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Saturday Night Live Has Postponed Next Three Episodes Due To Coronavirus
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 16, 2020
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 16, 2020
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Saturday Night Live wasn't supposed to return from break with an all-new episode until a week from Saturday, but much like every other cultural event meant to happen over the next few weeks, that's now been scrapped: Variety reports that SNL has decided to halt production and postpone at least the next three episodes because of the spread of coronavirus.
John Krasinski, whose new film A Quiet Place Part II has also been indefinitely delayed, would have hosted the March 28th episode with musical guest Dua Lipa. It's unclear whether SNL will attempt to rebook Krasinki for a makeup episode, or—if his film isn't released until the fall—wait until then to bring him on to host.
SNL has aired 16 out of 21 episodes in its 45th season—TVLine adds that NBC is taking "a wait-and-see approach" with the final five episodes. The last time SNL had a shortened season was in 2007, when the writers' strike resulted in season 33 just being 12 episodes.
Daniel Craig hosted the last new episode on March 7th with musical guest The Weeknd—there were several coronavirus-themed sketches, the best of which was soap opera "The Sands of Modesto," which featured some superb prop work, and a hilarious saran wrapped sex scene.
This news comes a few days after other late night TV shows, including fellow NBC show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, decided to shut down production as well.
If you're itching for some other SNL content, GQ profiled new castmember Bowen Yang. And you can probably piece together what a new episode of SNL would have looked like had they been on air this week:
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saturday night life
COVID-19
coronavirus
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television
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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
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