Watch Kate McKinnon Transition From Jeff Sessions to Shud the Mermaid on SNL

“Saturday Night Live” has pulled back the curtain on how the NBC series transitions actors from one character to another in between commercial breaks.

The sketch series released a video showcasing the makeup team’s race to to turn Emmy-winning star Kate McKinnon from Jeff Sessions to Shud the Mermaid during the March 11 show. The makeup team, including department head Louie Zakarian, has about four minutes to turn McKinnon from the U.S. attorney general to the grotesque aquatic creature.

“SNL” announced last week they will air live coast-to-coast for the rest of the season, beginning on April 15. Each episode will play at 11:30 p.m. ET; 10:30 p.m. Central; 9:30 p.m. Mountain; and 8:30 p.m. PT. (“SNL” will be repeated at 11:30 p.m. in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.) The hosts for the live episodes will by Jimmy Fallon on April 15, followed by Chris Pine on May 6, Melissa McCarthy on May 13, and Dwayne Johnson for the season finale on May 20.

The show has also seen a ratings boom since President Donald Trump’s upset victory back in November. Overall, “SNL” viewership for the season to date is up 19% in adults 18-49 (3.5 vs. 2.9 rating) and up 22% in total viewers (10.6 million vs. 8.7 million) over the comparable period in the 2015-16 season.

Popular on Variety

Read More About:

• Kate McKinnon,
• Saturday Night Live

More from Variety

• 

  Netflix Unveils Korean Film Slate, Including First Animated Feature, for 2025 at Busan
• 

  Does Streaming Hurt Theaters? This Survey Says It Helps
• 

  Korea Box Office: ‘Executioner’ Reigns as ‘Transformers One’ Makes Second Place Debut
• 

  Korea Box Office: ‘I, The Executioner’ Reaches $40 Million After Second Weekend, as ‘Begin Again’ Enjoys Return
• 

  Fall Season’s Scripted Reduction Bodes Badly for Broadcast TV
• 

  Korea Box Office: ‘I, the Executioner’ Achieves $50 Million Total as ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’ Makes Second Place Debut

Most Popular

• Inside the 'Joker: Folie à Deux' Debacle: Todd Phillips ‘Wanted Nothing to Do’ With DC on the $200 Million Misfire

  

• ‘Menendez Brothers’ Netflix Doc Reveals Erik’s Drawings of His Abuse and Lyle Saying ‘I Would Much Rather Lose the Murder Trial Than Talk About Our…

  

• ‘Joker 2’ Axed Scene of Lady Gaga’s Lee Kissing a Woman at the Courthouse Because ‘It Had Dialogue in It’ and ‘Got in the Way’ of a Music…

  

• Kamala Harris Cracks Open a Miller High Life With Stephen Colbert on ‘The Late Show’

  

• ‘Kaos’ Canceled After One Season at Netflix

  

• Saoirse Ronan Says Losing Luna Lovegood Role in ‘Harry Potter’ Has ‘Stayed With Me Over the Years’: ‘I Was Too Young’ and ‘Knew I Wasn't Going to Get…

  

• Kathy Bates Won an Oscar and Her Mom Told Her: ‘You Didn't Discover the Cure for Cancer,’ So ‘I Don't Know What All the Excitement Is About…

  

• Disney World, Universal Orlando Theme Park to Close as Florida Braces for Hurricane Milton

  

• Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried to Star in ‘The Housemaid’ Adaptation From Director Paul Feig, Lionsgate

  

• ‘Joker 2’ Director Says Arthur Fleck Was Never Joker: ‘He's an Unwitting Icon’ and Joker Is ‘This Idea That Gotham People Put on Him…

  

Must Read

• Film

  COVER | Sebastian Stan Tells All: Becoming Donald Trump and Starring in 2024’s Most Controversial Movie

  By Andrew Wallenstein 3 weeks

• TV

  Menendez Family Slams Netflix’s ‘Monsters’ as ‘Grotesque’ and ‘Riddled With Mistruths’: ‘The Character Assassination of Erik and Lyke Is Repulsive…

  
• TV

  ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Part 2 to Air on CBS After Paramount Network Debut

  
• TV

  50 Cent Sets Diddy Abuse Allegations Docuseries at Netflix: ‘It’s a Complex Narrative Spanning Decades’ (EXCLUSIVE)

  
• Shopping

  ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Sets Digital and Blu-ray/DVD Release Dates

  

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters

Variety Confidential

A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast

ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXKDjq2taKaVrMBwt8CtnGalk6C2r7rOp2SsppxiuqK3xK6nZqyilru0tdOipqdlmpqzp3nSnqqsoZ%2BjwG6%2Fx66bZmliZX9xfZFqaWtn