Live From London: "Saturday Night Live" Goes International!

When British media conglomerate Sky first announced a British version of "Saturday Night Live" in April 2025, they were met with a great deal of skepticism. Shows that are popular in the U.K. have found success when adapted in the U.S., but oftentimes it hasn't been the case when the roles are reversed. But by the end of the first season, even the most hardened critics had to admit that "SNL UK" was worth at least a few laughs.

Weeks before the show's launch, a senior executive at Sky complained to journalist Manori Ravindran about the absurdity of needing an American import to revive British comedy. The type of sketch comedy that "Saturday Night Live" is famous for actually originated in British musical halls in the late-1800s, and iconic British shows like "Monty Python" and "A Bit of Fry & Laurie" popularized the format. Rising production costs and cultural shifts caused the genre to fade from the mainstream, leaving what TV critic Natalie Jamiesoncalls a “void” of live British comedy. 

Enter "SNL UK". Executive produced by "SNL" mastermind Lorne Michaels himself, the show follows the same structure as its American counterpart with a cold open, host monologue, Weekend Update, and two performances from a musical guest. There’s a mix of live and prerecorded sketches, a full dress rehearsal, and a similar weekly production schedule. There are some slight differences though. The frantic, all-night writing process that the American version is known for is much more relaxed across the Pond. There’s a lot more swearing involved (you can do that on British TV!). And the cast only features 11 comedians compared to America’s 16. Producer James Longmanexplained to IndieWire that he wanted to enure the audience’s ability to get to know each cast member. “With more cast members, they won’t ever get screen time, and we need their personalities to come out." 

But none of these differences amount to a different show – not really. And if we’re being honest, the only thing that really makes the show different is it’s audience. "We built it from scratch based on this footprint – but we had to build it our own way," says Longman. And as the show found its footing over the course of it’s 8-episode first season, the content grew distinctly more British. Aside from the political commentary, sketches like "Posh Gits" and "British Pork" appealed towards a British audience in a way that American "SNL" sketches can’t. 

But what do the ratings have to say? The premiere episode drew in 226,000 overnight viewers on Sky, tripling the channel’s 10pm slot average. Every week, however, the numbers dwindled down until they reached 86,420 for the show’s finale. But in today’s digital world, broadcast ratings aren’t the only way to evaluate a program’s performance. "SNL UK" is Sky’s largest show on social media, drawing 200 million organic views across YouTube, TikTok, Meta, and X (plus the series streams Sundays on Peacock for U.S. audiences). These numbers were clearly enough for Sky, which announced a 12-episode second season of the show on May 7, set to premiere this September.

If "Saturday Night Live" works in both America and the U.K., why not in other countries too? In late 2025, Canal+ announced that it was working with American teams to develop a French edition of the show. This would be particular interesting to see, especially due to the controversy involving the channel’s controlling stakeholder. As we settle into an era of sequels and remakes, all we do is hope that these various versions will be different enough from each other.