BEIJING — When NBCUniversal announced last year that a version of “Saturday Night Live” would be made for a Chinese audience, it was unclear how a show that thrives on political satire could survive in a country run by a Communist Party that tolerates no criticism.

Now, just weeks after “Saturday Night Live China” made its debut — with no overtly political content — its future looks even more doubtful. Viewers who tuned in over the weekend discovered that the show was not available from its host, the Chinese video-streaming platform Youku.

“The site you were searching for has just gone to explore Pluto,” a notice at the show’s Youku page said.

NBCUniversal executives in the United States and Britain could not immediately be reached for comment during China’s business day on Tuesday. A customer service agent for Youku, who declined to be identified, said that all episodes of the show had been temporarily removed from Youku pending “a rectification and upgrade of its content.” She added that Youku had removed the episodes at the request of the show’s production team.