SNL UK: Yea Or Nay?

 

Live from London, It's Saturday Night!

And with that signature phrase, albeit with New York replaced by London, Saturday Night Live, UK version made history last night as it debuted on British airwaves.

Since, at the age of eleven I'd "been there" watching the very first OG SNL back in 1975, I made it a point to fire up the ol' Peacock sub and be ready to receive my streamed leftovers to pass judgment bear witness to the cultural reverse colonialism. So many questions before I went in. Would it be "too British?" I was fearing anything from either on the one hand a newfangled Benny Hill all the way to a revamped Monty Python. But after a few skits, I got the gist. And it may be it's biggest fault... I think it's trying to be too American.

Its format is an exact copy of the US show. And I do mean exact. Political and or topical news cold open, shouted iconic statement, montage and musical opening credits, intro of the host, host's monologue, and the onslaught of quick, fresh-faced, exuberant skits and filmed segments cut in by a couple of numbers from the musical guest and, of course, the Weekend Update fake news. And other than the accents and the British-centricism, I wouldn't know it from the US version with a whole new cast.

Is it good? The jury is still out for me. Some of the skits, just like its US counterpart, fell absolutely flat. One filmed segment in particular though did get me chuckling with its mockery of online marketing and the janky thinks that seem, perhaps, to be, well, planned by some weird coffee-guzzling geeks in a secret control room.

Tina Fey, yes, the American SNL alum Tina Fey, was the "George Carlin." Why her and not someone, well, like a present-day George Carlin-esque famous UK comedian, like, you know, Ricky Gervais or something? Well, funnily enough, she mentions that in her monologue. She says that "none of you fuckers would do it" when questioned why not a British icon like Dame Judy Dench or David Beckham or Shrek. Shortly afterwards Graham Norton, posing as an audience member gets up on stage and "helps Tina, as an American celebrity, to be more likable to British audiences" and shows that, yeah, he too would have been an excellent choice for host. Maybe down the road?

 

Will there be many more "down the roads" though? My discerning eyes and ears picked up an a few things. The audience, I'm sure, was well-selected to be an enthusiastic premier-episode bunch, but even that fact didn't cover for the lack of laughs in some of the skits. Meh, as I said, this happens in the best of comedy, can't win 'em all. But I also saw cheap set design, less-than-favorable lighting, hair and make-up under par and sound and camera out of place at times. Well, it is live television, and it's their virgin show. If you've ever seen the movie "Saturday Night," you can get an idea of the shitshow that that can be. But I also read that this UK TV network their on, SKY TV, is one of the lesser watch ones. Well, I guess. I mean doesn't BBC dominate there? But it's owned by Comcast, which owns NBC, which owns SNL, so...

As a little comparison with the clip above though, let's take a glimpse back to 1975 and the cold opening of the very first SNL (then called only "Saturday Night" due to then licensing issues) and, well, judge:

Live from New York, It's Saturday Night!