Saturday Night Live always finds a way to resurface no matter how low their ratings go. Recently, the late night show has found a new muse in Donald Trump and the current political atmosphere. Since then, inspiration for the show has been overflowing; it’s safe to say that SNL is funny again. This fact is so true that it’s also inspired a whole other nation to pick up on the comedy. The Italian broadcaster Sky Italia has ordered a version of the late night show from NBC Universal, and we think it’s an absolutely brilliant idea.
The U.S. is not the only laughable political community throughout the world, after all; not that politics is the only thing that SNL makes fun of, but it’s a good start. Imagine comedy at the expense of Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s very own “Nonno” and former Prime Minister. Except this time, instead of Alec Baldwin taking the reins on the chariot, the Italian broadcaster will have their own Claudio Bisio to lead a troupe of comedians in what will be initially a six-part run of SNL. Bisio’s prolific body of work in Italian media should help set off the new series. More fitting than anything, he actually had a show in 2017 called The Comedians.
This isn’t the first time that SNL will be remade in other countries. Sky Italia’s remake will actually mark the 12th time that the comedy series will be remade internationally. Some of the countries that have remade SNL include France, Poland, Finland, Canada, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Germany, the Middle East, and the North Africa region. While reception has been varied throughout the other nations, there’s no doubt that the type of sketch comedy brought by SNL gathers enough viewers to keep it going.
That’s a true test of the greatness of the concept of SNL to begin with. SNL has been parodying culture and politics since 1975, and it may have gone through many ups and downs, but it still continues strong. Throughout its run and even to this day, SNL has produced some of the best in comedy–ever. For starters, some of the original SNL cast included Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, and Chevy Chase. Later on, we were treated to the talents of then unknown stars Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Dana Carvey, and Phil Hartman. We also show some established veterans on the show including Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Joan Cusack, and Robert Downey, Jr. Of course even further down the line, we got to see our generation’s best: Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Chris Farley, Mike Myers, and Jimmy Fallon. There are plenty of other names that should be included in this list, but the point is that SNL is a true and proven purveyor of comedic talent.
Sky Italia’s broadcast may never be able to amount to the American talents that SNL’s produced in the past, but it doesn’t mean that the comedy can’t be as good. Everyone anywhere in the world deserves a great big laugh, and SNL is just another way to bring it on.
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