Saturday Night Live has drama before you reach comedy.
Every year around this time, the venerable late-night NBC Showcase trustworthy observers are upset by a series of cast changes that unfold about four to six weeks before the program’s upcoming season premiere. Sometimes, “SNL” just adds a few featured players. In other years, a significant portion of the veterans in the cast chose to leave. At one point, cost constraints or network decrees forced executive producer Lorne Michaels to make personnel moves that he would otherwise not want to practice.
The increase in manual winding around the process, which is an infiltrating element of the “SNL” calendar, is more humorous than the “SNL” skit.
Recently, three younger members of the “SNL” cast (feature players Emile Wakim and early Tenred Devon Walker and Michael Longfellow) have announced their exit from the show. Additionally, veteran Heidi Gardner, who appeared to have devised a new voice for all the sketch characters he played on “SNL” for eight seasons, chooses to leave the exit after a period that appears to be suitable for most people who will be taking part in the show.
Some media have called the book of Exodus a “bloodbus” or “earthquake.” It’s really nothing.
Simply put, Michaels has raised expectations for cast members (particularly feature players) since 2000. Michaela Watkins and Jenny Slate were each expelled from the program despite gaining traction with characters such as Angie Tempura and Tina Tina Cheneus. In recent years, there have also been people like Rob Riggle, Noel Wells, Brooks Whelan, Luke Null, Chloe Trost, Tim Robinson and John Mircher. Even people like Panky Johnson who jump to the regular cast leave unexpectedly. There was no backlash against Wakim, Walker, or Longfellow, but there is a debate that the trio are actually “unbroken” in the way modern cast members such as Chloe Feynman, Bowenyan and Egonuudim have.
After the show took place on Saturday in an era when much of “SNL” was consumed by the youngest audiences via social media and streaming videos, Michaels may have little choice but to put his resources into the talent that creates more viral passes.
And while Imprezario recently gave the News Outlet Pack a wide range of interviews about “SNL,” he was not asked (at least not for printing purposes) whether the show is on the same economic scoring as the rest of NBC’s late-night schedule (and in general late-night television) NBC is on Scaled Jimmy Fallon’s Five To To now suls firsts now now now now new fill fill fill fillon. Fallon’s second year “Sunday Night Football” show is part of the network’s calculations) and took the live band that supported Seth Meyers’ “Late Night.” Does any of these mean that “SNL” is limited by the number of cast members that can accommodate each season? Should the show cut back on many of its extras, such as the live show “Behind the Scenes Llama,” which often appears when cameras film viewers behind the scenes (in this reporter’s eyes, animals have not surfaced on camera since Aubrey Plaza held the show in 2023)? Only Michaels and NBC’s late-night chief Katie Hockmeyer know for sure.
Meanwhile, those who will stay at the show for years will eventually leave. And “SNL” continues until senior executives at NBCU and the parent Comcast’s costs outweigh the benefits of broadcasting it. Over the years, the program has overcome the exits of Chevrolet Chase and the exits of Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey and Kristen Wiig. It could absorb some other things.
Certainly, more “SNL” changes could be offshore. Can Kenan Thompson continue his cast after 22 seasons? Colin Jost and Michael Che, co-anchors of “Weekend Update,” have been testing projects outside the show in recent years, but do they have other ideas for their work?
And certainly there was a moment when the cast’s departure really rattles the show. Early in the last decade, “SNL” bid farewell to Bill Hader and Fred Armisen’s Jason Sudeikis. In 2022, Kate McKinnon, Ady Bryant, Kyle Mooney and Pete Davidson left at the same time, followed by Cecily Strong a few months later. Too many cast farewells can fill the rest of the “SNL” theatre company with many shoes, and sometimes leave a full pipeline of developers.
But most of the time, those animated by the late August burst of “SNL” HR news should see it for what it is: clear publicity tactics from Michaels and NBC make people talk about the show after a few months of hiatus. Consider the fact that since Scarlett Johansson was hosted in mid-May, there have been no fresh episodes of “SNL.”
Blood Bus? earthquake? Shocker? Certainly, you can call any of these things to the cast’s announcement. Something may happen in the next few days that truly guarantee such a colorful word. But smarter “SNL” enthusiasts may help cite the catchphrase of Emily Litella, the popular “weekend update” character played by early cast member Gilda Radner.
