'SNL' Rehearsals Webcast To Give Rare Insights Into Whatever Made Them Think That Sketch Was Good Enough To Air
For those of you for whom high hopes for Studio 60 were dashed by entire episodes revolving around the use of Final Draft format settings as a legitimate dramatic device, and who are hesitant to get too attached to 30 Rock, lest series asset Tracey Morgan should suddenly disappear for what characters will refer to as an "8 to 10 month sabbatical to shoot a direct-to-video remake of The Toy," there is now hope in the form of yet another "behind the scenes at an SNL-type sketch comedy show" project at NBC, set literally behind the scenes at SNL:
NBC is mulling broadcasting Friday night rehearsal sessions of "Saturday Night Live" on the Internet.
It's just one of the many scenarios the digital future could deliver, according to NBC Universal chief digital officer George Kliavkoff, who openly mused about the possibilities Wednesday at the Digital Entertainment Media & Marketing Excellence conference at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
"Sometimes it's a lot more interesting than the show," Kliavkoff joked, referring to the closed-circuit footage of "SNL's" Friday dry runs viewed at NBC headquarters. "It's something we watch on the cameras at 30 Rock."
We hope these are more than just the pie-in-the-sky musings of an NBC interactive executive: Beyond giving us valuable insights into emotional coping mechanisms employed by the show's young cast of performers to help them get through a dud sketch that will earn a smattering of mercy laughs, the "fly on the Studio 8H wall" effect of watching SNL rehearsals will also quickly weed out the able-bodied celebrity guest hosts—who can easily handle last minute dialogue changes for their hilarious, purse-shopping character Porsha—from the ones who panic and retreat into their shells, locking themselves into their dressing room to nervously yank out fistfulls of Barbie hair while chanting into a mirror, "You're still hot."
