Saturday Night Live will have a limited cast and no live audience due to Omicron spike

While the announcement only pertains to tonight's show, it's hard to see how it won't affect future tapings

By Andrew Paul | December 18, 2021 | 10:27pm

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Saturday Night Live will have a limited cast and no live audience due to Omicron spike

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Saturday Night Live has confirmed that tonight’s show, featuring Paul Rudd as host and Charlie XCX as the musical guest, will have a limited cast and no live audience due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant rapidly spreading in New York City.

“The show continues to follow all government safety guidelines in addition to a rigorous testing protocol,” added a spokesperson for the series.

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The news of SNL returning to the more rigid safety measures of only a few months ago shows the alarming speed that the new virus mutation is gaining across the country. Yesterday, for example, New York recorded its highest single-day cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

Like most of us, SNL has had a pretty rough go of it during the past few months. The show’s season Owen Wilson/Kacey Musgraves premiere earlier this year received the series’ lowest ratings ever… and it’s not like Elon Musk did them any favors a few months before that, either. But hey, last week’s episode that was complete with alum Kate McKinnon and Billie Eilish wasn’t too bad, if we’re being completely honest here.

While we assume this will somewhat mar the celebrations for Paul Rudd’s entrance into the Five-Timers Club, we still hope his involvement will bring some laughs to what’s beginning to look like a somewhat dour repeat of last year’s extremely contagious holiday season.

We’ll at least take this time to remind you that the Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell-starring The Shrink Next Door is very much worth your time if you find yourselves stuck inside with no where to go once again.

No matter what the Omicron variant has in store for us, one thing is for certain: It can’t take away Rudd’s highest honor, no matter how hard it tries. (Please, COVID-19, for the love of God don’t even think about trying it).