Can the legendary American comedy show make the British laugh?

The American television institution Saturday Night Live has been entertaining viewers and has been creating a comedy stars for 50 years. Can a British version reach the same heights?

For five decades, the phrase “Live from New York, Saturday night!” She has boldly opened episodes of Saturday Night Live, with trials and tested a mix of current comedies for sketches, celebrities and guests with big names.

Now the staple is to come live from London after Sky has announced plans for “star”, graduating from the UK, facing the British comedy talent, which will start next year.

It is observed by the creator of the American original show Lorne Michaels, who is already 80 years old, the television operator promises the same “live, fast -growing style” as his American cousin.

Ever since Michaels launched in 1975, SNL has been a live stepping stone for comedy talents such as Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fay, Will Ferrell and Mike Myers.

Known for his constantly charging cast, Joe Pisco of the Cohorta from the 1980s summarized him in a documentary marking the 50th anniversary of the show: “They took a comedy on sketches on a completely different level,” he said. “The comedy slowly became rock -n -rol.”

The unpredictable live room, combined with its longevity, helped maintain its status. No other show has been nominated for (331) or win (90) Emmy Awards.

“I do not think you can underestimate this heritage when you report his current success,” says TV and comedy writer of guardian Rachel Aroesty. “Which is something that the UK version obviously will not be able to imitate.”

The heritage is one of the reasons the show is still attracting big young stars like Timothy Chalamet, who grew up, watching even when the linear television audiences dropped sharply in the streaming era.

“In the US, guests involvement is often a novelty in itself – they also know that their presence will generate a lot of publicity, so this is a situation that is profitable,” Aroes adds.

“I would be surprised if the UK version manages to attract the same caliber to the guests.”

Atlantic writer Helen Lewis says that the overall reaction of the industry is that the commissioning of a version of the United Kingdom is a “brave” move – wishing the luck of the team with the “difficult offer”.

There are some remarkable differences between the two transatlantic television industries.

The SNL budget in the United States will be far more than the UK television norm, paying for a large cast and a team of writers working to the wire to keep the jokes current.

“In the American version, this is a very expensive format, the presence of a writers 'room and the maintenance of actors' actors on the retainer, in essence all the time. This is really expensive,” Lewis told the BBC Radio 4 PM program.

The culture of comedy in the United States is also different, Lewis said.

“Humor can sometimes be much more shamar. For a long time, Americans have struggled with British humor because they think we are extremely evil.”

Comedy writer Jack Bernhard agrees that he has different comedy traditions. The United Kingdom Sketches are often formed through friendships and show their talent in fringes in Edinburgh, while many American comedians train in improvised and sketches, and more specially improve their show skills like SNL.

Bernhard says these differences “cannot necessarily be fixed by putting into operation of SNL version in the UK – this is a whole comedy culture that should shift.”

“This does not mean that one cannot do the other,” he adds. “But this version of a sketch show does not necessarily have to play on the unique strengths of the United Kingdom comedy scene. And this is even before we embark on the difficulties of making a live show.”

Given these challenges, the import of a hereditary brand like SNL may seem gambling, especially at some point When the TV industry in Britain breaks downS

However, the wealth of the American show have behaved relatively firmly during this decadeEven if the ratings are well below the era before the flow.

Vulture It found that SNL was an average of 8.4 million weekly viewers, outperforming all other late night shows combined. This is also the best entertainment series of Network TV of the United States among adults aged 18 to 49 years.

“You rarely hear anyone ask if SNL will” survive, “just how Michaels continues,” reports reporter Joseph Adalian. “Linear TV can fight for his life, but Snl looks safe.”

Most importantly, the sketch format succumbs perfectly to the social media era, easily digestible on digital platforms. According to the economistOnline SNL videos an average of about 216 million views of an episode of Tiktok, X and YouTube. Of course, these viewers do not look live, but the content undoubtedly lives.

Previous attempts to translate us on a late night in the United Kingdom often fight.

However, in the 80s of the last century, Saturday live – later renamed Live Friday Night Live – has been running for four seasons and helped the career of Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Stephen Fry and Rick Baine, while the show on Channel 4.

For the British producer of veteran comedy Jimmy Mulville, whose company Hat Trick Productions has made shows, including I have news for you and whose line is so?

“If Sky is fine, they will create new stars and can rotate other shows with these artists,” he explains. “These shows can be fantastic, they can last for years and can show new talent all the time.”

He says the producers will have to gather the right team of writers and performers.

“If it is well produced, I have no reason to understand why it should not be successful,” says Mulville, who jointly the leaders: the television podcast.

He recently took a long -standing current BBC panel show, and received news for you in the US, where it was ordered for the second season by CNN. A US talents agent warned that the show was “too British” to work through the lake, he recalls.

“I said,” Yes, that's it, but I'll write it by the Americans and performed by Americans for Americans. “

The opposite will be true for SNL. “In the UK you will write it from British writers with British performers for a British audience. So this is no longer an American show.”

In fact, being live from London will not be enough in itself to succeed and SNL UK will have to feel like a truly British creation of comedy, not just a heated imitation of an American hit.