By Dustin Rowles | Saturday Night Live | March 16, 2017 |
By Dustin Rowles | Saturday Night Live | March 16, 2017 |
Thanks to Donald Trump, SNL is experiencing a huge resurgence in popularity, although sadly, it is not experiencing much of a creative resurgence (in fact, about half of this year’s episodes have been bloody awful). But thanks to sites like this, the big sketches and videos are already being watched on the West Coast before SNL even airs, which probably cuts into both ratings for SNL and its ability to capitalize on viral videos, which are ripped and turned into videos before NBC puts them up on YouTube.
How can SNL keep as much of the content and money to itself without losing any of the virality? They’re going to try an experiment they have never tried before: They’re going to be live everywhere, and not just on the Eastern and Central time zones, according to Uproxx.
“SNL — enjoying its most popular season in two decades — is part of the national conversation, and we thought it would be a great idea to broadcast to the west and mountain time zones live at the same time it’s being seen in the east and central time zones,” said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment in a statement. “That way, everyone is in on the joke at the same time. Kudos to Lorne Michaels, the producers and cast for making SNL one of the most relevant and anticipated shows in the zeitgeist.”
They’re going to roll out the experiment with the last four episodes of the season, which will feature Jimmy Fallon (April 15), Chris Pine (May 6), Melissa McCarthy (May 13), and Dwayne Johnson (May 20). That’s a pretty great lineup of guests, notwithstanding Fallon’s irksome apathy for politics. The episodes will air at 11:30 on the East Coast, and 8:30 on the West Coast.