Here at We Like TV, we're big fans of
Saturday Night Live. And while it's always fun to see the crazy characters and impressions that that the cast members portray on the show, one of my favorite things has always been seeing the cast members as themselves on various talk shows. And while it's pretty common to see cast members such as Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, and Bill Hader on talk shows, it's pretty rare to see the featured cast, who only recently joined
SNL.
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (which is executive produced by
SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels, and is hosted by a former
SNL cast member) will often have
SNL cast members of past and present on his show, but even he rarely has the featured cast come on. (We even used to have a recurring post documenting the
SNL cast members who have appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.)
So when I read that featured
SNL cast members Vanessa Bayer, Nasim Pedrad, and recently promoted to repertory cast member Abby Elliot (although she appears on
SNL so infrequently, she seems like a featured cast member) would be appearing together on the talk show
Watch What Happens Live, I was very excited. I had never really watched
Watch What Happens Live, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. The show is hosted by Andy Cohen (executive producer of the
Real Housewives franchise and host of the
Real Housewives Reunion Specials) and airs live (on the east coast) from Sunday through Thursday at 11:00pm on Bravo. Andy Cohen also hosted the opening sketch of the "Women of
SNL" special that aired last season, a parody of the
Real Housewives Reunion Specials, where
SNL's most popular female cast members of past and present (including Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and many others) appeared as the housewives. (Note that Vanessa, Nasim, and Abby did not appear).
Watch What Happens Live is very different from most other talk shows. There was no studio audience, no house band, no monologue, and the guests were there for the full length of the show. Rather than allow the guests to tell long amusing stories (as is often done on talk shows), he engaged his guests in a series of little games, asking them questions about their time on
SNL and having them reprise many of their most popular
SNL impressions. I was a little annoyed that Andy Cohen would sometimes shamelessly promote his own shows by asking the guests about the
Housewives or other Bravo shows, but overall it was a very fun show, and I enjoyed seeing Vanessa, Nasim, and Abby out of character (usually) and talking honestly as themselves. Check out some clips of the show below:
And then as a bonus, check out these web-exclusive clips as part of the "After Show". :
