Saturday Night Live!
The fun pros outweighed the reasonable cons of flying across the country just for a taping of SNL.
Since it was the season finale, we figured there'd be some good cameos and that it would be worth it. The number of special guests almost exceeded the cast: Maya Rudolph, Seth Meyers, Bill Hader, Martin Short, Kristen Wiig, Fred Armisen, 2 Chainz, and Paul Rudd. Despite the fact that Andy Samberg was the host, there was no
Seeing the work that goes into one episode is inspiring. It's a well-oiled machine. Watching the camera people, the lighting, and the sets coming together was fascinating.
Some notable moments: We saw Kenneth Parcell/Jack McBrayer backstage. I saw Brooks Wheelan pacing and looking stressed, and he was ultimately fired. Bobby Moynihan clearly loves being a cast member. He was casually sucking on a red lollipop before the show and stayed around after the "end credits hug-fest" to film the band with his phone.
During a summer we spent in New York, it was decided that queuing up in the stand-by line was a waste of time / only for locals or die-hard fans (even if it was for Betty White). There's a never ending list of things to do in New York and waiting around for the chance to see an episode wasn't my idea of a good time. Every August, we entered the lottery thinking that it would be a short train ride from Montreal. Of course, we got the email when we moved across the country. There's still time to enter this year - we recommend it! - Mina
P.S. You can watch a bunch of vintage episodes, as well as clips from the finale on Yahoo Screen
