‘SNL’ Breaks Major Tradition for First Time in Nearly 40 Years

Saturday Night Live was forced to do things differently during the most recent episode, which was hosted by Paul Rudd. Instead of airing an entirely new episode, SNL aired previously recorded skits and throwback Christmas sketches from years past. Amid the last-minute changes, prompted by a surge of new COVID-19 cases in New York City, the show did not feature the traditional “Live from New York!” phrase shared by one of the cast members (or a guest) at the top of the episode. 

Nearly every episode of SNL begins with the famous phrase, which typically also serves as a way to end the cold opening sketch. However, since the latest episode went through a series of changes in the hours leading up to it, there wasn’t room for a “Live from New York!” moment. According to The SNL Network, the last time that the show went without uttering the famous phrase was about 40 years ago. They shared that the last time that there wasn’t a “Live from New York!” moment was back in May 1983 during Season 8. 

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That wasn’t the only big deviation from the norm. As Entertainment Weekly noted, this episode was one of the few that did not feature a musical guest. Charli XCX, who was originally tapped to be the musical guest for the Rudd-hosted episode, announced that she would no longer be able to perform due to the “limited crew” at the taping. She stated, “I am devastated and heartbroken. Myself, Caroline, Christine and all of our crews and teams have worked so hard all week alongside the SNL team to bring the most amazing music performance to life. It can’t happen this time but I’ll be back! I am currently safe and healthy but of course very sad. Please after yourselves out there and make sure you get vaccinated if you haven’t already. Lots of love, Charli.”

Shortly before the episode aired, SNL announced that there would not be a live audience in the studio due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the surge of the omicron variant. There was also a limited cast and crew, with Tina Fey and Tom Hanks stepping in to help the show run smoothly. Fey also stepped in to co-host the Weekend Update segment alongside Michael Che, as Colin Jost was not able to take part in the taping.