First on LateNighter: Fans of BYUtv’s Studio C are accusing Saturday Night Live of copying a sketch idea after both shows aired pieces titled “Beauty and MrBeast” within the same week.
Studio C released its “Beauty and MrBeast” sketch on Monday, November 3, blending YouTuber MrBeast’s over-the-top challenge format with Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Five days later, SNL’s November 8 episode, hosted by Nikki Glaser, featured a sketch with the same title and a similar premise.
The resemblance quickly drew attention online, with some viewers noting the near-identical setups (though the sketches themselves ultimately go in different directions).
Watch Studio C’s “Beauty and MrBeast”:
Studio C, a family-friendly sketch series produced by BYUtv in Provo, Utah, debuted in 2012 and has built a large digital following with more than 2 billion YouTube views. The show has occasionally welcomed high-profile guest stars, including SNL cast members Kenan Thompson and Will Forte.
Being the 50-year institution that it is, this isn’t the first time SNL writers have been accused of plagiarism.
Watch SNL’s “Beauty and Mr. Beast”:
In 1995, the show settled a lawsuit with comedian Rick Shapiro after cast member and writer Jay Mohr was accused of stealing one of the comedian’s bits word-for-word for a sketch titled “O’Callahan & Son Pub.”
Over the years a number of other comedians and comedy groups, including Tig Notaro, Tim Heidecker, and The Groundlings have pointed out similarities between their works and ones included in the show.
Just last month, New York City comic Isa Medina, who says she’s friendly with Saturday Night Live writers and cast members, accused the show of stealing her idea for its ‘ChatGPTio’ sketch.
Of course, “parallel thinking”—when two teams independently land on the same premise—is a frequent occurrence in comedy, especially when both are riffing on the same cultural moment.
This weekend’s MrBeast sketch isn’t the first time Studio C and SNL have had overlapping ideas: in 2020, both shows aired similar takes on the same Lexus holiday ad campaign within days of each other.
Neither NBC nor BYUtv have commented on the shows’ latest overlap.
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