Welcome to Sunday Morning Live

Welcome to Sunday Morning Live, a newsletter for viewers of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live.

WELCOME!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited to start this Substack! Season 50 of SNL premieres TONIGHT and just ahead of all the action, I wanted to breakdown what Sunday Morning Live is, who I am and what to expect before I start doing episode breakdowns.

1. What?

Sunday Morning Live, or SML, is a newsletter about Saturday Night Live, or SNL.

2. Why?

As someone who's passionate about entertainment and pop culture, I started Sunday Morning Live to break down SNL’s evolving comedy style, cast dynamics, and continued relevance after 50 years. Since I already watch and live-tweet the show, this newsletter felt like a fun way to dive deeper and expand my background in covering pop culture. My day job is in news journalism, so on Saturday nights (or Sunday mornings, I should say), I get to get silly with you all right here!

3. How?

Every Sunday after a new episode, I’ll release a breakdown of the previous night’s SNL, analyzing the highs and lows. Plus, each week I’ll crown a Player of the Week - a cast member who stole the show.

4. Where?

Now’s the part where I ask you to subscribe. Please subscribe! Right here on Substack. It’s free. Just one email a week. I’m usually not annoying - I promise.

5. Who?

Sunday Morning Live is written and curated by Katrina, a Gen Z girlie. I stayed up to watch my very first episode of SNL when I was 14 solely because One Direction was the musical guest. While my middle school boyband obsession drew me in, the show’s effective comedic blend on pop culture, politics and music made me stay.

Here’s more random SNL things about me, in case anyone is curious.

Favorite seasons: 12, 27, 33, 34, 45, 48

Favorite current cast members: Ego Nwodim, Michael Longfellow, Bowen Yang

Favorite alums: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Cecily Strong, Andy Samberg, Kyle Mooney, Amy Poehler

Favorite five-timers: John Mulaney, Steve Martin, Paul Rudd

Dream SNL host who hasn’t hosted: Keanu Reeves (Need a Bill and Ted sketch) or Tom Cruise (Would his monologue consist of him driving a taxi cab off the roof of 30 Rock like he rode that motorcycle off the cliff? I’d like to see it. Pls.)

The first three random sketches to come to my mind while writing this: Quiz Masters, Mid-Day News, Levi’s Wokes

Favorite Update host: Norm Macdonald or Colin Jost and Michael Che (When they do the joke swap.)

If I could go back in time and attend any episode, it would be: Paul Rudd/One Direction. (This is a very biased choice as Paul Rudd is my favorite actor and I am a #DirectionerforLife.)

Favorite episodes I have actually attended: Steve Martin + Martin Short/Brandi Carlile, Austin Butler/Lizzo (for the Cecily Strong farewell 😔), Quinta Brunson/Lil Yachty, Molly Shannon/Jonas Brothers

Favorite recurring characters: Garth and Kat, Stefon, Chad, Lisa from Temecula (The breaking is funny to me idc.)

Favorite SNL catchphrase: Da Bears. (I’m always randomly saying this for some odd reason when I’m not even a football fan. Also I went to Chicago this summer and they had a poster of it in the Raising Cane’s. That was cool.)

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