A spike in COVID cases forced ‘SNL’ to send most of the cast and crew home, sticking largely to pre-taped or older sketches.
What do you do when your live show has to be dramatically altered at the last minute? That’s what the staff of SNL had to ask themselves as the Omicron variant ran roughshod across New York, shattering daily case records almost two years into the pandemic. Mere hours before the show went live, it was revealed that they were sending almost everyone home out of an abundance of caution. (That included musical guest Charli XCX.) Only two cast members, Michael Che and Keenan Thompson, remained. Host Paul Rudd showed up, mostly to get his “Five Timers Club” robe from Tom Hanks and Tina Fey.
