As a London-based version of “Saturday Night Live” premieres this weekend, British viewers have a few reservations. Will the humor translate? Can the show attract A-list hosts? Can any cast member do a decent impression of Prime Minister Keir Starmer?
The new edition of NBC’s late-night comedy sketch show, is premiering in a country that hasn’t seen a breakout success in the format in roughly a generation, despite a strong history of sketch comedy. The big question, then, is whether “Saturday Night Live” can flip the script and become a hit in a land where American humor can sometimes be the butt of jokes.
The new show, airing Saturday in Britain and Sunday in the United States via Peacock, will have an initial run of six episodes. It has Lorne Michaels, the show’s creator, as executive producer, and it follows a similar format to the American version, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.
The writers and cast, however, are British. The 11 cast members, announced last month by Sky, which is broadcasting the show in Britain, include Emma Sidi, Ania Magliano, Ayoade Bamgboye and Paddy Young.
“In Britain — you may have seen some of the headlines already — people are going, “Who the hell are all these people?’” said Mark Boosey, an editor at British Comedy Guide.
But for those close to Britain’s comedy scene, he said, the names were instantly recognizable and represent a diverse cross section, from classic stand-up and improv to the meme-able humor that’s popular on TikTok and Instagram. It’s also a very young cast, he added.
“Because of panel shows in this country, we get the same people again and again on our screens,” Boosey said. “So to have a fresh bunch of people in, as far as the wider world is concerned, is exciting and interesting.”
For Steve Bennett, the editor of Chortle, a British comedy website, whether “Saturday Night Live” succeeds in Britain may lie in how much freedom Michaels gives the local crew, given the subtle but important differences between humor on either side of the Atlantic.
British humor has a reputation for being more sarcastic and cynical, Bennett said. British characters, particularly on sitcoms, also tend to be losers, while Americans characters tend to be the “Everyman doing the best they can,” he said.
Some classic segments could easily be replicated with little tweaking, he said, pointing to “Weekend Update,” in which fake news anchors ridicule current events and politics. “That’s pretty harsh, on the U.S. side,” he said, signaling approval.
But he said the show would likely need to be tightened up a bit for a British audience. “To British eyes, ‘S.N.L.’ sketches seem very, very long,” Bennett said.
James Longman, the new show’s lead producer, said that while it has had support from the American side, it’s a British show meant for a British audience.
“It is their house,” he said of the American production. “We’re kind of sorting our own rooms out within it.”
The new version, he added, leans into niche British references, and the writers and cast borrow local humor from regions including Yorkshire, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Britain has a storied history of sketch comedy, including the widespread success of Monty Python and Morecambe and Wise. In the 1990s and 2000s, catchphrases from “Little Britain,” “Harry Enfield’s Television Programme” and “The Catherine Tate Show” circulated throughout the country’s offices and playgrounds.
Britain also had a similar sketch show in the late 1980s that, while unaffiliated with “S.N.L.,” was titled “Saturday Live.” It ran for three seasons and was revived in 1996 for short run. The show helped make stars out of some of its performers, including Harry Enfield, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.
But the format has declined in recent years. Last year, fewer than 10 sketch comedy shows put out new episodes, down from about 35 in 2015, according to data compiled by British Comedy Guide.
Brian Logan, the comedy critic of The Guardian newspaper, noted the genre’s decline, saying in an interview, “These are not salad days for TV comedy in the U.K.”
It’s a strange situation, he added, given the large amount of talent in the country, as evidenced by the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Last year, the annual Scottish arts festival included more than 3,000 performances over three weeks, the majority in comedy.
The Fringe “used to be seen pretty clearly as a trade festival and a staging post en route to a TV career, but lots of those pipelines, I think, have dried up,” he said.
The British “S.N.L.,” if successful, could turn out to be a venue for many of the country’s comedians, who otherwise have few options for television work, he said.
Although it’s too early to know whether the show will win over a British audience, Boosey, the British Comedy Guide editor, said he could already foresee the reaction from at least one group: the press.
“I think it’s going to be a tough first few weeks for the show,” he said, noting that British newspapers tended to be cynical about new projects. “I can already imagine certain newspapers have started writing their reviews, even though it’s not even been made yet.”
He said it would likely take a few weeks for the cast find their footing, learn to work together and smooth out any rough edges.
“Comedy needs time to be perfect,” he said. “So, let us hope people have the patience to give it that.”
Jonathan Wolfe is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news.
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