SNL Returning With One More At Home Episode In The Season 45 Finale
Saturday Night Live announces it will return with one more at home episode for the season 45 finale. The latest season of NBC’s venerable sketch comedy show was clipping along nicely, with memorable hosting appearances by the likes of Daniel Craig, Eddie Murphy and Adam Driver, when the coronavirus hit.
Obviously, the realities brought about by the coronavirus lockdown mattered more than staging a mere comedy show, so SNL went on hiatus like everything else. But, several weeks into quarantine, Lorne Michaels and company took the radical step of bringing the show back with no studio audience and indeed no studio, as the cast members recorded their sketches from their own homes. Hosted by Tom Hanks and featuring musical guest Chris Martin, the show was such a smash hit that SNL came back a few weeks later with a second “at home” edition featuring Brad Pitt and Miley Cyrus.
Now, SNL has revealed they’ll wind up season 45 with a third at home episode this Saturday, May 9, 2020. The announcement comes along with a funny little video showing some bloopers of Kate McKinnon, Colin Jost, Aidy Bryant and the other cast members enduring the perils of filming themselves from home without professional crew members to help out. See the clip in the space below:
No “host” has been revealed for the episode, but there’s bound to be a big name showing up – from the safety of their own home of course – after Hanks and Pitt previously appeared. If the brief tradition established in the first two at home shows holds, the episode will also feature a musical guest performing a classic song, after Martin and Cyrus covered Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd respectively. There should be some great guest appearances as well, after Adam Sandler showed up last time to help out Pete Davidson with a hilarious lockdown song.
Undoubtedly, it was something of a gamble for SNL to bank on the at home approach bringing back audiences during the lockdown, given what a radical departure it is from the show’s tried-and-true format. But, given the sketch comedy talents of the show’s cast, it’s not a surprise that they’ve managed to make it work despite the limitations imposed on them by having to film their own bits (and do their own hair and makeup). Actually, the cast has turned those limitations into an advantage so far, crafting hilarious and very relatable sketches about being stuck at home.
After the first two remote episodes hit home runs with audiences, it will be interesting to see what Saturday Night Live has in store for their very unorthodox season 45 finale. Given what the show has delivered during the lockdown thus far, it’s fair to expect some great jokes, hilarious performances, touching musical moments and lots of surprises.
Source: SNL/Twitter