OpenTube

Our Honest Review Of SNL UK

The Rest Is Entertainment

122,750 views

Did Saturday Night Live UK flop or not? Are we in a golden age of British comedy? And why has Netflix parted ways with Harry and Meghan?

SNL made its UK debut on Saturday night after weeks of scepticism from critics - but was it any good? And who was responsible for a freakishly good Princess Di impression?

Netflix has announced it’s divesting from the lifestyle brand it helped Meghan Markle build, amidst damning reports about the couple. So what’s really going on, and were Sussex’s entertainment dreams doomed from the start?

Last One Laughing returns to our screens - is this blockbuster comedy at its best? Richard and Marina discuss the filming secrets and big budget behind the hit reality show.
Is there more than one Jim Carrey? What length do the production team on Would I Like To You go to track down a panelists mystery guest? Just how do you keep cameras out of shots that feature mirrors?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
🐙 The Rest is Entertainment is brought to you by Octopus Energy, Britain's most awarded energy supplier.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
👀 Join The Rest Is Entertainment Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus content, ad-free listening, early access to Q&A episodes, access to our newsletter archive, discounted book prices with our partners at Coles Books, early ticket access to live events, and access to our chat community. Sign up directly at therestisentertainment.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
✅ Subscribe Here: @therestisentertainment
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
🎙️ Listen To The Podcast: https://lnk.to/TRIEYT
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
✉️ Sign up to our newsletter: www.therestisentertainment.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
📱 Follow Us On Socials:
Facebook: Facebook: restisentertainment
Twitter: Twitter: restisents
TikTok: TikTok: restisentertainment
Instagram: Instagram: restisentertainment
Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/trientertain...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Video Editor: Joey McCarthy & Charlie Rodwell
Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott
Senior Producer: Joey McCarthy
Social Producer: Bex Tyrrell
Exec Producer: Neil Fearn
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
00:00 Intro
01:10 Octopus Energy
02:15 Did SNL UK defy the critics?
10:17 If Sky buy ITV should SNL go on ITV?
12:00 Is Last One Laughing series two even better than the first?
17:40 Bumble
18:36 What’s gone wrong with Meghan and Harry’s Netflix deal?
30:55 Will Brooklyn and Nicola Peltz-Beckham do their own documentary?
34:07 Marina and Richard’s recommendations
36:30 Outro

20 Comments

@ndonaldson80 6 months ago

The sketches cannot go viral if they are not available. Sky has posted less than half the sketches on YT.

@MLife1972 6 months ago (edited)

I think it's great to have a vehicle for fresh, new comedians. British comedy is in danger of becoming like Australian comedy where you see the same faces on every show where it almost becomes a circus troupe of regular performers who are dropped in to every show. I agree with Marina that 6 episodes is too small. For a topical show, the entire world could have been remapped between seasons.

@jimpayette3287 6 months ago (edited)

As a 60 yr old retired guy, I'm not the target audience for anything so this might not be relevant. But, for me, if something is good and "sometimes on", I mark my calander and wait patiently for its return. Seem to recall everyone showing up after the extended G of T hiatus. If something's "always on" but crap, I go build an airfix.

@erikmoss8972 6 months ago

10:26 snl uk did such a good job, their weekend update was really good, thr cold open was awesome and theyre right, that Princess Diana impersonation was in a class of its own

@David-j9h9g 6 months ago

In this day and age when more comedy is on TV rather than puerile reality TV, i am all for it!!!!

@evakatz6351 6 months ago

I think the reason people are more forgiving of bad drama than bad comedy is the cringe factor. A bad drama might be annoying, but if a sketch or stand-up routine is making your skin crawl, you just can’t watch.

@HarryBoNI75 6 months ago

"it couldn't have been better", that's a wild statement even for Osman's standards.

@MacBuckets 6 months ago

Starring Marina, Richard, and Richard's Giant Hand...

@GhostWriter432 6 months ago

Dear Marina.
To counter your 'always on' theory I give you The Graham Norton Show.
It's eagerly anticipated when it comes back, and missed when it finishes its run.

@shahedkhaddash 6 months ago

16:42 There are two factors to consider when analyzing audiences' reactions to drama and comedy: 1. Drama does not always reveal it's political or social stances early on while comedy, especially sketch tends to show their hand within seconds. This will turn off half your viewers. 2. Audiences expect a range of emotions from dramas (excitement, sadness, desire, comedic relief) while they think sketches will only serve them laughs. If they don't laugh in a minute, they don't expect to laugh in 8.

@some6uy 5 months ago

As a non-brit, I'm OBSESSED with the show
It's such a shame we're only getting 8 episodes, but every single one so far has been so replayable so I won't complain
I really hope we get more seasons with the cast

@watcherzero5256 6 months ago (edited)

Interestingly on the SNL (which has had many licensed international versions rarely lasting more than a single season, the Korean version being the major exception) the adaptions have all kept the Saturday name but most have been broadcast on Mondays and Tuesdays instead. Being aired once a month rather than weekly was common as well. One thing that has also been universally criticised in previous adaptations was they were all ordered by the US producers to directly remake classic US sketches like More Cowbell and Shweaty Balls (as along with licensing the format they license the scripts) and those sketch remakes universally went down poorly the audiences. In the first episode at least the UK version hasn't remade any previous US sketches so maybe Lorne Michaels has learned from his previous mistakes.
The thing I was most impressed by was that they had decent sets. Quickly turning out multiple unique erectable sets each week isn't something I think any other UK show has done. I had never seen any of the cast before (with the exception of one who was in the new Mitchell and Webb series) and I wouldn't call them well known outside the comedy industry bubble, SNL US had a couple of existing major stars like Chevy Chase and Belushi during the first season and has continued to occasionally cast famous people (e.g. Kenan Thompson), I would have liked to see one or two existing UK names to act as big brother/sister to the younger cast though I think that the salary of a famous name or two was probably what stopped this with its huge production costs. (In the US there are two seniority billing grades for the cast, Repertory for fresh faces and Featured when they have been there two or three years which allows them to pursue side projects and have more influence in the shows creation) while the salary structure as of 2024 is apparently $3k per episode in your first year, $4k for second $7k for fourth $15k for fifth upto $25k per episode for long running cast like the Weekend update hosts, with Kenan Thompson apparently uniquely getting over $100k per episode.

@HikerScottM 6 months ago

"Creating wonder in every spreadsheet"... 😂. Marina is great.

@VioletSchriever 5 months ago

Good lord the hand in my face. Reverse the seating! 😄

@benisturning30 6 months ago

30:41 media literacy actually started with Hiddleswift. The internet has created a generation that embraces the grift.

@CyHumphreysWxm 6 months ago

UK weekend update was savage in comparison to Jost and Che

@lakrids-pibe 6 months ago

I remember when I was a child and read the TV review of yesterday's broadcast in the newspaper every morning.

Everybody had seen the same thing, everyone had an opinion about it.

I remember a reviewer who was young and rebellious and wrote "turn it off and go outside. There's nothing good on anyway"

Everybody saw the same thing on TV, everybody had an opinion about it. Everybody complained that the program saturday evening wasn't entertaining .

@klimteastward7396 6 months ago

About the energy ad: Richard had his 14th birthday in 1984 when Band Aid outsold all others in the UK. And until Paula Yates watched the evening news with Bob Geldof in late November 1984, Frankie Goes to Hollywood looked on course to have the two best-selling singles of the year. Stevie Wonder placed fourth. Follow-through sales into 1985 didn't change that.