'SNL': Who Is Ken? Colin Jost's Sign From Show Close Explained

By Daniel S. Levine

Saturday Night Live Season 47 featured a tribute to the late Norm Macdonald during "Weekend Update," but it also included a tribute to another longtime member of the show's family, although one far less known by even the show's die-hard fans. During the cast goodnights at the end of the episode, "Weekend Update" co-anchor Colin Jost held up a card reading, "We'll miss you, Ken!" The mysterious Ken he was referring to was longtime supervising producer Ken Aymong, who retired after last season, reports Entertainment Weekly.

Aymong joined Saturday Night Live in 1987, according to his IMDb page. He worked on the weekly live shows, as well as almost ever holiday, anniversary, and election special NBC aired. He was also a supervising producer on the two 30 Rock live episodes in 2010 and 2012. Aymong won seven Emmys for his work on the show, including one just last month for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series.

Aymong was not the only major retirement this year for SNL. Last month, director Don Roy King announced plans to retire during this season, reports Deadline. He joined SNL in 2006 and is believed to hold the record for directing the most hours of live television in U.S. history. Before he joined SNL, King directed CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, CBS This Morning, and Good Morning America. He was only the fourth director in SNL's history. King will be replaced by Liz Patrick, who directed over 2,000 episodes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Her other credits include Ellen's Game of Games, Repeat After Me, Heads Up!, and Wild N' Out.

Saturday Night Live also saw major changes in front of the camera this season. Beck Bennett surprisingly left after eight seasons, while Lauren Holt left after only one season. They were replaced by Aristotle Athari, James Austin Johnson, and Sarah Sherman. Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang were also promoted to repertory players after previously being credited as featured players. During the season premiere, Johnson debuted as President Joe Biden in the cold open.

SNL returns on Oct. 9 with Kim Kardashian West hosting and Halsey performing. The Oct. 16 episode will feature actor Rami Malek as host, with rapper Young Thug performing, while Jason Sudeikis will host the Oct. 23 episode with Brandi Carlile as the musical guest. New SNL episodes air at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC Saturdays. 

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