It was a hugely triumphant opener for the second season of Saturday Night Live UK yesterday, with the brilliant Jeff Goldblum and CMAT as the Host/Musical Guest, respectively. All the hilarious cast felt like they were brimming with confidence, and the decision to give the full cast (plus the addition of Freddie Meredith) another season looks to have paid off.
For large portions of the early stages in the first season, it felt like the cast were all trying to find their rhythm. With this opener, they almost had a bit of a swagger about them. The live audience, now confident in their favourites, gave the whole episode a more electric atmosphere, which the cast were absolutely thriving in. You could see this most clearly with Ania Magliano and Paddy Young on Weekend Update. They were two of the breakout stars of the first season (alongside George Fouracres) and fans in the audience clearly loved them as a result. Weekend Update has always been the standout segment on Saturday Night Live, and the duo of Magliano and Young once again prove they have been perfectly cast to anchor the UK version.
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I felt that there was a really strong variety of hilarious sketches, with An Invisible Friend and a parody of The Piano being the comedic highlights for me. There were debates online beforehand about whether we would see any recurring segments from the first season, and I was pleased to see a fan favourite return already. When it comes to the host performance, I thought he did a great job. I can never tell how I feel about Jeff Goldblum, but he’s clearly an absolute legend with aura in abundance. I think it’s pretty cool that the UK edition is already getting stars of this calibre, and it can only be a positive that Goldblum can pass on his experience having hosted the original show in 1993 and 1997. Interestingly, a lot of the talk around this show is still whether it can reach and maintain new audiences. Having an A-Lister like Goldblum hosting is a great way to try to bring those audiences in, but it remains to be seen whether Jamie Demetriou and Amelia Dimoldenberg, the only other confirmed hosts, will have the same effect. Dimoldenberg’s established virality and internet fame could easily make a hugely positive impact on socials.
Annoyingly, I’m still struggling a bit with the cold opens for SNL UK, with this week’s focusing on Harry and Meghan returning to the UK. I can’t tell if this feeling is unique to the show, though, as I often struggle with the cold opens for the original version too. It may be because of the often heavy focus on that week’s politics, but I think in reality they just haven’t landed for me as much as the rest of the show. There have been some brilliant cold opens over the years, but they just aren’t landing for me at the moment. Fingers crossed that changes this season, although it was fun to see Fouracres take over as Andy Burnham from Paddy Young.
There can’t be any complaints about the episode, with it undoubtedly being a strong funny start for cast and crew alike. I’m really pleased that Saturday Night Live UK is back for another season, and I can’t wait to see how this season pans out. The history of the US edition is so fascinating to me, and it’s so awesome to be able to watch the start of what could potentially be, if things go well, a long stay on our TVs for British Comedy.
Saturday Night Live UK is available to watch on Sky One and Now TV every Saturday from 10pm.
