It seems Saturday Night Live fans — and its very cast members — can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Though far from unprecedented, Lorne Michaels had viewers of the long-running sketch comedy show both bewildered and angered over a wave of unexpected axings, which included the departures of new favorites Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow and Emil Wakim, as well as that of Heidi Gardner, who was with the show for eight seasons. In their place, the show hired five new cast members, and now moreover confirmed which of their mainstays are returning, including two fans who were convinced were set to depart the show.
On Monday night, multiple outlets confirmed the return of the show’s longest tenured cast member Kenan Thompson, as well as more mainstays Chloe Fineman, Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, and Mikey Day. Also returning are Colin Jost and Michael Che, who will be back on the Weekend Update desk for season 51, even though the end of season 50 was marred with rumors that they would be leaving.
Colin has been a part of the SNL family since he joined as a staff writer in 2005, and has been host of Weekend Update since 2014, following Seth Meyers and Cecily Strong’s departures. After briefly co-anchoring alongside Cecily, he was eventually joined by Michael in 2014. Given that the two already hold the longest tenures of any Weekend Update host, fans were sure (and wanting) a changing of the guard following the milestone 50th season extravaganza was underway.
Also returning for season 51, which will premiere on October 4, are Andrew Dismukes, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, Sarah Sherman, Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline, as well as four new faces, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska, plus Ben Marshall, who was part of the now-disbanded Please Don’t Destroy comedy troupe, has been promoted from writer to cast member.
Heidi has yet to speak out on her unexpected departure, which reportedly came after her contract was not renewed. Still, SNL alum Dana Carvey, who appeared on season 50 as Joe Biden, said on his Fly on the Wall podcast with David Spade: “From what I know as of this recording, it was not her idea to leave,” however he added that he “could be wrong.”
© GettyDevon, Michael and Emil have all addressed their exits. Devon, in an Instagram post captioned “me and baby broke up,” in part wrote: “Me and the show did three years together, and sometimes it was really cool. Sometimes it was toxic as hell. But we did what we made the most of what it was, even amidst all of the dysfunction. We made a [expletive] up lil family.”
© Getty Images for the American MuMichael wrote on Instagram: “Will not be returning for a 4th season at SNL. Wish I was but, so it goes. It was the best three years of my life so far. I feel nothing but gratitude for the experience and everyone there. Lorne, you gave me the greatest job in the world and changed my life. You even put my mom on TV. Thank you doesn’t begin to cover it, but thank you. I’ll miss it all, but I’ll miss the friends I made and seeing them everyday the most.”
© GettyLast but certainly not least, Emil wrote: “I won’t be returning to snl next year. It was a gut punch of a call to get but I’m so grateful for my time there,” revealing he was celebrating a friend’s birthday when he got the call. “Every time I scanned into the building I would think how insane it is to get to work there. It was the most terrifying, thrilling, and rewarding experience of my life and I will miss it dearly and all the brilliant people that work there that made it feel like a home. Thank [you] to Lorne for taking a chance on me and changing my life. I was so lucky to bring some of myself in there and say things I believed in and I’m excited for whatever chapter comes next. Here’s to making more art without compromise.”
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