The SNL crew did a live low-budget stage version of their show Saturday night according to the
NY Times (free reg or bugmenot req.). A mix of old material and stuff that's been written but deemed to raunchy for TV, and proceeds went to the out of work crew. Sounds really cool.
Some excerpts
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But this NBC show was not live from Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center. Nor were there any television cameras. The continuing writers’ strike meant there could be no new broadcasts. Instead the cast, writers and a few key production staff members had gathered in a subterranean comedy theater in Chelsea to perform the show live on stage for an audience of less than 200, including a Who’s Who of downtown comedy. The TV audience got a rerun of a Nov. 3 show, but at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater there was a rare event born of hammy necessity, unexpected availability and good vibes.
[...]
Via text message Ms. Poehler had invited Mr. Cera, who had starred with her husband, Will Arnett, on the Fox series “Arrested Development,” less than a week before. He had never been on the show, so his opening bit blended the monologues of past hosts: Donald Trump (“There’s nobody bigger than me!”), Paris Hilton (“That’s hot”), Snoop Dogg (“I see the word shizzle,” Mr. Cera said).
[...]
Proceeds from the tickets were to go to SNL’s production staff, most of whom had had been recently laid off; some were in the audience. But the performance was less about money than community. (A sold-out live version of “30 Rock,” the Tina Fey comedy, is scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday at the theater.)
[...]
One sticking point is residual payments for online content, particularly relevant for this show, which has spawned several Internet triumphs. After flashing a card that read, “An SNL Digital Short,” Andy Samberg and Mr. Armisen performed one, a gay-oriented rap by Mr. Samberg starring Mr. Armisen as the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (Ms. Jones and the hairy rear cameoed.)
[...]
At 4 a.m. Mr. Samberg was onstage, in the middle of a circle, doing a complicated and not altogether legitimate dance move. If the strike did not conclude, what would he do next Saturday night?
“Probably just watch a video of this,” he said, “and call everyone and be like: ‘Remember last Saturday? We so did not get paid for that.’”
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