Saturday Night Live has always brought smiles to the audience face by mimicking various personalities. Moreover, SNL is a long-running comedy sketch show which first launched in 1975.
People were unsure whether it would premiere this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But despite the current situation, Saturday Night Live season 46 debuted in New York on October 3. Sources reveal that they paid the audience to fill the seats.
In the first episode of season 46, the show featured host Chris Rock as well as music artist Megan Thee Stallion. Many celebrities delivered brilliant performances.
Jim Carrey was seen playing as Vice-President Joe Biden, Alec Baldwin as President Donald Trump, and former SNL cast member Maya Rudolph as Senator Kamala Harris.
How did Saturday Night Live get a live audience in the first episode of season 46?
The premiere episode was a great hit. The creators have never seen so many viewers drawn to the show in the last four years. All thanks to Jim Carrey, who acted as Biden. Viewers were very impressed with his performance.
After a twitter video went viral of him dressed as Biden, they got anticipated to see his impression. The previous season had ended with no live audience, and it got shot from virtual studios, and some stars filmed from their homes as well.
During the debut episode of season 46, the studio was filled with people even after knowing that New York state has banned live TV studio audiences.
According to the news reports, some people received payment of 150 USD to appear on the show as an audience. So indirectly, they were the employees and not the unpaid audience. So this is how strict mandate in New York was avoided by the team of SNL.
In this way, the debut show looked fully packed and did not look flop. Some reports also revealed that the ones who applied online had to take rapid result nasal antigen test on-site as well as nasal antigen. Then only, they were permitted to enter the show.
The crew of SNL strictly told the audience to wear masks all the time. Their body temperatures were also checked, and people who had higher than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit were not allowed.
Conclusion
Sean Ludwig, who is one of the members, stated that he along with his friends attended SNL. He said that he has no clue that they were going to get paid. The crew handed checks to them, and that left them surprised.
In the past, the tickets to the show were provided free to people in a lottery. But now, everything is changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For now, we have no clue if they will offer money to the other live audience in the next episode.
Stay tuned for more updates.
