Saturday Night Live Is Producing A Fully Remote Show This Weekend

Saturday Night Live is back as of this weekend, and we can’t wait to see how the cast spoofs on social distancing (while social distancing)

Social distancing has been tough for all of us, but one of the toughest things about it is knowing how much we’re missing: birthday parties and graduations, planned family vacations, and even things like movie releases and our favorite TV shows that have had to stop production. This weekend, though, Saturday Night Live fans will get an awesome surprise: The cast is producing a new show, with all-new content, to air tomorrow night. And to make it even better, they’re doing the whole thing remotely so they can keep up appropriate social distancing, too.

NBC announced the new episode in a tweet alongside a screenshot of a Zoom call with all the current SNL cast members.

According to a statement from the network, “Material will be produced remotely as ‘SNL’ practices social distancing. Show elements will include ‘Weekend Update’ and other original content from ‘SNL’ cast members.”

So basically, we’re going to get sketches that are produced and filmed from the cast members’ homes, but they’re still going to perform them live during the usual SNL time slot. I don’t know about you all, but I can’t wait to see what they’re able to come up with in the face of this new creative challenge. I also can’t wait for them to find opportunities to still film together, like a spoof on a Zoom call full of newly-remote employees — filmed in actual Zoom.

There are also rumors that Tom Hanks will make a special appearance, though NBC wouldn’t confirm that. We’re hoping that Alec Baldwin will be a special guest to give us his Donald Trump impersonation, hopefully spoofing one of the president’s increasingly bizarre (and terrifying) daily coronavirus briefings.

What we’re most looking forward to, though, is the levity and perspective that SNL is able to bring to a shared tragedy like the one we’re experiencing right now. While the show can be goofy and crass, it also has a record of truly powerful moments when it addresses national tragedies, like when Paul Simon played “The Boxer” to New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and first responders just after 9/11, or when Jason Aldean did a cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” in the wake of the mass shooting at a Las Vegas country music festival in 2017. We know the SNL cast is going to make us laugh this weekend, but more importantly, they’re going to give us another way to come together during these scary and uncertain days, and that’s even more valuable.