Ken Among, one of executive producer Lorne Michaels’ few key lieutenants on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” made a surprise cameo in the show’s two most recent episodes.
Aimong, who joined the venerable SNL show in the mid-1980s before retiring in 2021, has returned to the show as executive producer for the show’s current season 51, according to sources. His name was scrolled during the show’s credits early Sunday morning at the end of the second episode, and it was the same last week. The details that led to his return to the team were not immediately known, but Among was brought back to help with several landmark events for the 50th season of “SNL,” including a huge concert at Radio City Music Hall.
Among has been known not for booking guest hosts or writing famous sketches, but for something perhaps more important: keeping the television station in business. “I always look at the financial aspect of the show. I want this show to go on forever,” Among said in “Live from New York,” an oral history of the show by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller.
NBC declined to make producers available for comment. LateNighter previously reported on Among’s return to SNL.
Among’s return comes as “SNL” is giving new duties to some of Michaels’ top colleagues. Longtime producer Erin Doyle was promoted to the top tier of senior staff at the beginning of the season. Another member of that circle, Eric Kenward, took on head writing duties this season along with a band of other “SNL” veterans. Michaels, who turned 80 last November, has not indicated any intention to step down from the show he has run and influenced for nearly half a century, but he has hinted that others may take over the day-to-day duties that once might have been his own.
Michaels has developed a core entourage of allies over the years. In addition to Among, Doyle and Kenward, the list also includes Steve Higgins, another top producer who also works on NBC’s “Tonight Show,” and Mike Shoemaker, a former “SNL” producer who now runs “Late Night with Seth Meyers” behind the scenes. Lindsay Shookus and Marci Cline have also appeared on the show in the past, but both are no longer on the show. Among’s duties aren’t the most glamorous, but they’re crucial, as he controls the production budget for special effects, set design and many other elements that help “SNL” survive the intense scrutiny of linear, streaming and social media week after week.
