See How Quickly SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Breaks Down a Set Between Sketches
There was a period between when Will Ferrell left and about 2012 or 2013 when I stopped watching Saturday Night Live, but I've gotten back into it in a big way over the past few years. The episodes are hit or miss — spoiler alert: they've always been that way — but I enjoy watching this cast work (Kate McKinnon is the best), and I'm fascinated by the history of the show. It's been around for more than forty years, and it almost always feels as if it's on the edge of chaos at any given second. But that energy is part of what makes it so good, and NBC has released a fun little behind the scenes video that gives us a quick look at just how fast the crew has to break down a set between the opening sketch and the monologue.
This was taken during the episode Casey Affleck hosted a few days ago. As I watched it live, I was wondering what that crew member was doing in the audience's bottom left corner of the stage, and though this video shows him working on something, I still couldn't figure out exactly what he was doing. I love the director's voice though: "Just get out of there." Behold: