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Announcements Mar 23, 2026 at 11:08 PM

SNL UK was great

Posted by Early-Piano2647

I’ve never sat down and watched an entire episode of the OG, but I’ve seen more than enough YouTube clips over the years of all the great moments. The UK version couldn’t have had a better start if it tried, for a first episode. It was slightly safe, but knowing UK humour that won’t last long and they’ll stop copying the American version quite so much (unless Lorne legally has a firm grip on the creative process). I think, similarly to the US Office, once it finds its feet and forges its own unique identity, it could be a future UK TV classic. I’ll be sitting down with my folks every Sunday night to watch it (Brits, but in Australia). I’m just happy for another platform to discover UK comedic talent. Not that there isn’t enough, but one more to the mix is always a good thing. Speaking of Australia, just you wait. There’ll be an Oz version in the next five years. And good god will it be terrible. Very few Aussie comedians these days are actually funny (the ones who get the gigs, anyway).
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Mattwildman5 Mar 23, 2026 +51
What kind of Irish is your Grandad?
51
Early-Piano2647 Mar 23, 2026 +3
Most likely the kind who was in the bread business
3
laluneodyssee Mar 23, 2026 +52
Definitely some pacing issues, but I enjoyed it. With all of UK's comedic talent, they need an outlet like this. Taskmaster can realistically only do so much in giving new comics an audience. And there haven't been that many panel shows that have stuck around, aside from the very welcome return of Mock the Week. I'd liked how edgy they went, especially compared to the US version. To be honest, I think that's the direction they probably need to go down. Not necessarily as far as into Brass Eye or The Day Today... but definitely along those lines.
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Parker4815-2 Mar 23, 2026 +16
I agree. In order for it to be a British show, it needs to push the doom and gloom humour and be more on the nose.
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Gertrudethecurious Mar 24, 2026 -3
Last one laughing s2 is just as good as s1
-3
Parker4815-2 Mar 24, 2026 +2
... OK then. Not what we were talking about... I agree, though. Im enjoying it so far
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Gertrudethecurious Mar 24, 2026 -2
I mentioned it as someone mentioned comedians and taskmaster.  It's reddit. Comments are sometimes off on tangents. Welcome to the internet.
-2
Parker4815-2 Mar 24, 2026 +4
My cat has been enjoying the new food I brought her. I was worried she would go off it.
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diskape Mar 24, 2026 +6
„There haven’t been that many panel shows that have stuck around?” aside from the only one you mentioned? That just straight wrong? Would I lie to you?, QI, 8 out of 10 cats does countdown and Have I got news for you would beg to differ. They all have much bigger audience than mock the week. A lot of new ones popping up as well. There’s plenty of outlets for new comedians in the UK. I’d say they have more opportunity on tv because of these pale shows than other countries.
6
Frozen_Canadian Mar 24, 2026 +4
There's a lot of panel shows for sure, but they all use the same 10-15 comedians. It's awful. What makes Taskmaster great is they get new people in and theres always one or two young up and comers each series (ania magliano last series for example). Sick and tired of Jimmy Carr, Rob Beckett, Ramesh, etc.
4
tbbt11 Mar 23, 2026 +37
Thought it was decent too, there’s promise but they need to end sketches quicker and keep the concepts tight. They were lingering on far too long
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confuzzledfather Mar 23, 2026 +9
See the fast show for ideal comedic pacing.
9
Existing_Set2100 Mar 23, 2026 +13
a bit too long innit?
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Early-Piano2647 Mar 23, 2026 +8
Yeah I agree, this is something the US version does all the time and it has always annoyed me. I guess they need to fill time, but that’s literally what ruins a joke, when it outstays its welcome. Snappiness makes or breaks a gag.
8
ValeoAnt Mar 23, 2026 -13
That's kind of a British thing though
-13
Tube_Warmer Mar 23, 2026 +6
No is isnt?
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FX114 Mar 24, 2026 +1
That's a sketch comedy thing. The hardest part of writing sketches is ending them. The British just have a lot of landmark sketch comedy.
1
Digifiend84 Mar 24, 2026 +11
There's one big problem with this show. It's on Sky One, a subscription channel. That'll severely hurt it's chance to get an audience. Should've simulcast it on Sky Mix, which is available on Freeview.
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liambrazier Mar 24, 2026 +2
Yep. 100% agree. Have to believe Channel4 passed on it as it’s so Ch4 flavoured.
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Spencer_Perceval Mar 24, 2026 +7
Channel 4 didn’t pass on it. No other channel did. Sky and the IP is owned by the same company. Lorne Michaels has an overall deal with the wider corporate group. It’s an internal commission.
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Frosty_Term9911 Mar 24, 2026 +1
This is the reason it will fail irrespective of quality. It’s expensive in too. I think it has 11 screen comics and an additional 20 writers.
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Early-Piano2647 Mar 24, 2026 +1
That’s a shame, I assumed it was on BBC.
1
Karffs Mar 24, 2026 +1
>That'll severely hurt its chance to get an audience. Its job is to get an audience amongst people who pay for Sky and people who might. If you don’t fall into either category then you’re not the primary audience. They want cultural relevance (social media etc) but only as a driver to those primary goals. I’m not sure why so many people struggle with this.
1
Parker4815-2 Mar 23, 2026 +12
A few of the skits had great concepts. Underage is absolutely hilarious. And the Kier impression was funny, although poorly written and a bit long. Princess Di was absolutely spot on. That comedian is amazing in all their roles in the episode.
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Early-Piano2647 Mar 24, 2026 +3
Loved the Underage idea. I’m sure Fey came up with that, it’s straight out of a US skit. Di and Sassy Baby actor was amazing!
3
insert-username12 Mar 24, 2026 +6
No way, that skit was unequivocally British. No way would you see that on American SNL
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AdrianW3 Mar 24, 2026 +5
No way you'd see Tina saying f*** on American SNL either. 
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Winter-It-Will-Send Mar 24, 2026 +1
His roles
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Parker4815-2 Mar 24, 2026 +1
What?
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Early-Piano2647 Mar 23, 2026 +18
I really enjoyed Princess Diana, the sassy womb baby, and David Attenborough starting his introduction with “it can’t be long now”. I just liked the “togetherness” vibe we’ve lost in the past 20 years. There was so much energy and hope in this that I finished it and found myself in a really good mood. Hoping Sarah Millican and Olivia Colman host at some point.
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everythingisunknown Mar 24, 2026 +8
I love how anyone who says they didn’t like it gets downvoted, the laughter felt forced and it wasn’t great, there’s just no reason to copy the format on a channel no one watches
8
leather_pencil Mar 23, 2026 +9
Canadian here...educate yourself lol. I liked it. Pretty good for a first show!
9
sadr0bot Mar 23, 2026 +17
I thought it was complete shite myself.
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OxbridgeDingoBaby Mar 23, 2026 +2
Yeah same. I just feel British is comedy is different to American comedy and this format doesn’t work - it doesn’t have as much edge to it and the skits feel needlessly long sometimes to the point of banality. I don’t watch the US SNL to be fair either (only clips posted to this sub), so maybe I’m not the target audience.
2
sadr0bot Mar 24, 2026 -4
Smug is the word I would use.
-4
Karffs Mar 24, 2026 +1
Don’t worry you can still watch Mrs. Browns Boys.
1
sadr0bot Mar 24, 2026 +2
I'd rather saw my own legs off.
2
tjvs2001 Mar 24, 2026 +1
Saying this is the opposite of MBB is false, there's much more good high brow actually funny programmes around the idea we need SNL to undo the poison of MBB is untrue, we have our own antidotes.
1
Karffs Mar 24, 2026 +1
Not sure the high brow ones are for you if you couldn’t tell my comment was tongue-in-cheek.
1
Lloytron Mar 23, 2026 +13
Was more hit than miss for me, enjoyed it
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okmijnmko Mar 23, 2026 +4
Agree, highs and lows but the music felt right for the 1st UK show.
4
helterskeltermelter Mar 23, 2026 +10
I found it was surprisingly fine. I wasn't expecting it to be so okay. Genuinely alright.
10
safarifriendliness Mar 23, 2026 +5
It was written well enough but you could see the first night jitters all throughout. I think it’ll get better
5
Liamylad Mar 23, 2026 +6
I enjoyed it. Laughed more than I cringed. Big fan of Al Nash so I hope we get to see more of him.
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Dopamaxxer Mar 24, 2026 +3
It had a renewed energy that the US version has been lacking for quite a while. The audience had pop, the writing felt stronger (no surprise from the Brits), and it felt a lot looser without the FCC bearing down on content restrictions.
3
Early-Piano2647 Mar 24, 2026 +2
The C-word stunned me, then I reminded myself that it’s the UK!
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jdg12345678 Mar 23, 2026 +2
thought it was shit personally
2
Early-Piano2647 Mar 23, 2026 +1
That’s fair enough!
1
KrivUK Mar 23, 2026 +2
We must have been watching different shows. All for the promotion is fresh new talent, but my goodness very little landed, which is a shame.
2
Early-Piano2647 Mar 23, 2026 +1
That’s fair, you don’t deserve downvotes for that. Still a shame it didn’t vibe with you. Hope that changes! I laughed quite a few times.
1
KrivUK Mar 24, 2026 +1
Weekend update was the only laugh out loud bit for me. Will give it a few more EPS as there is some really good talent.
1
Irrelavent1 Mar 24, 2026 +1
They can say f***!
1
Coolboss999 Mar 24, 2026 +1
Also, I love that they're allowed to curse in this version. Adds more spice to it
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Early-Piano2647 Mar 24, 2026
I agree! I did feel like the emphasis of the C word was a bit much, if only because of its intention clearly being to show the audience that they could do it. It didn’t exactly add to the Hamlet parody.
0
liambrazier Mar 24, 2026 +3
That’s just how we talk. Doesn’t even raise an eyebrow post watershed as it’s common vernacular.
3
Trueogre Mar 24, 2026 -1
Because North Americans are predominantly Mormon, so swearing is off the table.
-1
noced Mar 24, 2026 +1
Agreed, I just watched it on Peacock and laughed a lot. I’m curious how they’ll balance it with US SNL. Will the writers and producers coordinate to not have similar jokes on Weekend Update, for example?
1
PeterNippelstein Mar 24, 2026 +1
Im an American and I thought it was a success, really exciting to see where they take it and I really hope they make it unabashedly british.
1
pr2thej Mar 24, 2026 +1
Yeah but f*** Sky 
1
UnpleasantEgg Mar 24, 2026 +1
I think they did great. Can you imagine the nerves? Once they get in their stride and work out what lands and what doesn’t it could get really good.
1
cavemeister Mar 24, 2026 +1
It was good but I thought Tina did a lot of the heavy lifting. They are on their own from next week. Fingers crossed
1
Ghost_of_P34 Mar 23, 2026 +2
How do you compare it to this season of SNL US?
2
CaptCumQuick Mar 24, 2026
Is it worth watching for someone who has no interest in UK popculture?
0
the_pedigree Mar 24, 2026
I guess the ones I caught on Instagram were the duds. The Brit’s brought back to life was straight up boring and underage skin care was pretty awful as well.
0
spaceporter Mar 23, 2026 -4
I like Jim Jeffries and Tom Minchin. I’m sure a few others if I think about it. I guess I can’t say about those in their 20s but I have faith in Australian humour overall. 
-4
godisanelectricolive Mar 23, 2026 +7
Sam Campbell and Aaron Chan are good.
7
InviteAromatic6124 Mar 24, 2026 +3
And Adam Hills
3
ChozoRidley Mar 24, 2026
Australia tried to create its own version of SNL about 20 years ago. It was called 'Let Loose Live', it was terrible, and it got axed after two episodes.
0
Tube_Warmer Mar 23, 2026 -21
It was f****** atrocious. That opening skit was about as funny as reading the Epstein files.
-21
Lloytron Mar 23, 2026 +4
It wasn't a great sketch. What did you make of the rest of the show?
4
Tube_Warmer Mar 23, 2026 -4
Thought Tina Feys opening was alright, other than that. Just a lot of Brits trying to do American comedy. Which we cant do, anymore than Americans can do our comedy.
-4
Lloytron Mar 24, 2026 -1
Lol.yes us Brits famously cannot do sketch shows or improv.
-1
Tube_Warmer Mar 24, 2026
Is this a bot response? Because I didnt say that we couldnt do sketch/improv comedy. What I said was that we cant do yank comedy. Do you want to take another stab at a reply, mate. Or are the upvotes too dry for you now?
0
Lloytron Mar 24, 2026
My mistake, yep this wasn't a sketch show, no sketches or improv was involved at all.
0
ValeoAnt Mar 23, 2026 -4
They should hire you, what incisive political commentary! Linking it to current events! Wow! Epstein! Laugh laugh laugh
-4
Tube_Warmer Mar 23, 2026 -1
They ruined a perfectly good bum when they put teeth in your mouth.
-1
Ok-Metal-4719 Mar 23, 2026 -6
Hosted by an American and made American jokes. It can only get better.
-6
Scutage Mar 24, 2026 +1
I’m asking this sincerely, because I want to know: What do you mean by ‘American’ jokes? I immigrated to America a decade ago, so I might be too immersed in American culture to have noticed it. I actually felt a bit out of touch with my roots watching the show, because there were a couple of jokes I didn’t get.
1
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