Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/12/24/watch-saturday-night-live-crew.html
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This is why I went into software engineering. That madness looks so dangerous.
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Ironically, if you watched the show, two stage hands are still on the set and in shot when the host walks in. Still, an impressive effort.
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That was pretty cool to see but surprisingly chaotic and dangerous (how many times have those people in front been clocked by a prop?). They obviously have multiple stages or sets in the studio so it seems strange they wouldn’t use one of them for the cold open so they can be sure the main stage is ready for the monologue.
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Stage Hands, ie. TV Elves.
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This puts the placement of SNL faux commercials and digital shorts into perspective. More time for set changes.
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Robot job automation in 3…2…1…
Hopefully they’ll keep the humans around to design the sets and add dramatic tension.
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Aaaaaand… not viewable in Canada. Cory is Canadian, too.
In high school our drama club took part in a statewide drama festival, with the area allotted to store the set, as well as the time to set up and take down as part of the competition. Our student director went with a full 8 panel set, complete with rug and table, sink and cabinets, doors, the whole nine, and it all somehow fit in the allotted area, and when we (the techs) got it up and down in the allotted three minutes (including cleaning up the water and CONFETTI in the short play, we got a standing ovation.
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I wouldn’t be surprised if the ongoing applause you hear during the opening credits is the studio audience applauding the set crew doing the changeover at Warp 8. I know that’s who I’d be cheering.
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This was very impressive, but I agree with Cunk - also a bit chaotic and dangerous looking. Adds to the excitement, but I don’t think you go to the same ballets I do, if you think this looks like ballet 
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I used to do that sort of thing, and managed other people doing it. These guys rehearse their set changes just as seriously as the actors rehearse their lines. Ditto for lighting and sound cues.
Every part of a show is hard work. It’s nice to see the folks behind the camera getting some recognition.
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I’ve only seen a couple of broadway shows in my lifetime, and I seem to recall turntables being used-- i.e. the lights darken, stagehands rush in to remove the props, stage rotates, new props are emplaced, lights come up.
Too uneconomical for a production like SNL, I would imagine.
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Yeah, you’re much more likely to find a stagehand missing fingers than a software engineer.
Too wasteful. A turntable setup generally kills too much of the stage to be of use in a space like Studio 8H.
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Reminds me that the classic Smothers Brothers “Honey House” sketch (a museum dedicated to Bobby Goldsboro’s tear-jerker “Honey”: “The actual Honey House, where Honey lived, and Honey played, and Honey grew up.”) was on a turntable, so that as the crowd of sightseers goes from curated room to curated room (while Dick Smothers sings the song at least as well as the version that was a hit), the room they’re in keeps facing the live audience and the cameras.
I wish I could point you to it on YouTube, but it has been taken down as many times as it has gone up. Those sixties TV shows are an important property, apparently.
Turn tables and stage elevators all require extra space, which the SNL stage seems to lack.
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Unless you live anywhere on the planet other than America. Then enjoy a black screen of disappointment instead.
Can you watch YouTube? There’s an SNL channel that posts the best skits, leaving out the worst ones - or on some weeks - the best skits.
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