A host of familiar faces, including Graham Norton, Nicola Coughlan and Kate Butch, were among the guest list for the UK’s first-ever Saturday Night Live (SNL), which aired on March 21.
The series features a stacked lineup of UK comedians, including Hammed Animashaun, Celeste Dring, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Jack Shep, George Fouracres, Emma Sidi, Ania Magliano, Paddy Young, Annabel Marlow and Al Nash. Musical entertainment was provided by Wet Leg.
For the first instalment of the UK sketch series, Tina Fey was on hosting duties, and during the opening monologue, she fielded questions from a number of famous audience members. The first to put Fey through her paces was Derry Girls star Nicola Coughlan, who asked why an American would be the first ever host of SNL UK. After some back and forth, Fey bluntly said that big names in the UK were too hesitant to step into the top job for the first broadcast.
Coughlan then suggested that British celebrities may have been reluctant due to a tendency by British people to “root for the failure of others”. Fey then asked the actor why that is, to which Coughlan responded that she does not have that trait, as she is Irish. She then urged Fey jokingly to “educate” herself.
Fey then fielded a question from Juno star Michael Cera, who continued with the “educate yourself” bit, before Norton jumped up to ask Fey if she knew this was actually his studio. He then joined her on stage under the pretence of showing her a “fiddly thing”. The chat show host then began interviewing her, and suggested he has a “gift in making American celebrities likeable to British audiences”.
He then quizzed her on her knowledge of famous British sitcoms, and in quick succession, Fey recreated famous lines from Keeping Up Appearances, Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and more.
Drag Race UK fans, meanwhile, were delighted when Kate Butch popped up with a cameo in a Hamnet sketch. The queen described appearing in a sketch alongside Fey as “one of my favourite things I’ve ever done”.
The next episode of SNL UK will air on Saturday, March 28, with Jamie Dornan as host and Wolf Alice as the musical guest.
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