Dress rehearsal

Dress rehearsal for Saturday Night Live is held Saturday evenings, a few hours before the televised broadcast. Aside from giving the cast a chance to rehearse, these rehearsals run longer than the live show is anticipated, and the reaction of the audience is used to decide which sketches should be cut for time reasons. In addition, starting with Season 11, the dress rehearsal is taped, and sketches from the dress are often substituted in repeats of episodes.