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Is "Saturday Night Live" Allowed To Have A Live Studio Audience During Pandemic?
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 2, 2020
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 2, 2020
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Saturday Night Live is set to return for its 46th season this Saturday night with a season premiere featuring host Chris Rock and musical guest Megan Thee Stallion. This will be SNL's first episode back at Studio 8H since the start of the pandemic (they produced three At Home episodes last spring), and the first of at least five consecutive episodes taking us up to the election. They announced that there will be limited in-studio audiences at 30 Rock for the tapings—but it turns out that may not technically be legal.
SNL has been offering tickets to audiences via third party website 1iota, with anyone allowed to request free passes to the live show or dress rehearsal (they are also setting some tickets aside for health care workers). Usually SNL can fit around 300 people into the audience, but it's unclear how many they are allowing for these upcoming episodes. They note that everyone who is admitted has to submit to temperature checks, a mandatory COVID-19 test upon arrival, and they have to wear face coverings the entire time indoors.
However, as Democrat & Chronicle pointed out, general audiences aren't allowed yet for TV productions. According to the state guidelines for media production during the pandemic, which were last updated in June, "Responsible Parties must prohibit live audiences unless they consist only of paid employees, cast, and crew. Employees, cast and crew may make up a live audience of no more than 100 individuals, or 25% the audience capacity, whichever is lower. Live audiences must maintain social distance of at least six feet in all directions."
In a statement, Department of Health spokesman Gary Holmes said, "Offering tickets to the general public without the appropriate casting and screening process is not allowed. We have communicated that to SNL and expect them to follow the rules like every other business that has reopened during this global pandemic."
The state has enacted strict guidelines for live audiences for every type of venue, including restaurants, bars and concert halls where ticketed live music has been banned entirely.
We've reached out to SNL for comment on the live audiences, and will update if we hear back.
In the meantime, the show is gearing up for its first episode back with some lowkey promos. Check out one featuring Rock and Megan below, as well as one that shows Jim Carrey as Joe Biden and Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris.
In addition to all the returning cast members, the three new featured players who have been added to the cast are Lauren Holt, Punkie Johnson, and Andrew Dismukes. Dismukes has been an SNL staff writer since season 43; Holt is an Upright Citizens Brigade performer who Michaels said was supposed to have joined the cast toward the end of last season; and Johnson is a stand-up comedian whose credits include Space Force and Corporate.
On Friday, the show also announced who the hosts and musical guests will be for the next two episodes: comedian Bill Burr will make his hosting debut on October 10th with musical guest Morgan Wallen, and comedian Issa Rae will host on October 17th with musical guest Justin Bieber.
And below, you can get a glimpse at what a socially distanced table read is looking like for the cast right now.
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saturday night live
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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