Saturday Night Live: Could anyone be leaving after season 44?
For the sake of this article, we want to do our best to take a serious look at some long-term cast members’ future, while also pleading that as many stand past as possible beyond this spring. There’s a chance one huge name is leaving already in Kenan Thompson, and really, we don’t want to see any other departure be somewhat undersold amidst the enormous shadow that he casts. We also recognize fully that there are relatively-new cast members who could flutter in and out, as there often are; that’s just not as buzzworthy a topic, and other than maybe Heidi Gardner we’d argue that nobody from the past couple of years has made so enormous a splash that they are instantly memorable.
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Kenan Thompson – He’s the longest-tenured SNL cast member ever and we do legitimately think that he could keep going for another couple of decades and nobody would mind. He’s such a pro at sketch comedy — he can make you laugh with just a facial expression, let alone a verbal reaction. Alas, we can’t and shouldn’t take Kenan for granted, as he’s got a comedy pilot that could signal his exit if ordered to series. Eventually, everyone does have to move on, and there is something symbolic about him doing it now. It feels like there was a period in which he didn’t get the love that was merited for him, but absolutely he is getting it now.
Kate McKinnon – She’s been on the show since the spring of 2012 (the longest of any female cast member), and performance-wise you can easily argue that she is one of the show’s biggest stars comedy-wise. She’s got a sea of fantastic impressions and she’s gone on to do some movies including Ghostbusters and also The Spy Who Dumped Me. McKinnon’s future within the comedy world is bright, but she also denied talk of her leaving this past fall. Things could change, but we’re hoping for at least one more year.
Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong – They both first joined the show at the same time in the fall of 2012, and since they joined together, you could always make the argument that they’d leave together. For now, we know Bryant’s planning on sticking around — she said so while promoting her new Hulu comedy Shrill. Strong hasn’t committed to another season of the show just yet, but she told Busy Tonight that there are times she feels like she could do the show for another decade, and then there are times she feels like she’s had enough. Time will tell here.
Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney – These two have done a lot of bits together on the show and first jumped on board in 2013, a time in which SNL was looking for the next great male cast member. We’re not sure either one of them made as big of a splash in the end as expected, though Beck has become a solid utility player who also has some really iconic characters. Kyle’s long been polarizing, but if you appreciate his offbeat humor, he may actually be your favorite of the bunch. Signs point to them being back, mostly because SNL typically signs their cast members to seven-year contracts. They have one more each still beyond this season.
Pete Davidson – Technically, Pete’s still under contract for a couple of seasons, but given all of the headlines surrounding him (he’s probably the most-famous cast member at this point for reasons other than comedy, though he’s certainly talented there in his own right), we understand why there’s always speculation.
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Do you want everyone to stick around SNL for at least another year?
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