Saturday Night Live is the latest show to push its episode schedule in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The Hollywood Reporter said on Monday that the NBC sketch comedy show has suspended its next three live shows over coronavirus concerns as the entertainment industry continues to practice social distancing and follow CDC guidelines about assembling crowds in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19.
According to THR‘s story, the show will “shut down” for three weeks and it’s unclear when it will return or if it will conclude the last five episodes of its scheduled 21-episode season:
SNL had been set to return on March 28 with John Krasinski as the host and Dua Lipa as the musical guest. Like other films that had been slated for a release soon, Krasinski’s movie A Quiet Place Part II was already pushed back until later this year.
Of course, SNL films in front of a live studio audience, and many other shows that do so (like Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and many late night shows) have already suspended filming.
The show’s February 29 episode, hosted by John Mulaney, had a number of coronavirus-related sketches, including its cold open, a cut-for-time parody of Love is Blind and an extended segment about the growing pandemic on Weekend Update. The next Saturday’s Daniel Craig-hosted episode didn’t lean as heavily into the joke, as Craig’s No Time To Die James Bond movie had already been postponed in the wake of the growing scare.
It’s unclear if the show would simply reschedule its already-announced hosts and musical guests or if the delay would shuffle things around and go with new talent when the series resumes, but it’s clear the show is taking the pandemic seriously and won’t resume things until the pandemic is under control.
[via THR]
