Saturday Night Live cast reflect on how SNL at Home was made

Saturday Night Live cast members shared a behind-the-scenes look at SNL at Home.

Saturday Night Live cut season 45 a little short due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. But first, the iconic show delivered three remote episodes that were unlike anything else in SNL history. Now, the cast and crew are sharing what it was like to make Saturday Night Live at Home.

Season 45 was certainly one for the history books. Between cast members leaving and arriving (then leaving), Eddie Murphy’s wildly popular return, and the virtual episodes, it is hard to think of a cast that dealt with anything quite like what season 45’s experienced.

So while the show may be on its summer break, it isn’t leaving fans without any new content. “Stories from the Show” is a popular series on SNL’s YouTube channel. It features cast members, writers, and hosts giving a behind-the-scenes look at life in Studio 8H.

The latest episode looked at Saturday Night Live at Home, what it took to produce the three shows, and how cast members once skeptical eventually embraced the challenge:

The cast deserves credit for pulling off Saturday Night Live at Home.

We get to hear how cast members like Pete Davidson, Heidi Gardner, and Mikey Day weren’t so sure how the remote episodes would go. Setting up green screens, cameras, and lights added an extra layer of pressure and stress to an already tense situation.

But for the fans at home, everything looked great and went off without a hitch. There were some minor tweaks between episode one and episode two of Saturday Night Live at Home but the consensus was that the shows were a success. Here, the cast acknowledges that the second episode was an improvement as wigs and costumes were sent to their homes.

It was also entertaining to hear how the cast member’s neighbors reacted. Bowen Yang and Davidson both had to deal with neighbors who didn’t quite understand that Saturday Night Live sketches were being filmed outside their front door. Performing for the people next door is a far cry from a packed Studio 8H, but Yang, Davidson and the rest of the cast made it work.

The cast also shared what was emotional about the final three episodes of season 45. In addition to having some actual family members in sketches, some of the cast noted how badly they missed their SNL family in New York City. This clip offers some more context to the “Dreams” sketch which some fans were worried was a goodbye from select cast members.

What did you think of Saturday Night Live at Home? Did this “Stories from the Show” segment change anything for you? Let us know in the comment section below. Keep checking Last Night on for more from SNL and the rest of late night television.