A British Version of Saturday Night Live is in the works
The British are trying to copy an American comedy, for once
The U.K. might be getting its very own version of Saturday Night Live. According to Deadline, SNL reps are working on a deal with British broadcaster Sky, which, like NBC, is owned by Comcast.
Reportedly the new series wouldn’t have the same 11:30 p.m. starting time as the American original, but presumably would still air on Saturday nights. Last year, Sky started airing full-length episodes of SNL on its Sky Comedy channel. Before then, Brits had to rely on YouTube clips to get their Pete Davidson fix. There’s no word yet on who producers are eyeing to join the new version of the show.
It’s interesting to see American sketch comedy transported to the U.K. when sketch shows have been a huge part of the British television landscape for decades. Shows like Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The Mighty Boosh, The Catherine Tate Show, Little Britain, and A Bit Of Fry And Laurie were not only hits, but massively influential on generations of comedians on both sides of the pond. Maybe this means America will start producing more panel shows—another comedy format that’s huge in the U.K. but, with the exception of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, hasn’t quite made the jump across the pond yet.
Oddly enough, from 1985 to 1988, Britain’s Channel 4 broadcast a sketch show called Saturday Live that helped make stars of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.
Comedy fans knows that usually the relationship between the two countries flows the other way around, with American shows often adapting British properties. Ghosts, currently airing on CBS, is based on the BBC series of the same name, while Fox’s Call Me Kat is a riff on Miranda Hart’s Miranda. But for every The Office (U.S.), there’s a Skins (U.S.).
This wouldn’t be the first time an international SNL had been attempted. Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Finland, and Egpyt have all aired local adaptations.