Saturday Night Live UK debuted last night 50 years after its U.S. inspiration launched in the U.S. as NBC’s Saturday Night.
Tina Fey, so instrumental in SNL‘s modern era, was drafted in to add some gravitas to the UK incarnation, with Wet Leg the musical guest. They joined SNL UK‘s debut cast – Animashaun, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Celeste Dring, Fouracres, Ania Magliano, Annabel Marlow, Al Nash, Jack Shep, Emma Sidi and Paddy Young. The show is expected to debut on Peacock in the U.S. on Sunday evening. Jamie Dornan and Riz Ahmed are confirmed as hosts for episodes two and three with Wolf Alice and Kasabian providing the music.
The atmosphere over the show in the UK has been apprehensive, with many in the UK industry skeptical that the series can justify the significant outlay Sky will have put down.
The critics have now had their say and it’s fair to say the reaction has been mixed, but skews positive. A number of critics see green shoots in the show and a few really warmed to it.
Deadline’s Baz Bamigboye was unimpressed by the first episode, calling it “A laughter-free yawn that’s not a patch on Lorne Michaels’ American original: “The show launched on Sky Saturday night with a dire Cold Open featuring prime minister Keir Starmer quivering over taking a call from Donald Trump where not one single memorable line was uttered. Tina Fey popped up as guest host. Why? Up popped Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan to ask just that question. And then there was Graham Norton of The Graham Norton Show fame, to add his penny’s worth…Saturday Night Live UK. What is it?! Painful, that’s what.”
Reviews were largely kinder elsewhere. The Telegraph gave the show 4/5 stars, saying: “Tina Fey shines as guest host in shockingly competent spin-off…Predictions that a transatlantic SNL would crash and burn proved wide of the mark.”
The Financial Times agreed: “Britons may be sceptical of Saturday Night Live UK — but its debut episode shows promise With Tina Fey as guest host and some close-to-the-bone humour, Sky’s SNL translation was often inventive and sharp”.
The Guardian gave the show 3/5 stars, saying: “It didn’t fail and it could have been a lot worse: impressions of Keir Starmer, sketches about dodgy skincare products, and some ‘god-awful performances’ aside, the inaugural episode’s ambition was refreshing to see.”
The Independent also gave it 3/5 stars, noting: “Some hits, some misses, and a bang-on Princess Di impression”, before adding: “Judging a show like SNL off its opening episode is foolish. The chemistry between the cast needs time to settle, and the reaction on TikTok and Instagram will likely inform which sketches have legs (the Head Wound Harrys and David S Pumpkins, so to speak), and which end up in the writers’ room bin. What SNL UK’s opening episode does demonstrate is a willingness to push the envelope, to risk bad taste. Borrowing a beloved American format might feel a bit stale, but there are notes of new ingredients that could offer something fresh.”
Website Latenighter was largely impressed, writing: “The central question facing this transatlantic experiment was whether it would feel like a distinctly British version of SNL or simply an American imitation set to Greenwich Mean Time. Saturday’s debut landed somewhere in between. It featured a promising young cast of British, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish comic talent, fronted by as strong an SNL star as anyone could hope for: Tina Fey The result was a show that unquestionably stuck the landing, even if it didn’t fully announce itself as something entirely new or unexpected.”
The Times of London, however, was left cold by the first stab at SNL UK, saying “Britain is funny but this isn’t yet…There’s talent in the cast — shame this Sky One debut was four parts American gurning, one part Princess Diana.”
Chuck Thomas, an executive producer at News UK and former TV producer who co-created ITV’s Quizmania, was a fan, describing the show on X as “a masterclass in live television. Loved it.”
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