Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels finally addressed those surprising exits.
Ahead of the show’s 51st season next month, the cast has gone through some changes.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Five cast members have departed, while five more were brought on. It was part of the mass cast exodus that Michaels previously teased, noting he wanted to go through some shakeups following the 50th season, since he didn’t want to do anything drastic for the show’s anniversary. Now the series is saying goodbye to Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, Michael Longfellow, Heidi Gardner, and Ego Nwodim. Even though it’s not as much as fans had anticipated, it still leaves a big mark on the cast, especially since they were all fan-favorites.
While speaking with Entertainment Tonight on the Emmys red carpet, Michaels, who also serves as producer, said it’s “always hard when people leave. There’s a time for that, and our audiences always stay relatively young, and more so now with TikTok, and change is good. The people we’re bringing in, I’m really excited about.”
As previously mentioned, SNL is bringing on five new featured players. Please Don’t Destroy member Ben Marshall, who was on the writing staff for four seasons before being promoted to the cast, Veronika Slowikowska, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson, and Tommy Brennan. The last time Saturday Night Live saw a mass exodus was after Season 47 in 2022, with eight cast members leaving.
Fans will see how these new cast members do when SNL returns for Season 51 on Saturday, Oct. 4 on NBC, hosted by Bad Bunny, with musical guest Doja Cat. It’s hard to predict how things will go with the new cast members mixed with the veterans, but SNL frequently goes through cast changes, so it’s nothing new, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t still hurt when favorites leave Studio 8H.
Meanwhile, SNL alum Amy Poehler will be returning to host for her third time on Oct. 11, coincidentally SNL’s actual 50th anniversary. She will be joined by musical guest Role Model, while Sabrina Carpenter will pull double duty the following week as host and musical guest. If fans are upset about the cast changes, Peacock is the home of all 50 seasons of SNL, so that would be a good way to keep their favorite memories alive.
Most Viewed
-
(Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images) -
ALL IN THE FAMILY. Rob Reiner as Mike Stivic and Sally Struthers as Gloria Bunker Stivic. Image dated 1979. Copyright ©1979 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Credit: CBS Photo Archive. -
Netflix logo (Credit: Netflix) -
L-R: Todd Lasance as AFP Liaison Officer Sergeant Jim 'JD' Dempsey, Olivia Swann as NCIS Special Agent Captain Michelle Mackey, Sean Sagar as NCIS Special Agent DeShawn Jackson, Tuuli Narkle as AFP Liaison Officer Constable Evie Cooper and William McInnes as Forensic Pathologist Dr. Roy Penrose in NCIS: Sydney episode 9, season 3 streaming on Paramount+, 2025. Photo Credit: Daniel Asher Smith/Paramount+ -
NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 15: Rob Reiner and Michele Singer attend the Broadway Opening Night Performance of 'Misery' at the Broadhurst Theatre on November 15, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Walter McBride/WireImage) -
JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. ET and features a diverse lineup of guests that include celebrities, athletes, musical acts, comedians and human interest subjects, along with comedy bits and a house band. The guests for Tuesday, June 10 included Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes ("SmartLess"), Bella Ramsey ("The Last of Us"), and musical guest HARDY. (Disney/Randy Holmes) SEAN HAYES, JASON BATEMAN, WILL ARNETT (Photo by Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images)
