![]() ![]() It’s noteworthy that this week’s cold open featured only one actual cast member, Beck Bennett, who plays a forgettable Mike Pence (accurately, as Pence is largely forgettable at the moment, too). The political sketches are being carried by non-cast members (and McKinnon, who pulls triple duty as Kellyanne Conway, Jeff Sessions, and Hillary Clinton). They’re watching for Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump impression, or Melissa McCarthy’s brilliant Sean Spicer send-up. It’s not been a terrible season of SNL, mind you (and certainly not as bad as it was in the 39th and 40th seasons), but what’s remarkable about this season of SNL is that - with the exception of Kate McKinnon - it’s not the cast of SNL that viewers are tuning into see. This season of SNL, on the other hand, has soared in popularity for one reason only: Donald Trump. What separates the 2016-2017 season from the 1993-94 season, however, is that the latter was buoyed by a strong cast and would-be stars, popular recurring characters (Tiny Elvis, Matt Foley, the Herlihy Boy, Wayne’s World, It’s Pat, Phil Hartman’s assortment of characters, and Sandler’s break-out years), and great writing (Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Silverman, Dave Attell, Norm McDonald, and Jim Downey, among others, populated the writer’s room). ![]() It was also the most watched episode of SNL since February, in the midst of a season that hasn’t seen higher ratings since the Chris Farley, Julia Sweeney, Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, Al Franken, and David Spade years. ![]() It fetched almost 8 million viewers, and in the 18-49 demographic, it was the third most watched telecast episode of the week behind only Big Bang Theory and Empire. There’s no streaming release date confirmed yet for Downey Wrote That, but stay tuned to Collider where we’ll have more reporting on this upcoming documentary in the future.Overnight ratings for this weekend’s first ever live coast-to-coast episode of Saturday Night Live are in, and from a numbers standpoint, it was a huge success. Looking at the long history of Saturday Night Live is going to be exciting and getting to see the show in its entirety is another perk of the streaming service. What this documentary shows for the future of Peacock is their planned exploration into the world of comedies that NBC possesses. Meanwhile, Downey‘s tenure on SNL makes him the longest-running writer in the show’s long history on air. which is maybe how the Iron Man actor ended up on one very short-lived season of the sketch comedy show back in 1985. The longtime writer of the show has been working with Saturday Night Live for over 30 seasons and now, Peacock has acquired a documentary titled Downey Wrote That, which will explore Downey‘s history with the show as well as the sketches that have been woven into our comedy zeitgeist.Īccording to the press release, the documentary will explore the legacy that Downey left on the show: “Through the 30 Rock corridors and down the staircase to Studio 8H, DOWNEY WROTE THAT is a documentary that will explore the sketches, contributions, and enduring influence of Jim Downey, one of the most impactful comedy writers in the history of Saturday Night Live.”ĭowney Wrote That is produced by Network Entertainment in association with Universal Television Alternative Studio and executive produced by Lorne Michaels, Erin David, Howard Klein, Osmany Rodriguez, Andy Breckman and Susan Morrison.ĭowney is also, notably, the uncle of Robert Downey Jr. From actors like Bill Murray and Gilda Radner all the way through to Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, the show has given us some of the greatest comedic minds out there and a large part of its success comes down to Jim Downey. Saturday Night Live has a long history on the comedy scene and with that comes a long catalog of famous writers and actors who have worked on the show at one point or another. ![]()
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