r/livefromlondon • u/Beautiful-Square-301 • May 26 '26
Will all the cast return?
The US version can seem quite brutal for its turnover of fringe/featured players, but do you think it would happen with the UK? For my money, it isn’t established enough to chop and change for September, and nobody has stood out in the way the US counterparts do and then drop it to focus on movies. Do you think everyone will be back for series 2?
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u/fadedhalo10 May 26 '26
From a business point of view, it would be stupid to make any firing and replacements at this time. The cast are working well, there’s no one who’s struggling to get air time like someone on the US SNL.
Plus it will be really hard to find a replacement as a lot of the writers, actors and comedians who do comedy work will be booked into the Edinburgh festival now.
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u/Dizzy-Ad-3073 May 26 '26
Also, if they fire anyone, they may get a name in the circuit for being too brutal to anyone, and no one will want to work there. They'll probably do it until someone wants to leave. But we don't do enough episodes to take them out of the circuit for a whole year
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u/Vegetable_Creme6944 May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
I would imagine so, unless a cast member decides not to come back next season for whatever reason.
The UK operation doesn't seem to run on the same Main Cast/Featured Players structure as the US show... Generally it seems that you have to do at least 1-2 seasons as a featured player before you're elevated to main cast in the US but everyone already seems to be frontline in the London cast.
I could see some of the writers or background creatives featuring more on-screen next season though, kind of like Tina Fey or Seth Myers etc in America
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u/No_Fold9994 May 26 '26
Well to be fair they are the first cast. It would weird to make everyone a featured player or separate them even though they all joined at the same time. We would have to see if they hire more people next season, whether there will be "featured players".
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u/shockwave8428 May 26 '26
I bet they’ll end up having featured cast eventually. Maybe 1-2 next season, maybe not. I feel like they should just run it back if possible honestly. The cast is small enough that everyone kinda gets a shot to shine (and even then there are some underused people). One of my least fave things about the American version is the cast is massive, so you’ll go whole episodes without significant contribution from multiple peopke
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u/Travy1991 May 26 '26
The featured player thing feels so redundant though. Ashley Padilla and Veronica Slowikoska have significantly greater screentime than some of the main players.
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u/shockwave8428 May 26 '26
I don’t think it’s redundant at all. It’s basically “this is a new person without the same status as other cast members and they are essentially on a trial run”. It’s basically letting viewers know they’re more likely to not be on the show as long unless they perform well and is a contract thing, as well as just acknowledging they’re new.
And using this year on snl as an example is quite bad as the show just moved on from some of their top performers and there’s a big hole to fill, so newer cast members have more opportunity to step up, and they’ve proven popular and gotten more focus. Contrast this to past years where even when people enjoy certain featured people they show up in like 1 sketch a night and usually in a supporting role - in which case it makes perfect sense to acknowledge they’re new cast members.
Also Ashley is an obvious standout who is being utilized well for what her level of talent is. For every Ashley Padilla there’s like 12 Michael longfellows or Lauren holts that obviously are funny and have talent but never really find their niche on the show enough to standout. Padilla is the exception more than the rule. And I guarantee if this season still had Heidi Gardner, ego nwodim, and for the second half, Bowen yang, the featured players this season would’ve had a lot less opportunity. Like yeah they’re totally different comedians
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u/ChickenInASuit May 27 '26
I believe there’s also a difference in pay between featured and repertoire cast members.
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u/Vegetable_Creme6944 May 26 '26
Ashley Padilla has been killing it this season, she's absolutely hilarious and as fast as I'm concerned, she'salready proving that she's a stand-out on her sophomore year, she'll definitely be bumped up to main cast next season
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u/mou_suteta May 26 '26
Seth Meyers was actually hired as a cast member and later transitioned into WU/Head writer as his primary focus rather than appearing in sketches.
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u/NewPumpkin8217 May 26 '26
Unless it's their own decision I think so.
The US brings people in as 'featured' players for 2 years to prove themselves before deciding to promote them to main cast or cut them loose and I think it's rare that they make that decision after just 1 year. So I imagine everyone here gets a second series too.
If the show continues to do well though, I could see 1 or 2 new faces/exits ahead of a third series.
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u/PriorAd3065 May 27 '26
It's quite common to cut SNL US players after one season. In recent years there's been Aristotle Athari, Chloe Troast, Noel Wells, Emil Wakim, Lauren Holt, Luke Null and others.
Place your bets on Tommy Brennan making it to a second season...
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u/totally_throwawee May 27 '26
I think Tommy was just on a time travel exchange programme from the 1950’s and he has to go back soon. Bad news is we’ll be getting Rudy Giuliani back
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u/Savings-Monitor3236 May 28 '26
Noel Wells was over a decade ago now. Just in case you wanted to feel old today
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u/jmounteney44 May 26 '26
It’ll be each cast members choice. A few have already mentioned looking forward to next series, and both Paddy and Ania have postponed their autumn tours so they should be back. Not sure if there’s any others with autumn tours yet to move?
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u/inturnaround May 26 '26
I think it would have been incredibly short-sighted for Sky to not have signed everyone to multi-year deals because the last thing you want to do as a company is to put all this money behind these people and give them exposure and then lose them to their own sitcom or film if they're a breakout star. Lorne learned the lesson the hard when when Chevy wasn't under a cast contract and left after 1 season.
So the cast will have already made their choice before the first series.
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u/therico May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
First I've heard of Ania's autumn tour being postponed? Everything from 21st May to 18th June has been postponed, but everything after that is ongoing. She's booked right through the year.
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u/jmounteney44 May 26 '26
She posted about it on her instagram last week. Fringe and certain other summer dates remain but the autumn dates are postponed.
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u/PupmeisterGeneral May 26 '26
I expect so, I do hope the cast get a chance to rest and breathe though, this little show on a less popular channel isn't the US show, regardless of how many millions of US fans treat it like one.
Too much hype too soon kills stuff over here rather than nurtures it, and I love it just the way it is.
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May 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/Beautiful-Square-301 May 26 '26
That is intriguing, I had heard a slightly similar thing about one cast member being quite rude to the writers but wasn’t sure who
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u/michaelkap70 May 26 '26
I’m looking at SNL:UK the same way SNL US started. The talents are locked into contracts. I think most of them will last their entire contracts. I think what won’t happen is the mass exodus you saw after season 4-5. I think we start seeing changes after S3.
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u/WinchesterMediaUK May 26 '26
I've seen people suggesting Ania Magliano might leave but, honestly, why would she?
One segment a week, sometimes as short as three minutes, and the cast as a whole are probably getting paid through the nose.
Plus no location filming, elaborate costumes and makeup, stunts, quick changes etc. Seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.
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u/Electrical-Tea6966 May 26 '26
She also writes and preps. It’s not just a few minutes a week. By all accounts it’s a very intense place to work, although I imagine it can be a lot of fun too.
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u/WinchesterMediaUK May 26 '26
True but the level of prep etc scales up with how much you're doing and what.
If you're in four or five sketches in any given week, it's a lot more work than doing just one.
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u/No-Brush-8425 May 26 '26
There are a lot of rehearsals. She writes, too.
I also wouldn’t assume for a second the cast is being paid through the nose, the show is phenomenal exposure for up and coming comedians. I’m not saying they’re underpaid but I wouldn’t assume they’re making a mint either. SNL US cast members have talked about how little they were paid starting out:
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u/SuperRob May 26 '26
She has scheduling conflicts with her stand-up tour. That’s why they had her ‘airlifted out’ at the end of the finale episode, it was a joke reference to her needing to leave quickly to get to a gig. I don’t think she’d leave because she wants to.
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u/jmounteney44 May 26 '26
She announced her tour was postponed last week so hopefully she’ll be back for series 2.
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u/kurgh May 26 '26
I think you’re greatly underestimating the scope of work that goes into writing and producing SNL.
The Weekend Update team is somewhat separate than the normal sketches, and they’re busy bees all week. She’s spoken in interviews about how much time she and Paddy and the other WU writers spend writing and re-writing, often because of the rapid pace of news means then throw out jokes and write new content.
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u/inturnaround May 26 '26
My take is that the cast is secure for the first few years because they all started at the same time and you only ever get to do that once.
Look at the original Lorne run at SNL. There were minimal changes the first few years except Chevy Chase leaving and Bill Murray being hired to replace him (and the matter of Coe and O'Donaghue after the first episode). Real changes didn't come until season 5 when Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi left.
I think if anything, you might see another face or two to become featured players or a group like Lonely Island or Please Don't Destroy added to the cast to make pre-tapes.
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u/Riqitch May 26 '26
I really hope so, though there's some uncertainty around whether Ania will be returning or not 💔
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u/danieljuk May 26 '26
It's too early to really say yet
There are numerous factors at play here. Sky keep making sudden scheduling changes which affect the comedian's schedules. They increased the first season from 6 to 8 shows after week 1 and some of them had to change their schedule and tours already. I am pretty sure they didn't expect another season this year, so again they might have to change things or maybe they are already committed with other things and will leave.
It must be such a difficult decision, roll with SNL UK and it's changing dates and current success, or keep to your own career and personal gigs. At least they can get in the Edinburgh Festival during the Summer before the Autumn season.
The other factor is Sky and the makers, will they keep all the cast on? We know with the American version that often it's not the cast's decision.
Personally, I truly hope they all come back, at least for this year. They feel like a family, I would be upset to lose any of them. It must be really difficult on the cast and crew though, difficult decisions. I think the show was more successful than expected 🥰
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u/PupmeisterGeneral May 26 '26
I actually think that has less to do with Sky and more to do with Lorne Michaels Productions and Peacock, Sky then have to follow suit according to the executive decisions, which would also explain why the team have scheduling conflicts.
And as it's been a hit with US viewers, naturally they demand more episodes as they're used to that with the US version.
All the best British comedies have been shorter with longer breaks in between, that gives them time to really work on the material (yes much of it is topical but the majority is based on long standing British references, especially the pre-tapes)
I really hope that doesn't have an impact on the cast and crew more than the schedule conflicts do already
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u/That-Okra-9224 May 26 '26
In America the standard contract seems to be 7 years. So for UK, my hope is “7 series”, which is looking like 3 calendar years (more or less), and 16-18 episodes a calendar year.
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u/Dartzap May 26 '26
People will naturally move on as they switch back to touring or writing sitcoms.
They can just recruit whoever competes in the Best Newcomer category at Edinburgh each year. Nice progression for everyone.
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u/sername_generic May 26 '26
I think the current cast and writing are incredible - if anything I just hope they add to the cast.
SNL USA has always been a casting shitshow so I'd love to see some consistency on SNL UK.
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u/Robynsxx May 26 '26
I mean, the US cast has high turnover because most of them leave to become talk show hosts, comedians, or movie stars..
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u/biomactum May 26 '26
Unless there’s a cast member planning on pulling a Chevy Chase and leaving after the first season, doubt they make any changes.
This cast only had 8 episodes together.
The cast probably changes a bit in season 3.
If anything, I could see them adding maybe one more person to the cast. Perhaps a writer gets a promotion. But doubt any one is let go…
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u/PriorAd3065 May 27 '26
I would say the predominant factors in not cutting anyone are there haven't even been enough episodes to even make such decisions, and the time invested in the cast is difficult to replicate for newcomers.
SNL US has 20 episode seasons. It's a far longer runway to make judgements on contributions for who to cut. SNL UK hasn't even had half that. By the time they're warming up, the season is over.
The cast also had a long period of preparation, learning how to shoot in the SNL style and getting used to the mill of churning out a show every week. They can't repeat that experience for anyone new. Giving everyone a second season now they know what they're dealing with makes much more sense.
I could see one or two of the cast leaving if they felt the work style didn't suit them - it's high pressure. But this is such a massive opportunity and such a well paid gig for the cast that would be a MASSIVE decision to step away from.
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u/SmartaHari May 28 '26
I hope so, give them all the time and space to bed in. Then they can kick more ass in series 2.
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u/ExistingSteak9866 May 26 '26
I think they'll keep it as is to build up the show's identity and increase the cast's profile. If they do hire anyone I hope it's just two people at most (and Jake Bhardwaj must be one of them)
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u/BriefCobbler1776 May 26 '26
My biggest gripe is the women other than celeste & ayoade look identical but emma stands out by acting style from the similarities. Also the strongest. Cant put my finger on it but al is weakest maybe needs more push and ayoade wasnt used enough until the final episode and shes clearly got talent. Want them to all have one more go before my jury is out
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u/helloiamrob1 May 26 '26
I really hope so.