Who got the last laugh now?
“Saturday Night Live” hosted a live audience at its season premiere over the weekend — by doling out $150 checks to audience members in order to comply with New York state’s coronavirus regulations.
About 100 audience members collected the surprise checks at the end of the iconic sketch show’s Season 48 kickoff on Saturday night at NBC’s Studio 8H, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
Current state regulations prohibit media productions from hosting live audiences unless they are made up of paid cast, crew or employees. The audience must be no more than 100 people or 25 percent of capacity, whichever is lower, and audiences must practice 6 feet of social distance in all directions, the state says.
But the brains behind “SNL” came up with the creative solution — compensation — and dispensed the free tickets through a third-party website in order to ensure an audience of no more than 100.
“SNL has confirmed that they followed the reopening guidance, including selecting audience members through a third-party screening and casting process and compensating them for their time as paid audience members,” Health Department spokesman Jonah Bruno told The Post.
Hellbound and Down 