An air of scepticism greeted the announcement last year that the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) would get a UK counterpart.
Critics of the news brought up the incompatibility of British and American humour as a major issue, as well as the lack of big-name British comedians who could potentially work on the show. The latter concern seems to misunderstand the fact that the likes of Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner were plucked out of relative obscurity in 1975 to star in the first season of the original US version.
As a scholar in television comedy, I believe the only way SNL UK could work on its own terms is to allow a new crop of British talent to create their own group dynamic and to rely on the original version of the show in format only. Based on the first episode alone, it seems like they have achieved this with ease.
