‘Saturday Night Live U.K.’ Has Found Its Voice After Seven Months

By Marcus Bennett

Seven months after its March premiere, “Saturday Night Live U.K.” has established itself as more than an experiment. The show has tweaked formats, landed scathing punchlines and leaned hard into its Britishness — including a sketch that introduces King Charles to a “Deeply Intelligent, Autonomous, Neurokinetic Android,” a.k.a. DIANA.

The premiere set expectations low and familiar. When “Saturday Night Live U.K.” first aired in March, it was fair to assume it would follow the same rhythms and traditions that have defined Saturday nights on American television for over half a century. Deviating from those norms can still be risky for the original “S.N.L.,” let alone a spinoff born in its shadow.

Accordingly, the first episode began with a politically timely cold open. A live band played sketches on and offstage, with a brief break for Weekend Update. Its first host was Tina Fey.

What does the spinoff share with the original?

The branding and the leadership remain American at the core. The show belongs to the “S.N.L.” brand, and it is executive produced by Lorne Michaels, the founder of the American institution.

From the moment its cast first shouted, “Live from London, it’s Saturday night!,” watching it has felt like spying on a parallel universe full of potential, in the words of the source review.

But there is one structural advantage the London version holds over its New York parent. Without 50 years of history to shoulder, this version gets to start somewhat fresh. The only question was how different it would — or could — become.

How has the show set itself apart?

The answer, seven months in, is through content that the American show could not or would not make:

• Sneering at royals, as in the DIANA sketch.
• A bit described as “Nigerian Wicked.”
• Tweakings of inherited “S.N.L.” formats.

The bones might look familiar, but the cast and writers have brought “Saturday Night Live” to life in a way all their own, according to the assessment.

What does this change for viewers? It means the franchise can travel beyond its American formats and produce distinctive local comedy. A British “S.N.L.” with its own material — royal satire included — has proved viable rather than a pale imitation, and the show now stands as a going concern rather than a curio.