“Saturday Night Live UK” premiered on Sky One in the United Kingdom on Saturday, March 21, with ‘SNL’ legend Tina Fey as its inaugural host and English indie rock group Wet Leg as the first musical guest.

American TV watchers, like me, had to wait until Sunday evening to check out the U.K. iteration of ‘SNL’ when it dropped on Peacock.

The U.K. version of the show will be familiar to American audiences of ‘SNL.’ The show begins with a cold opening, the cast credits roll, the host gives a monologue, sketch after sketch airs (including things like faux commercials), the musical guest performs twice and the episode is broken up in the middle by Weekend Update, the fake news segment.

The only thing that might not work for American audiences is that things will undoubtedly and understandably get lost in translation with the differences in cultures and politics between the U.K. and the U.S.

The only time I really struggled to keep up was during the cold opening, which featured the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, being psyched up to take a call from U.S. President Donald Trump about the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. I hate to show my American ignorance, but I couldn’t even name the British P.M. before watching this episode (though they seem to change quite often lately).

George Fouracres, who impersonated Starmer, Hammed Animashaun, who portrayed deputy P.M. David Lammy and a Gen Z influencer played by Jack Shep had the honor of being the first ever cast members to shout the iconic “Live from London, It’s Saturday Night.”  

Fey, one of the most famous alumni of America’s ‘SNL,’ may have been a head-scratcher for some as the first ever host of ‘SNL UK,’ not being a U.K. citizen and all, but it made sense to begin with someone so familiar with the format of the show, especially from her time as head writer in New York. Most of the hosts going forward will likely be of U.K. origin, with Northern Irish actor Jamie Dornan and British actor Riz Ahmed hosting the next two episodes.

Fey’s monologue was something U.S. fans are familiar with as she took questions from the audience, which included cameos from “Derry Girls” and “Bridgerton” star Nicola Coughlan, American actor Michael Cera and longtime British television host Graham Norton.

The show was pretty impressive for its first outing, undoubtedly drawing on a half-century of the American version to take the lead.

The 51st season of ‘SNL’ in the States has been one of the weakest this longtime fan can remember, so this U.K. premiere would’ve ranked in the top five episodes had it been done at Studio 8H in New York City.

Among the best sketches of the evening were a “Hamnet” parody where William Shakespeare, played mostly by Fouracres and eventually by Shep, returning home to Stratford-on-Avon from producing plays in London a bit more and more modern each time, a sketch about a group of technology folks who are in charge of making the Internet annoying by doing things like making the ‘X’ boxes smaller and smaller, and a fake commercial for a skin care line called Underágé.

The majority of standout cast member moments came from male cast members on the show, with Fouracres definitely getting the most screen time with his impressions of Starmer, documentarian David Attenborough, and a bit called “45 Seconds with George Fouracres. He might well be the “glue” of the show, a la Phil Hartman for the American version for so long.

Though he didn’t appear as the lead as much, Shep seems to be a true star in the making for the show, as the younger, outgoing Gen Z cast member, a la what Marcello Hernandez is to the American version today. Shep’s standout moment in the premiere was as Princess Diana in the Attenborough Last Supper sketch, despite not really saying anything. It was a bit of cheeky British comedy that worked for me but might offend a more hoity-toity British crowd.

Weekend Update is such a vital part of ‘SNL,’ and it’s nice to see the U.K. version come out strong with co-anchors Ania Magliano and Paddy Young hitting some targets, like Prince Andrew and the war in Iran, hard. I rather enjoyed the cheekiness of each of their punchlines and deliveries, and it made me believe Weekend Update should be a regular highlight of the early days of this show. The only thing I hope is that Magliano and Young develop a bit more chemistry going forward. The duo mostly read their own jokes on the premiere without back-and-forth.

The only female highlight, outside of Magliano on Update, was Emma Sidi as a dressing room attendant named Jugs, trying to beef up Fey’s measurements to impress those outside of the room. It wasn’t really my thing, but at least it gave Sidi some screen time – something, hopefully, the ladies of the cast will see more of moving forward.

One thing I figured might happen with the U.K. version of ‘SNL’ that we don’t get in America is more freedom with swearing, since most countries aren’t as prudish as the U.S. about such things. So don’t be surprised to hear things like “fuck” and “cunty” on the U.K. version. Hearing Shakespeare talk about his “cunty” earring was quite humorous.  

‘SNL UK’ will have the same pros and cons as the American version. There will be highlights and lowlights, likely all within the same episode, and some shows will be better than others. The show will be as good as its writing, so hopefully, head writer Jonno Johnson and staff prove to be the right staff for the show.

DTF St. Louis (HBO) – Sunday, March 1
Showrunner Steven Conrad’s “DTF St. Louis,” premiering on Sunday, March 1 on HBO, stars Jason Bateman, David Harbour and Linda Cardellini in a dark-comedy about a love triangle that turns deadly. The seven-episode limited series focuses on the dark side of what may happen during middle-age malaise. 

World Baseball Classic – Thursday, March 5 through Tuesday, March 17
Baseball’s version of the World Cup celebrates its 20th anniversary this March when the best baseball powerhouse countries around the world compete to see who is best in the World Baseball Classic. Japan, the winningest country in WBC history, looks to defend its title, but will have to do so with some of its star pitcher (Roki Sasaki, Shota Imanaga and Shohei Ohtani) unavailable during the tournament (Ohtani will be available to hit for Team Japan). The other favorites in the tournament will be the United States, Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Among the biggest Major League Baseball superstars in the World Baseball Classic will be Ohtani (Japan), Aaron Judge (United States), Tarik Skubal (United States), Paul Skenes (United States), Juan Soto (Dominican Republic), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Dominican Republic) and Ronald Acuna Jr. (Venezuela). The World Baseball Classic, which will be broadcast on Fox and the Fox Sports channels, begins Thursday, March 5 and will have its championship game on Tuesday, March 17.

Rooster (HBO) – Sunday, March 8
Showrunner Bill Lawrence is on a heater right now with the return of “Scrubs,” Apple TV’s “Shrinking” and Apple TV’s “Ted Lasso” returning later this year. Now Lawrence has teamed up with Matt Tarses for the Steve Carell-led HBO comedy “Rooster.” “Rooster,” premiering Sunday, March 8, stars Carell as an author who joins the faculty of the university where his daughter works, after she gets divorced to a fellow professor and causes damage to the school, leaving her job in danger. The series co-stars Charly Clive, Phil Dunster, Danielle Deadwyler and John C. McGinley. 

Sunny Nights (Hulu) – Wednesday, March 11
“Sunny Nights,” an original Australian comedy on that country’s streaming service Stan, makes its American debut on Hulu on Wednesday, March 11. “Sunny Nights” stars Will Forte and D’Arcy Carden as American siblings who relocate to Sydney in hopes of establishing a spray tan business only for it to go terribly array. Forte and Carden feel like an incredible comedy duo. 

98th annual Academy Awards (ABC) – Sunday, March 15
The 98th annual Academy Awards, Hollywood’s biggest night, airs on Sunday, March 15 on ABC. The show will be hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien for the second consecutive year and features director Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” with a record-breaking 16 total nominations. Judging by award season thus far, director Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” might be the night’s biggest winner, but the acting categories are as wide open as they have been in years, particularly the supporting categories.

Imperfect Women (Apple TV) – Wednesday, March 18
Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington and Kate Mara feel like a possible dream team trio, which has creator Amy Weisman’s “Imperfect Women,” for Apple TV, on our radar. The series, based on a novel by Araminta Hall, is a psychological drama centered on a murder that tears apart the lives of three close friends. The eight-episode series premiered on Wednesday, March 18. 

Bait (Prime Video) – Wednesday, March 25
Emmy Award-winning actor Riz Ahmed brings “Bait,” a series he wrote, produced and stars in, to Amazon Prime Video on Wednesday, March 25. In the series, Ahmed plays an actor suffering an existential crisis when he finds out that he may become the next actor to portray the iconic James Bond.