Underplayed Gems

Saturday Night Live at Home (2020)

Saturday Night Live at Home poster
Genre
sketch comedy
Country
United States
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

During the early COVID-19 pandemic, the cast of Saturday Night Live filmed three episodes from their own homes. Comedians performed sketches and hosted musical guests without being in the same room. The episodes felt casual and homemade compared to the usual live studio show.

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What happens

"Saturday Night Live at Home" refers to the final three episodes of the 45th season of the late-night comedy program Saturday Night Live. Whereas SNL typically consists of sketches performed live in-studio, these "at Home" episodes were recorded remotely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television; none of the sketches were performed live for any of these episodes, and none of the participants in any sketch from these shows were in the same physical location. The first episode aired on April 11, 2020. The episode was hosted by Tom Hanks, and its musical guest was Chris Martin. A segment also paid tribute to Hal Willner, music producer for SNL from 1980 until his death from COVID-19 – four days before the episode. It was received positively by critics. The second episode aired on April 25. The episode did not have a credited host, but Brad Pitt appeared in the cold open and introduced the episode's musical guest, Miley Cyrus. The third episode aired on May 9 and acted as a Mother's Day-themed episode as well as the season finale. The episode's host was Kristen Wiig, and its musical guests were Boyz II Men and Babyface. In contrast to regular episodes, where the host would have been involved in most sketches of the night, and where the host and musical guest were in-studio with the cast members and crew, the involvement of the host for these episodes was scaled down to the bare minimum, and only Kristen Wiig participated in any of the show's sketches on the night she hosted. Also, by contrast, where studio episodes allowed the musical guests to perform at least twice, the remote episodes only featured a single performance from each week's musical guest. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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