Five Must-See Web Series Featuring 'SNL' Stars
Studio 8H, the longtime home base of Saturday Night Live, has been dark for a few weeks, but the lights will be blazing throughout April when the Not Ready for Primetime Players return for three weeks of shows hosted by the likes of Peter Dinklage, Russell Crowe, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Whenever the series is in production, it’s a demanding, 24/7 job that leaves little time for anything else. That makes it all the more impressive that many of the cast still somehow find ways to flex their comic muscles outside of 30 Rock via short films and micro-series made exclusively for the web. Here are some of the places to see your favorite current SNL stars whenever the show is on vacation.
Related: Yahoo TV’s ‘SNL’ Recaps and #TBTs
Darby Forever
Not Ready for Primetime Star: Aidy Bryant
Premise: A fabric store employee escapes her humdrum job and boring customers through a satisfyingly overactive fantasy life.
SNL Equivalent: Darby’s a little like Morgan, the eager-to-please co-host of “Girlfriends Talk Show” that’s consistently subjugated to also-ran status. Both would flower if given more attention, but are forever being thrown shade by the people in their orbit.
Best Episode: For now, Darby Forever exists as a 20-minute short film, but the character and premise could easily support a sequel or ongoing series. We’d love a whole episode based around the Joan Jett version of Darby we glimpse in one of her fantasies, when she’s the profanity-spewing frontwoman for a riot grrrl band called Darby and the Bad Girls.
Where to Watch: Darby Forever is available to rent or purchase on Vimeo.
The Morning After
Not Ready for Primetime Star(s): Cecily Strong, Sasheer Zamata
Premise: Each episode begins with the same guy (Silicon Valley’s Thomas Middleditch) waking up next to a revolving door of one-night stands and immediately spoiling any possibilities of future romance. (Season 2 flips the gender script and makes the guy a girl, played by Alison Becker.)
SNL Equivalent: You know those “Last Call” sketches where Kate McKinnon awkwardly hooks up with whatever scuzzy dude (be it Woody Harrelson, Louis C.K. or Larry David) is left in the bar at the end of the night? The Morning After is what the morning after those oh-so-wrong hook-ups might look like.
Best Episode: Watching Strong piece together the fact that the guy who said he was a virgin isn’t in fact a virgin is hilariously awkward.
Where to Watch: Both seasons are available on Above Average.
Notary Publix
Not Ready for Primetime Star(s): Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant
Premise: Welcome to the fast-paced, high-stakes world of stamping important documents for the public good. Imagine David E. Kelly crossed with Working Girl and you’ve got the basic idea of the hijinks that these big-haired, big-personality notaries — Erin Oatmeal (Bryant), Teresa Fra Diavalo (Emily Lynn) and Gina Fra Diavolo (McKinnon) — experience every episode.
SNL Equivalent: If McKinnon’s recurring “Whiskers R We” sketches didn’t convince you she’s drawn to oddball odd jobs, Notary Publix definitely will.
Best Episode: McKinnon’s SNL buddy Beck Bennett stops by in “My Lover and Live-In Girlfriend” as Bryce Lewis, a fellow notary who hates to notarize his own forms. He and Gina proceed to bond over their shared love of fresh mozzarella and hatred of duplicate documents.
Where to Watch: All six episodes can be streamed on Above Average.
Pursuit of Sexiness
Not Ready for Primetime Star: Sasheer Zamata
Premise: Best friends and freewheeling single girls Sheer (Zamata) and Nicky (Nicole Byer, star of Fox’s new sketch comedy series Party Over Here) pursue sexiness and single guys in the big city.
SNL Equivalent: Sheer and Nicky provide the contemporary counterpoint to ‘90s dating experts Donna and Jody from “The Art of the Encounter.” Their romantic pursuits might not always end well, but at least their strategies are from this decade.
Best Episode: Case in point: in “Clingy,” Nicky describes how she met her current “boyfriend” — a homeless dude named Devon (or Derek) — by leaving a trail of pastries outside of a Whole Foods. That’s how Millennials meet each other!
Where to Watch: Both seasons can be streamed on Zamata’s official website.
Theatre of Life
Not Ready for Primetime Star: Beck Bennett
Premise: Bennett and his buddy Nick Rutherford (who spent a season writing for SNL) sit on a park bench in Venice Beach, California and make snarky comments about the various passers-by going about their business in this “theatre of life.”
SNL Equivalent: Even though it was before their time, Theatre of Life can’t help but put us in mind of Kristen Wiig and Jason Sudeikis’s much-missed “Two A-Holes,” largely because Bennett and Rutherford are deliberately acting like… well, a-holes.
Best Episode: The special “Spring Break” installment will make you hate Spring Breakers more than you already do.
Where to Watch: Theatre of Life videos can be found on YouTube.
Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. on NBC.
