EXCLUSIVE: It’s the talk of the British comedy entertainment community — and now Deadline can reveal that Saturday Night Live UK is already looking to assemble an eye-catching production team.
Industry sources said Sky and Universal Television Alternative Studio want to appoint James Longman, the executive producer of The Late Late Show With James Corden, as showrunner. A deal is not yet done and Universal Television Alternative Studio declined to comment.
SNL creator Lorne Michaels’ name will be above the door of the UK version, but the hope is that Longman will oversee the series day-to-day. People familiar with the situation said Longman is already sounding out writers and cast.
He was an integral part of the Emmy-winning success of The Late Late Show, moving from London to LA to work alongside Corden and Ben Winston to produce the CBS series for seven years. His time in Hollywood will likely help SNL UK book high-profile guest hosts.
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Known as “Longers” to industry friends, Longman’s other credits include Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was… and British shows like Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Alan Carr: Chatty Man.
Since The Late Late Show ended in 2023, Longman has set up Jolly Octopus, a production company co-founded by former Monkey executive Ollie Brack and backed by BBC Studios.
Deadline hears that Suzi Aplin, another well-regarded figure in UK comedy entertainment, is also set to join the Saturday Night Live UK team.
Given her background as producer of live shows such as Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush and Comic Relief, she is expected to take up a senior production post. Aplin’s other credits include Amazon Prime Video’s Backstage With Katherine Ryan.
One senior entertainment source called Longman and Aplin the “creme de la creme of talent,” with others noting how both are well-liked in UK entertainment circles.
Comcast-owned Sky announced the SNL remake on Thursday, with Michaels’ Broadway Video and Universal Television Alternative Studio producing. The SNL team put in a huge amount of work prepping the UK comedy community prior to the announcement, we are told.
“Every comedy name and writer in the UK has already been approached about this,” said the entertainment source, who described a sense of palpable excitement due to Michaels’ involvement.
Michaels is expected to run some masterclasses over the coming months with the chosen British comedy writers to teach them the SNL way, and he is thought to be planning on bringing American SNL writers over to help the Brits.
The UK version will launch in 2026 and become the most high-profile international version of the venerable NBC late-night show after remakes in China, Germany, Italy, and South Korea.
SNL is well known to comedy fans in the UK, but is more closely associated with viral online clips than full episodes on television. Sky only began airing full versions in 2020, while the show briefly featured on ITV4 in 2006. The UK version has been in the works for several years, with Deadline first revealing it was being developed at Sky in 2021.
The UK does not have a fantastic record of attempting to imitate late-night American comedy series. ITV’s The Nightly Show was critically panned and dumped after one season in 2017. Channel 4’s 10 O’Clock Live aired for three seasons at the start of last decade.
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