How S.N.L' Shorts Are Made Behind the Scenes

A Manhattan soundstage hosts a fast turnaround for two distinct pretaped sketches with separate sets, casts, crews, and technical demands. Each working week requires rebuilding from scratch, including constructing sets, sourcing and fabricating props, and designing and crafting costumes, wigs, and prosthetics. Pretapes convert writer ideas into broadcast-ready videos within a few days, supporting both the show’s look and the live production’s operational flow. Set and costume changes depend on the time bought by pretapes. Multiple pretapes are often shot concurrently while rehearsals continue elsewhere, with performers moving between sets and acting with body doubles or teleprompters. Effects-heavy segments can become complex production puzzles, requiring precise coordination and extensive makeup and prosthetic work.

"Every short is its own new mini-production, and every working week the crew effectively starts from scratch. They build new sets; find and fabricate props; design and craft costumes, wigs and prosthetics. These pretape sketches (fake ads, music videos and other shorts) go from a writer's imagination to television in a few days. They have been part of S.N.L. since the beginning. They are essential to both its aesthetic and the smooth running of the live production."

"We always need to be able to make set changes and costume changes, Lorne Michaels, the show's creator, explained. The pretaped sketches buy time. Ahead of the April 11 episode, S.N.L. producers offered a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of a pretape shoot. To an outsider, it felt like barely controlled chaos. In reality, a finely calibrated machine was operating as designed and refined across decades."

"We're not in the business of saying no, said Jodi Mancuso, head of hair and wigs and a 25-year S.N.L. veteran. So we make it happen any way we can. Most weeks include two pretapes, shot concurrently at an Upper West Side studio while rehearsals continue at 30 Rock. Performers jump from set to set and act against body doubles or teleprompters as needed."

"Even a simple scene, said the director Mike Diva, can become this crazy puzzle. One segment, directed by Diva, was Beastomorphs, an effects-heavy spoof in which four shape-shifting high school kids played by Sarah Sherman, Tommy Brennan, Marcello Hernandez and Veronika Slowikowska battle an alien warlord played by Domingo. By 11:30 a.m., the weekly clock was already running short. In a makeup and costuming room, Sherman sat getting her head prosthetically altered for the segment."

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