General News

British ‘Saturday Night Live’ in the works at Sky

We took “The Office” — it’s only fair to give them some “Saturday Night Live.”

Live from London, “Saturday Night Live” might be headed across the pond: a British iteration of the iconic NBC comedy variety show is currently under development at Sky.

According to Deadline, “SNL” representatives are reportedly in London having talks with Comcast-owned Sky, a sister network of NBC under the same American telecommunications conglomerate.

NBC has not yet responded to The Post’s request for comment.

While still in its fledgling stages, English “SNL” could potentially become the highest-profile iteration of the Lorne Michaels-created series, which has been adapted everywhere from Germany to South Korea.

It’s unknown who will be cast in the British version of the show, to be produced by Broadway Video and SNL Studios. However, UK comedians are reportedly chomping at the bit to get involved, Deadline reported.

Naturally a Brit “SNL” spinoff might seem like a complete 180 from the norm of US rebooting British shows — for example, NBC’s “The Office” or “Shameless,” which just ended its 11-season run on Showtime.

However, there is apparently quite an appetite for SNL in the United Kingdom. Last year, Sky Comedy channel began syndication of the complete NBC series. Previously, fans in the UK were only able to access the show via YouTube snippets. It also aired briefly on ITV4 in 2006.

There was also a spinoff called “Saturday Live” on Channel 4 between 1985 and 1988, which served as a stepping stone for future British entertainment legends, including Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

Billie Eilish performing breakout hit "Bad Guy" on "SNL" in September 2019.
Billie Eilish performing breakout hit “Bad Guy” on “SNL” in September 2019.
SNL/Vevo

Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic, pop star Billie Eilish is gearing up as perform as host and musical guest on “SNL” this weekend. On Thursday, the 19-year-old Grammy winner promoted her guest spot on Instagram, writing “see you on Saturday” along with clips of her 2019 appearance on the show with actor Woody Harrelson.

About the author

Tina Sanders

Tina is the mind behind Gruntstuff.com, and she ideated it when she was working for an online magazine company where she used to cover US-based headlines news. She holds a degree in journalism and has more than 4.5 years of experience in an online magazine company. She had the idea while working there but when she was quite sure about starting something on her own, she took the risk and left the job to start Gruntstuff. Since then she added a few team members, and along with them, she creates General US news content on the site.

Add Comment

Click here to post a comment