‘SNL’ stages strike benefit

NEW YORK -- It wasn’t live from New York as usual.

About 150 audience members in a tiny Manhattan theater were the only folks in the world to witness a totally new “Saturday Night Live” episode starring guest host Michael Cera and musical guest Yo La Tengo.

Anyone who tuned into NBC saw a 2-week-old rerun featuring Brian Williams and Feist because of the writers strike.

“It was everything that’s never been on the show before,” cast member Kenan Thompson told the Associated Press after the show. “Sometimes it doesn’t get a chance to shine, but it sure shined here.”

The “SNL” cast and writers collaborated on staging the special “Saturday Night Live -- On Strike!” event at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre to benefit the behind-the-scenes staff affected by the strike.

The live performance was not officially sanctioned by NBC, but “SNL” executive producer Lorne Michaels, who was celebrating his 63rd birthday, attended.

“He came and saw it and laughed a little bit,” Thompson said.

The performance included all the trappings of a typical “SNL” episode, such as a host monologue, musical performance, “Weekend Update” news segment and several comedy sketches -- all without commercial interruption.

A typical “SNL” episode features about seven sketches, but the theater cast performed about 15 original sketches during the two-hour event. Thompson said he starred in a sketch called “Hip-Hop Whodunit,” a mock game show about solving hip-hop crimes, and also appeared as a French comedian during “Weekend Update.”

Production of “SNL” shut down because many of the stars also write the shows.