Saturday Night Live season 51: Lorne Michaels on changes
We know that come early October, you are going to see the arrival of Saturday Night Live season 51 on NBC — so what more can we say now?
Well, first and foremost, let’s begin here with a reminder that almost every single season brings around a certain element of change. However, at the same time this one could bring about more than usual! Consider that a function of the fact that we are moving out of a milestone 50th season — we also tend to think that this is a costly production and we wouldn’t be shocked if there is a reduction of cast members.
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Speaking to Puck News, executive producer Lorne Michaels confirmed that there will be changes moving into the next chapter:
“Yes, [there will be a shake-up] … Last season, when we were at the party of the first show, quarter of four in the morning, Dana [Carvey, who played Joe Biden] comes over to me and says, ‘I don’t think anyone knows you called me June 4th [to play Biden].’ I wanted people coming back and being part of [the 50th season]. So when Kate [McKinnon] hosted, Kristen [Wiig] and Maya [Rudolph] came back for it. And that meant there couldn’t be those kind of disruptions [to the cast], or anything that was going to take the focus off [the 50th season]. And we had an election.”
There are a number of longtime cast members you have to wonder about at this point, whether it be Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Mikey Day, Ego Nwodim, or Bowen Yang. There are also some newer cast members who tend to exit earlier than expected. You also have to wonder about the future of the three-person Please Don’t Destroy team, which typically only contributes a single pre-taped sketch an episode.
The only thing we feel confident about is that Kenan Thompson will be back — you can’t have the longest-serving cast member ever leave without any fanfare.
Who do you think could be leaving Saturday Night Live before season 51?
Be sure to share right now in the attached comments! Once you do just that, remember to come back — there are more updates ahead.