Saturday Evening Stay is getting a brand new spinoff within the UK, and whereas that is thrilling to some, one notable UK movie star is not as thrilled. John Oliver is all the time good at giving stark commentary with some biting wit, whether or not it’s speaking about professional wrestler names or Fall Out Boy overlaying a basic track. So, it completely is smart that Seth Meyers would wish to know his ideas on SNL coming ot the UK, although I am unsure he anticipated such a thumbs-down response.
Earlier than being the host of Late Evening With Seth Meyers, the titular host was a forged member on Saturday Evening Stay. John Oliver wasn’t on SNL, however as one of many extra well-known English comedians in the USA. Due to this fact, they appeared like two individuals certified to debate the upcoming spinoff. So, Meyers requested Oliver his ideas on SNL UK throughout an episode of Late Evening, and sadly, the Final Week Tonight host wasn’t too jazzed about it, saying:
Nicely, Seth, it is a horrible thought.
Final Week Tonight typically revolves round John Oliver delivering miserable information concerning the state of the world, so I doubt he was phased in any respect about telling Seth Meyers he wasn’t into the thought of Saturday Evening Stay launching within the UK. I would say possibly he’d have some worry of how Lorne Michaels (who’s an EP for the spinoff) or others at NBCUniversal would reply to him saying that on their community. Nonetheless, on condition that he is within the behavior of not attending movie star events, I doubt he’ll ever should rub shoulders with them.
On the identical time, Seth Meyers wasn’t going to let John Oliver drop that comment with out some type of rationalization. As typical, Oliver had a sound level to make and was capable of inject a little bit of humor into it to take the sting off taking pictures down the potential of a UK model of Saturday Evening Stay:
Nicely, it simply appears like a foul — now we have had sketch comedy earlier than…And it simply seems like Saturday Evening Stay is such a singular group. It’s a cult. I’m attempting to not say the phrase. It’s a cult. And so I don’t know how one can impose that cult onto the U.Okay.
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He has a degree. Whereas Saturday Evening Stay is an American establishment with an extended historical past and often generates curiosity with its movie star hosts and musical friends, it is hardly the primary present of its form. There’s nothing stopping any outfit from beginning its personal reside sketch comedy sequence ought to it select to take action, and John Oliver famous that it would not essentially should be beneath the SNL umbrella to achieve success.
In fact, I do not suppose anybody can deny there’s an enchantment of getting title recognition today in Hollywood, and having the Saturday Evening Stay branding could assist the UK sequence get off the bottom versus if it had been the same premise with a wholly completely different title. It’d fail, but it surely additionally could possibly be successful, and would not that be thrilling?
Consider all the previous SNL stars who returned to the sequence years later as celebrities who blew up due to the present? Having a UK-based present that provides the identical type of platform for younger actors and comedians on the opposite aspect of the pond could possibly be helpful. And if the UK SNL finally ends up having worldwide enchantment, we could get a brand new wave of big-name stars from the area, much like how we get them right here.
Saturday Evening Stay UK is anticipated to start in 2026, and if we’re fortunate, it is going to additionally get a critically-acclaimed film about its first episode a long time from now. Let’s hope for some optimistic momentum on the best way to its premiere and extra causes to get enthusiastic about this sketch sequence!
Within the meantime, you’ll be able to sustain with the flagship SNL by watching new episodes on the 2025 TV schedule each Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC. It’s also possible to stream it (in addition to Late Evening with Seth Meyers and different NBC packages) with a Peacock subscription.