Every weekend many of us look forward to "SNL," now in its 43rd season on NBC. Who will be the host? What current event will be spoofed? Which of our favorite regular characters will have a skit? Is the musical guest any good? The show takes a humorous approach to mirroring what’s current in the United States and beyond, sometimes controversially, but it keeps the comedy feeling fresh.
Current "Saturday Night Live" cast member Cecily Strong was interviewed by Andy Cohen this week on his Sirius radio show on the Radio Andy Channel and she gave listeners some detail of what a week in the life of a cast member is like.
Working on the team that brings this iconic comedy staple to life is fast moving with plenty of last minute changes. She detailed how a fresh new batch of sketches, characters, and costumes become our weekly Saturday night entertainment and often fodder for the Monday office water cooler and social media posts.
Monday it begins
Sunday is a day for the "SNL" team to recoup. Monday begins the new ideas, formal pitches and most importantly meeting the new host. This first meeting is when the team can suss out the host to see what they laugh at, how good of a sport they are, ideas they have, etc. It’s not a specific set time but generally occurs in the later afternoon hours. Sketch pitches start to be thrown out into the group at this time too.
The team of writers is extensive and they submit the writing by noon on Tuesday. Mid-afternoon the actors, writers and host come in to start the big table read of 36-40 comedy sketches. Each person has an assigned seat. This goes on for 7-8 hours with one break. After 9 PM there is a senior writer and producer meeting which includes the host.
This is when the "Saturday Night Live" sketches are whittled down to 8-10 potential live skits and three pre-taped segments. All of this can change considerably between Wednesday and Saturday. Two skits can easily be cut the day of the show. This is live television and that’s the way it goes. You just never know with that cold open.
The final stretch
On Thursday Strong likes to do her laundry. Costume fittings for pre-taped show segments are today. Friday is the fittings for Saturday night. If it’s likely there won’t be any live skits for a particular actor due to editing, he or she likely would be in one of the comedy pre-taped segments. Everyone works around here.
During the final goodbye cast scene of the night, a signature of the show close, Strong says cast members generally wear their own street clothes, in case you ever wondered. The cast tends to collect in their own offices to relax prior to the after show party which can go on until 4 or 5 AM.
Strong had a single season of anchoring the weekend update segment on "Saturday Night Live" but knew she really loved the character aspect of doing skits and wanted to continue doing that versus putting the majority of her energy into the weekend update.
Strong came to "SNL" six seasons ago. Prior to that, she had a long history in theater and spent a year doing Second City Touring Company in Ohio.
"Saturday Night Live" airs live at 11:30 PM ET Saturday Nights
