In a new video, the cast of Saturday Night Live shows the many production changes they had to deal with due to the coronavirus pandemic at the tail end of its 45th season and throughout its 46th. The comedy sketch series, which made its debut in 1975, features comedians and performers who act in a series of no less than eight sketches per week. The show also hosts musical performers which range from legendary rock stars to up-and-coming musicians who understand performing on SNL could make or break their career.
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the cast of SNL had to adjust many of the ways it normally conducted its weekly meetings, rehearsals, and live shows. Previously, the cast members gathered in close quarters to pitch ideas, rehearse sketches with their hosts and perform in the live shows. When the show returned to the air after shutting down in March 2020 due to the pandemic, sketches, musical performances, and the show's news wrap-up "Weekend Update" was performed from home. When SNL returned to their New York City set at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in October 2020, social distancing restrictions were set, the cast adhered to regular COVID-19 testing, and masks were worn unless the actors were on-camera.
A new video took a behind-the-scenes look at how Saturday Night Live retooled its production for the show's return to Studio 8H and how its cast members adjusted. Executive Producer Lorne Michaels explained that he knew SNL would come back and said, "I knew if we just worked at it somehow, we would be able to figure it out." The cast didn't appear to be as certain as their show's leader. Many expressed trepidation about returning. Michaels tried to assure the cast during the show's first table read, where desks were spaced six feet apart and everyone wore masks. Michaels said:
"As you might have noticed, this is a little scary. Everything will be different. Where we make our decisions, how we make our decisions, what the show is like, and then, when you're on the air, it will feel pretty much the same."
Click here to watch the video.
Cast member Chris Redd said that on the day of their very first pre-taped sketch for season 46, titled "Bottom of Your Face," there was a COVID scare on set and the cast members involved in the video had to work five to six hours longer as everything on the set was sanitized before filming could resume. SNL head writer and "Weekend Update" host Colin Jost said he had no idea how the cast was going to get through the first six consecutive shows of the season. Michaels said in a subsequent clip that the most episodes SNL had taped in a row was four, so six was "hard." Several of the show's writers even wondered if people would find silly and off-color jokes funny anymore in the face of a pandemic,
Saturday Night Live's retool of the series for its 46th season was challenging but so worth it for viewers of the sketch comedy institution who needed a laugh and some normalcy during a time when life was otherwise not. The cast and crew's work in trying to achieve 90 minutes of edgy fun and frivolity was a much-needed respite in the face of the tragedies television viewers watched on the small screen daily. As the show heads into its 47th season and restrictions are loosened, it remains to be seen just how much Saturday Night Live will try and maintain that edge that filtered through the cast as they worked even harder to make their jokes land or relax into their former habits.
Source: Saturday Night Live