Saturday Night Live is an old school institution dating back to the '70s. Not everything has changed in terms of the day to day happenings at the show, and Lorne Michaels has been producing the show since the beginning. Even as cast members cycle out, one thing SNL hasn’t altered at all is the use of handwritten cue cards instead of a teleprompter, something that's pretty unique in the digital age. This likely won’t change, either, and SNL cast member Bowen Yang explained why.
In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan, Yang chatted about why SNL operates in the old fashioned way that it does, including its insistence on using cue cards, a practice uncommon as technology has developed. However, the handwritten cards are actually more practical for SNL, especially with so many moving parts. Yang explained:
Sometimes on the floor, the power does go out of portable monitors. And then, no one knows what they're doing. So cue cards are always kind of foolproof that way. Where it's like they can fit anywhere and they're not gonna like, go out.
SNL is of course a live show, and limiting as many external factors that can lead to disaster is essential. If a teleprompter went off live on air, that could certainly ruin a broadcast, which isn’t something you’d want to risk when focusing on performing comedy. One remembers Jimmy Fallon’s teleprompter breaking live while he hosted the Golden Globes in 2017, and how this could’ve been avoided if cue cards were used. Ironically, Fallon still insists on using handwritten cue cards on The Tonight Show every night, a practice he became used to as an SNL cast member in the early 2000s. Seth Meyers does the same for his late night show.
Another reason SNL uses cue cards is a bit less practical, but still makes sense. This is the way that it has always been done, and there isn’t really a reason to change it. Yang explained that the show in general relies on old fashioned methods rather than adapting to the evolving world the way other workplaces have. They even have informal communication methods, not relying on apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams to get in touch with each other. Yang said:
It’s like the same reason why everyone still uses pencil at SNL. It's like there's no Slack ...There's no Slack, everyone texts each other that's the official means of communication is a text message. It's very old fashioned that way.
Even as SNL approaches its 50th anniversary, there seemingly aren’t any big plans to change the way the show is structured. The show has modernized in some aspects, including Digital Shorts and music videos into the mix when The Lonely Island started working on the show in the 2000s. The show has certainly tried to modernize its sense of humor and commitment to diversity, but the magic of the show is in its tradition, and the repertory theater feel is essential.
The last reason Yang named is one that is definitely a logistical one, and has to do with the entertainment industry’s reliance on unions for worker protections. The Fire Island star explained:
Those are the two reasons and then the third one is that the cue card guys are now officially unionized, so we cannot get rid of their jobs. And we're happy for them.
Even as changes continue to happen in television and in the comedy-sphere, the cue card guys can count on keeping their jobs. The comedians are used to their handwriting and method of communication so it would be a shame to change anytime soon. It’s a charming aspect of the show that former SNL star cast members like Fallon and Meyers kept with them even after they moved on from the sketch show.
Fans can see Bowen Yang and the rest of the Season 49 cast on the NBC mainstay now by streaming episodes of Saturday Night Live with a Peacock subscription. You can also see him in Wicked Part 1, which hits theaters on November 27, 2024.
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