available to stream on NOW.
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