I’ve always been aware of Saturday Night Live’s cut-for-time sketches, and I know that working on the show is not easy at all. However, I’ve never realized how both those elements can play into the final sketch of a given episode. That all changed, though, as Sarah Sherman recalled how one now-iconic sketch had to change as it was being performed to make sure the show ended on time.
As its title states, Saturday Night Live is done live, and that means anything can happen. That also means if anything happens and the plan gets changed during the episode, everything will probably be impacted. For example, if one sketch runs long, another could be cut for time. Therefore, having your sketch in the final slot of a given episode means you have to be ready to make changes within seconds' notice, as Sarah Sherman explained during The Rundown:
This slot, I guess in SNL inside-baseball parlance, is called the 10-to-1 spot because this is the last slot of the night. You might not even have time, so you'll have to slash full pages out of your sketch either while the sketch is happening [or] seconds before the sketch is happening. I know that Ego [Nwodim], the first time she did Lisa from Temecula, Alex English was actively taking cue cards out of Wally's hands during the live sketch, because they had to just cut lines to make sure it got in the show.
Of course, the sketch Sherman is referring to became one of the iconic moments from Season 48. It aired during Pedro Pascal’s episode, which you can stream with a Peacock subscription, and it was indeed the final sketch of the night.
However, up until now, I never suspected that changes were being made as the sketch was literally being performed. Talk about consummate professionals (even though Pascal famously broke throughout the sketch)!
Now, I’d love to see what the full version of the first "Lisa from Temecula" looked like. However, I also think what aired is a masterpiece, and I think its 9.5 million views on YouTube confirm that fans also got a real kick out of Ego Nwodim's hilarious character:
Overall, this is just another example of how talented the Saturday Night Live casts are. Not only do they write and produce their own work with the show’s team of writers, but they are also ready to update and change things with little to no notice, and they do it seamlessly.
While it’s clear when you hear them talk about this that these situations are stressful, it typically isn’t apparent on-air as they’re performing. “Lisa from Temecula” proves that, because even though lines were being cut as the cast was reading the cue cards on air, they still performed at the highest level. And the sketch went on to be such a hit that it was brought back two more times during Seasons 48 and 49.
So, now, when Saturday Night Live returns on the 2026 TV schedule, I’ll be sure to pay closer attention to the final sketch of the night and really give those performers and writers some extra credit. That’s not an easy slot to be in, and it’s very possible that they’re making changes as the show airs, and that’s a feat worth acknowledging.
