All aboard the UK SNL bandwagon – we’re driving!

“TV comedy is dead. It’s game over. It’s all about the socials and the streamers now.”

These are the sort of fun chats you might hear in comedy green rooms up and down the country. But reports of the death of comedy on TV may prove to be exaggerated. We’re not saying it’s exactly doing the can-can, but the Last Rites aren’t being performed just yet.

Comedy Central has been commissioning more original programmes (Iain Stirling Roasts The Internet is terrific. And, yes, I’m biased because I was the warm-up!), the British version of Last One Laughing was a big hit for Amazon, Sky continues to commission more comedy and stand-up specials, while Channel 4 is making more original comedy, such as a sitcom with ABC hero Josh Pugh, while being home to the mighty Taskmaster, of course (again, a vital launchpad for comedians and, frankly, a big help to Always Be Comedy thanks to the supportive Taskmaster fanbase, as we remind Alex Horne several times every year).

We’re not saying the comedy-on-TV landscape is perfect (as Always Be Comedy podcast listeners will attest, we’ve been somewhat gloomy this past few months). But it feels like it’s getting better. Which conveniently takes us to the start of 2026 and the launch of the UK version of Saturday Night Live. And, once again, it’s kudos to Sky for taking the big swing (this isn’t paid-for content but, Sky, if you want to help bring down the ol’ monthly bill, please, we’re very easy to get hold of).

Now, we at Always Be Comedy don’t want to get into some sort of rapper’s beef with certain TV commentators and columnists, but perhaps it could be good to put the knives down for this one just yet. Especially given it’s several months away from airing! You can’t bemoan the lack of comedy on TV one moment, and then gleefully dismiss UK SNL the next. "It won’t work here." "It’s not for us." "The US version is rubbish anyway." It’s a familiar kind of cynicism, a pre-emptive strike against a show that hasn’t even aired its first episode. And won’t until January.

We at Always Be Comedy have heard a great deal about UK SNL on the comedy grapevine and, frankly, we can’t wait. After all, this is a huge, primetime opportunity for comedy in a television landscape that has had a tough time. We’ve all felt the shift. While it seems there’s evidence of a mini-recovery, the commissioning of new shows has been frustratingly slow for years, and the big, bold, studio-based concepts we once saw are now a rarity.

In this new world, a high-budget, live-audience sketch show isn’t just a nice idea—it’s a lifeline. It’s a chance for our industry to get a vital jolt of energy, and that is something we should be celebrating, not tearing down.

To understand the potential, we must look at the source material. The original US Saturday Night Live wasn’t an overnight success. Far from it. Heck, friend-of-the-night Nick Helm bought Always Be Comedy the box-set of Season One and, well, let’s just diplomatically say it’s a patchy watch (there’s a Jim Henson puppet sketch in episode one that goes on for, conservatively, one month).

When it launched in 1975, it was messy, experimental and, frankly, a bit all over the place. Critics were lukewarm, and the first few seasons were a chaotic blend of hits and misses. But it was given a crucial grace period to find its feet. Producers trusted the format and the talent, and they allowed it to breathe. That period of trust and experimentation is what turned it into a cultural institution. It was the messy early days that allowed the show to discover its rhythm, its best writers and, most importantly, its stars.

Think about the list of legends who were virtually unknowns when they first walked on to that stage. The show became the launchpad for some of the biggest names in comedy history: Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Pete Davidson, and Jimmy Fallon, to name just a handful. You’re probably raging at the names we didn’t include. “How can you not mention Chris Farley!” Look, we’re trying to keep the word count to 1,000 and we’ve failed, OK?!

They didn’t arrive fully formed (OK, maybe Eddie Murphy did. He’s a genius). They were given the space to grow, to fail, to experiment with characters and voices until they became household names. The show’s resilience over decades is a testament to the power of that original idea: find brilliant new talent and give them a weekly stage to shine.

Now, imagine that here. The UK is a hotbed of comedic talent, from the stand-ups who pack out small rooms above pubs (and we at Always Be Comedy salute them all!) to the sketch artists creating viral – and, indeed, vital – content online. We at ABC have seen the likes of Rosie Holt and Munya Chawawa effortlessly translate from phone screen to Tommyfield titans.

We are bursting with creativity, but the television pipeline has been bottlenecked. The UK SNL isn’t about being a pale imitation of the US show. It's about taking that powerful, time-tested format and infusing it with our own uniquely British humour. It’s a chance to build something that reflects our own sensibilities, our own political absurdities (what a week this would have been! Although, right now, you could say that most weeks…), and our own specific brand of observational comedy.

The time is perfect for a UK SNL in the wake of what's happened in the US with Jimmy Kimmel. The situation has been a stark reminder of the fragile relationship between comedians and the networks that broadcast them. In an era where even the most established voices can be tampered with or even silenced, the need for a live, unfiltered, and unapologetic platform has never been more critical. The UK, with its history of taking creative risks from Spitting Image to Brass Eye, is perfectly positioned to provide that essential stage, one where the comedy is raw, immediate, and unafraid of network notes (although time may tell on that front…). This isn't just about launching stars; it's about preserving the art form itself.

We can’t promise that every sketch will be a hit. But that’s sketch comedy and live television, beebee! The US version has had more than its fair share of clunkers down the years. And there’s fun to be had as a sketch hits the buffers (SNL fans will know there was a chaotic glory in watching Will Ferrell really lean into a bomb. If he was going down, he was going down in flames!).

This show promises to be a celebration of that best emerging talent. It’s a stage for a new generation of writers, performers, and comedians. Imagine some of the rising stars you’ve seen at Always Be Comedy, honing their craft on a small stage, suddenly getting to perform to a national audience. We’re dabbing an eye at the very thought. This could be the platform that launches the next big star—the next Harry Hill, Stephen Merchant, Jennifer Saunders, Romesh Ranganathan, the next whoever that will change the face of British comedy forever. That is something worth championing with all our might.

Of course, the cynics have their points. "Will the humour translate?" "Can a live sketch show work here?" And, goshdarnit, they might be proved right. But, as Jack Nicholson seethed in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest: “I tried, didn't I? Goddamnit, at least I did that!” We’d rather be on the side of the people prepared to take the big swing, rather than those sneering at anyone brave enough to reach for the bat in the first place.

Great comedy has always been a risk. Look at Monty Python, The Young Ones, French & Saunders, Vic & Bob – some of the biggest, silliest swings in the history of the medium. It’s in taking those creative leaps that we get the shows we love. We bemoan the lack of risks in TV comedy these days. GUYS – UK SNL IS A BIG BEAUTIFUL RISK!

The excitement of live television is a huge part of the appeal; it’s raw, it's immediate, and it keeps the energy high. It’s that shared, unedited moment that can lead to some of the most memorable sketches in history (check out the SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night – More Cowbell documentary on Sky. Yes, really. NBC made a full documentary about the iconic Will Ferrell / Christopher Walken Cowbell sketch and it’s fantastic).

So, let's give UK SNL a chance. Let's not tear it down before it’s even had the opportunity to build. Let’s support the idea that more comedy on TV is a good thing and that a platform for new talent is an essential thing. Let's give this show the grace period it deserves (granted, that’s up to the money folk at Sky. If those money folk are reading this, genuinely, we at ABC would love to bring down that monthly bill) to become something special for us, for British comedy, and for the next generation of performers. Because in the end, it’s not about whether it’s exactly like the US version—it’s about whether it can be our own, brilliant, home-grown success.

And, crucially, whether it elevates the careers of those comedians who play Always Be Comedy thereby helping us sell more tickets as we put on more nights. And if that’s not inspiration for Lorne Michaels and his team to ensure UK SNL is a smash-hit, we don’t know what is.