“Saturday Night Live” will give viewers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the late night staple in new digital short-form series, “The Rundown.”
The digital-first program will see “SNL” favorites return to Studio 8H to break down their favorite sketches from the show’s 51-season history. Dana Carvey, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Colin Jost, Bowen Yang and Questlove, among others, will add their picks to the rundown bulletin board for a fantasy throwback episode.
“The Rundown” will release new episodes on select Wednesdays timed to “SNL” hiatus weeks through mid-June on Peacock, the official YouTube channel and across all social platforms.
Jost opens the series, giving his pick for the best cold open to date. In a Wednesday teaser, the “Weekend Update” co-anchor revealed he has written likely 100 cold opens during his over 20-year tenure at “SNL.”
“I almost can’t believe I’ve gotten to write so many of them. Many I’ve blocked out, but some I am actually proud of, shockingly. I’m not gonna rewatch them — that would ruin it,” he quipped.
The former head writer also breaks down the intricacies of writing a good cold open and how it differs from other comedy programs. He noted that the writing staff writes at least 45 to 50 sketches a week and less than 10 make the cut into the rundown.
Some of the “SNL” star’s favorite bits include the 24-hour Matt Damon Brett Kavanaugh sketch, Melissa McCarthy’s Sean Spicer and the series’ first open “The Wolverines.”
“SNL” returns April 4 with host Jack Black and musical guest Jack White on NBC and Peacock.
