Is Kate McKinnon leaving Saturday Night Live? When is she returning?
Let’s go ahead and tackle the first question here first — Kate is not leaving the late-night sketch show, at least in the middle of this season. There could be a chance she departs at the end of the season, but she’s currently listed as a main cast member for a reason. The folks over at NBC have every intention of bringing her back soon, and it’s mostly a matter of her schedule clearing up.
For those wondering, Kate is not gone because she’s filming a ton of cell-phone commercials. (She is everywhere with some of those lately.) She’s been working on a Joe Exotic project that is coming up down the road, and that has made it hard for her to do the sketch show simultaneously. This was likely something that was worked out well before the start of the season, and she negotiated that she would miss a certain period of time. Given that executive producer Lorne Michaels probably wants to keep her around as long as possible, he likely signed off on the move.
If McKinnon is coming back to SNL tonight, the producers are keeping it a secret. There is no explicit mention online that you will see her back on the show, and we personally feel like they would promote her big return in advance. Why wouldn’t they? Doesn’t it make the most sense that they get some viewers to the show? We at least tend to think so. Our hope is that on the other side of the Thanksgiving holiday, there will be a chance for her to be back. The Christmas holiday has been such an important part of SNL over the years and it would be a real shame if she didn’t have a chance to take part in some of the festivities.
Related – Be sure to get some more news when it comes to Saturday Night Live
Are you worried that Kate McKinnon is leaving Saturday Night Live?
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