‘Saturday Night Live UK’ aims to take a comedy hit across the pond. The first verdicts are in

LONDON (AP) — “Saturday Night Live” has crossed the pond with a mild splash.

A British offshoot of the 51-year-old U.S. comedy institution has debuted to generally positive reviews, defying doomsayers who doubted the show would survive the trans-Atlantic journey.

The format of the first episode of “Saturday Night Live UK” stuck closely to the U.S. original. The 75-minute show opened with a skit showing Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeking help from a Gen Z adviser about how to talk to President Donald Trump...