Creating Saturday Night Live
| Creating Saturday Night Live | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Behind-the-scenes documentary |
| Created by | NBC |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 34 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 3–12 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Peacock YouTube |
| Original release | 2016-2019 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Saturday Night Live |
| External links | |
| [{{#property:P856}} Website] | |
Search Creating Saturday Night Live on Amazon.
Creating Saturday Night Live is an American short-form behind-the-scenes documentary television series created by NBC. The web series offers unprecedented, inside access into the fast-paced, high-pressure weekly production pipeline of the long-running late-night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). It primarily focuses on the unsung, crew-level production departments—such as the film unit, makeup, costume, hair, visual effects, control room, and set design—that execute the logistics of putting a live variety show together in less than a week.[1][2]
In 2019, the digital documentary series won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series.[3]
Overview
While standard documentaries about Saturday Night Live traditionally highlight creator Lorne Michaels, the celebrity hosts, or the legacy of the cast members, Creating Saturday Night Live explicitly shifts its focus onto the technical crew and department heads. Each episode operates as a deep dive into a specific crew unit during an SNL production week.
- The Film Unit: Explores the chaotic timeline of filming, editing, and mixing the show's pre-taped segments, commercial parodies, and digital shorts between Wednesday and Saturday morning.
- Visual Effects Unit: Details how artists pull off complex 2D/3D compositing, green-screen transformations, and titles inside strict, hours-long deadlines.
- Control Room: Highlights the intense environment of live directors, cue-card handlers, and technical operators adjusting cuts on the fly while the broadcast is live on air.
- Prototyping & Set Design: Focuses on the carpentry and scenic teams tasked with building massive, highly stylized sets (such as medieval castle environments or parodies of other network television series) in under 48 hours.
Production
The digital series is produced by NBCUniversal and released across digital platforms, including Peacock, YouTube, and the official SNL mobile applications. Producers on the documentary project include director Oz Rodriguez, supervising film producer Christopher Voss, and Matt Yonks.[1]
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series | Lorne Michaels, Oz Rodriguez, Christopher Voss, Michael Scogin, Erik Kenward, Erin Doyle | Nominated |
| 2018 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short Form Variety Series | Michaels, Rodriguez, Voss, Matt Yonks, Doyle, Scogin | Nominated |
| 2019 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series | Michaels, Rodriguez, Voss, Yonks, Scogin, Doyle, and NBC | Won |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Creating Saturday Night Live". Television Academy. Retrieved June 14, 2026.
- ↑ Grobar, Matt (2017-06-19). "'Creating Saturday Night Live' Director Oz Rodriguez Pulls Back Curtain On Iconic Show". Deadline. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
- ↑ "Creating Saturday Night Live | Emmy Awards and Nominations". Television Academy.
External links
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