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A British comedian has called the upcoming UK spin-off of Saturday Night Live a ‘terrible idea’.
John Oliver, 48, did not hold back when asked about the long-running US variety show, which he described as a ‘cult.’
His comments come weeks after it was announced that SNL was in development at Sky, with legendary showrunner Lorne Michaels, 80, attached as executive producer.
On Late Night With Seth Meyers, Oliver was asked for his perspective on the UK spin-off, and instantly responded: ‘It sounds like a terrible idea.’
Oliver then elaborated why he was predicting disaster for a UK version of Saturday Night Live and said the show was a ‘cult.’
He explained: ‘It’s a cult. I’m trying to not say the word — it’s a cult. And so, I don’t know how you can impose that cult on the UK.’
Presenter Meyers, 51, asked Oliver to give his reasoning behind comparing SNL to a cult and said it was the tradition of pulling all-nighters on Tuesday to write and rehearse the Saturday show.
Oliver added: ‘That’s ridiculous. I’m saying that’s the kind of thing a cult leader would make you do. “We stay up all night on Tuesdays, by the way.”‘
The chat show host then explained that intense hours were not necessary to produce quality comedy programming, calling SNL an ‘outlier’ in that regard.
Oliver continued: ‘It doesn’t have to be dictated to the day that you must not sleep on that day or the great leader will be irritated.’
Last month, Saturday Night Live came under fire over a parody sketch of The White Lotus.
In it, Sarah Sherman played a spoof version of Aimee Lou Wood’s character with oversized prosthetic teeth, which the actress called ‘mean and unfunny’.
SNL apologised for the April sketch, according to Wood, and Sarah sent her flowers to apologise.
On the red carpet of the Met Gala on Sunday where she wore a black suit-inspired outfit, Wood spoke about her viral Instagram post.
She told Entertainment Tonight: ‘It all got very out of control… my whole thinking was I could either say something because I saw it and people were angry about it… and have it be said, and I won’t spiral inwardly, and feel terrible about myself.’
Wood also said that she thought her criticism was ‘really simple and balanced’ but in the media it became that she was ‘crying’ on the street about the sketch.
Saturday Night Live airs on NBC in the US.
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