‘Saturday Night Live’ is back this weekend
Comedian Rock to host, Carrey to play Biden as show returns to studio
Political debates are like catnip to Saturday Night Live, which will return this weekend — just in time for Jim Carrey to spoof Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s performance in Tuesday night’s debate. That’ll be Jim Carrey from Studio 8H, not Jim Carrey from wherever it is he normally lives, as the sketch comedy show will return to 30 Rockefeller Plaza for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic started.
“We’ll do it live!” Lorne Michaels presumably yelled as he outlined the plan to get Colin Jost and Michael Che in the same room again.
Season 46 is set to feature the entire cast from last season (including honorary member Alec Baldwin as President Donald Trump) plus three newbies.
Everyone in 8H will have to abide by special COVID-19 protocols, from crew members to the live studio audience that, yes, will be present once again.
Michaels has said in recent interviews that he looks forward to bringing back some semblance of normalcy: “It’s an election year,” he said of SNL’s in-person return. “It’s what we do.”
Here’s a breakdown of what to expect from this season:
The cast
With new players Lauren Holt, Punkie Johnson and Andrew Dismukes, SNL now boasts a whopping 20 cast members. That doesn’t include Carrey’s
Biden, Baldwin’s Trump or Maya Rudolph’s Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who will appear in sketches but are not to be considered “celebrity cameos,” according to Michaels, who told Vulture “that’s sort of the New York Times approach to thinking about things.” Actual cast member Beck Bennett will be playing Vice President Mike Pence.
A few folks won’t be present in 8H as often as they normally would be because of the pandemic shifting summer filming schedules. Aidy Bryant will be in New York for some shows but has also committed to shooting Shrill, Michaels said. Cecily Strong has a project in Vancouver but will appear on SNL via green screen. Kenan Thompson will be flying back and forth to Los Angeles for an NBC sitcom, Michaels continued, but a long-tenured player like him “can come in the day before and he’ll be fine; he just knows the drill so well.”
The logistics
Leaving behind the remote and audience-free production models that have sustained late-night television during the pandemic, the SNL team is aiming to get as close to the pre-pandemic experience as it can. That mark is still quite far off, of course, as they’ve been working with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office to sort out protocol. Michaels told Vulture they’ll try to shorten rehearsals and simplify production designs, given that cast members have to vacate a space before stagehands can enter.
In an interview with the Times, Michaels revealed that there are heat sensors and rapid coronavirus tests required to get into 30 Rock. Meetings that once hosted 40 people have been whittled down to three. There are limits on how many people can be on the studio floor at a time, so camera operators will leave until they are needed. Masks are mandatory until the second the red light flickers on.
“Obviously, I take my responsibility for people’s health and lives very seriously,” Michaels said. “But we did a show with anthrax in the building. We did a show after 9/11. That’s what we’ve always done.”