Last Updated on August 2, 2021
NBC and Lorne Michaels are plotting a return to studio production for SNL, which aired a couple of episodes during the COVID-19 pandemic from cast members' homes.
Michaels and the network are making plans to bring the show back to NBC's Manhattan studios for the popular variety series' 46th season. Although their intention is to broadcast the show as we know it, the decision will come down to how the nation is grappling with the pandemic as well as the safety of the SNL cast and crew. As of now, SNL does not have a premiere date for its 46th season.
One strategy being considered is to have the program made in a "controlled" environment, meaning a live audience is most like not in the cards. Thankfully, NBC already has some kind of a template in place since NBC's Tonight Show, which Michaels also oversees, started taping new episodes last week from the network's studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The broadcasts are said to only feature host Jimmy Fallon, a socially-distanced Roots band, and a handful of cameramen all wearing masks and working from a smaller facility. Guests, such as Charlize Theron, appeared on the show via videoconferencing. The Tonight Show is also going without an audience for the time being.
This is going to be an interesting time for SNL. This is a show that really thrives on the live-audience response but the at-home episodes mostly worked despite that limitation. Another reason SNL wants to be up and running for the fall is the run-up to the presidential election. SNL thrives with material that pokes fun at the election and the network knows it could be a ratings bonanza, even if the show will be presented a bit differently.
Do YOU think SNL will get back to studio production for the fall? Will the show feel different without a live audience?
Follow the JOBLO MOVIE NETWORK
Follow us on YOUTUBE
Follow ARROW IN THE HEAD
Follow AITH on YOUTUBE