“Saturday Night time Stay” is, because the identify implies, principally a reside present, which implies it is vital that issues go in keeping with plan within the reside sketches. Which means no main improvising, no lacking your cue, and no unintentionally flashing the digital camera. So it is sensible that the present has a rule that the actors must be carrying underwear always, until in fact they’re making a pre-taped sketch a few very revealing style of men’s jeans.
Even when a personality of their sketch is carrying underwear, solid members typically put on their actual underwear beneath it. Such was the case in a current sketch (watch beneath) with Heidi Gardner, the place her character was carrying an old-timey, exaggerated bra, however you’ll be able to see one other bra beneath it that goes unacknowledged by the opposite characters. The reasoning for this precaution turns into clear on the finish of the sketch, the place the globe prop that is caught on Heidi’s head falls off earlier than it is purported to. When the globe prop falls off and divulges her head, that is only a enjoyable little mishap; if the bra prop falls off and there is no different clothes beneath it, the present’s getting a high-quality.
However the precise cause for the “SNL” underwear rule had much less to with unintentional reside publicity and extra to do with esteemed cast member John Belushi going commando throughout behind-the-scene wardrobe adjustments. Former “SNL” costume designer Frannie Lee, who labored on the present from its early days, defined in a 2021 interview why she as soon as put up a sign in the halls of Studio 8H reading, “All Forged Members Should Put on Underwear On Sunday. This Means You!”
The gist was that solid members typically must undergo fast costume adjustments between sketches. John Belushi apparently didn’t put on underwear typically throughout the present, so the wardrobe workforce always needed to see him within the nude, and it was making them uncomfortable. The diplomatic Frannie Lee selected to place up an indication telling all the actors to put on underwear, though the signal was actually only a large subtweet in the direction of Belushi.
There have been exceptions to the SNL underwear rule although
Though Lee made certain the solid members have been carrying underwear throughout her time on the present, there have since been loads of events the place the rule was not essentially damaged, but it surely was definitely bent a bit. Will Ferrell as soon as did a sketch the place his character wearing a thong adorned with the American flag, and there was no back-up underwear beneath it, leaving little or no to the viewers’s creativeness. The episode’s host, Seann William Scott, who starred alongside Ferrell on this sketch, as soon as jokingly recalled about the scene, “I received just a little view of Will’s penis and testicles taking part in peekaboo how do you do… I will get up in a chilly sweat, and I will have Will Ferrell nutsack flashbacks.”
One other factor we have discovered over time is that the underwear rule might not apply to musical friends. That may clarify why musician Kacey Musgraves was capable of sing a tune in the nude, with just a few boots and her guitar to maintain the censors blissful. “She was nude,” Musgraves’ publicist confirmed to Variety quickly after. “Precautions have been taken, and this was the primary time it is occurred on the present.”
After all, for essentially the most half the “SNL” solid appears to have stayed true to the rule, even in pre-taped sketches. My private favourite might be the “Naked & Afraid” sketch with Leslie Jones and Peter Dinklage, who hosted in 2016. The sketch makes use of the blur impact to make it look like they’re each nude, however in her very first scene, Leslie instantly adjusts her underwear and kills the entire phantasm. However hey, not less than Jones is carrying underwear, simply as Frannie Lee as soon as insisted. The sketch itself might joke about how a lot of a perv she is, however Jones in actual life was not less than a step above Belushi.
