SNL Stars Share Delightfully Awkward Encounters With Neighbors While Filming At-Home Episodes

Shortly after in-studio production on Saturday Night Livewas suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, the show returned to close out Season 45 with a trio of "SNL At Home" segments which were virtually produced. For the cast, it was an unusual challenge to create new content for SNL outside of Studio 8H, and in a new retrospective video shared on the show's YouTube channel Friday, several stars of the show reflected on the unique difficulties and surprising rewards that came along with creating those socially distanced episodes.

"Initially, it was like, 'Ah man, this is gonna suck,'" Pete Davidson recalled, after being informed by email they'd be creating the first new episode at home. But Davidson quickly got to work filming his Drake music video on his street -- much to the confusion of his neighbor -- and experienced a career high on the next episode when he managed to get Adam Sandler to record a segment for his next music video, "Stuck in the House," which he credits as one of his favorite SNL moments of all time. 

Bowen Yang also recalled having to stop his neighbors from responding through a shared wall as he recorded his silly lines for the "SoulCycle at Home" sketch.  

"They didn't get that I was shooting a sketch," Yang said. "I knocked on their door, [and] I was like, 'We're shooting this thing, but I apologize, it won't happen again... But maybe it will happen again in two weeks.'"

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Mikey Day, meanwhile, recalled having trouble adjusting to using a green screen at home and following his cues for the show's Zoom recording format for the digital dating show sketch, but the silver lining for him was that he got to include his son in the process of recording "SNL At Home." Kenan Thompson was also touched by how his daughter reacted to being included in his intro footage, saying, "I could've cried watching that … to see what you do immediately impact your child like that, that was a very touching moment."

Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim also weighed in to say that the process of filming at home was "overwhelming" but that things got easier for them as the weeks went on. 

For Thompson, who is the longest-running cast member in the show's history, the experience of making "SNL At Home" proved "the invincibility" of the series. "Whether we do it at 30 Rock or not, I think we can figure out a way to get it done," Thompson said. 

Watch the full video, titled "Stories from the Show: SNL At Home" above. Find out more about Saturday Night Live Season 45 here.