Kenan Thompson has been a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live for nearly 20 years, meaning that he has done a lot of sketches and played possibly thousands of different characters. This season, however, Thompson has reached an unprecedented number of sketches on the variety series and he can’t believe it.
During the latest episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Moon Knight’s Oscar Isaac, Thompson hit 1,500 sketches. Prior to the show's airing, he celebrated on Instagram finding out he only needed three more sketches to reach the milestone number:
It’s pretty incredible that Thompson is reaching 1,500 sketches on Saturday Night Live, and it makes me wonder just how many more he’ll do before he’s done with the show. Around the same time that he posted on Instagram, SNL shared a sweet video of some of the crew congratulating the comedian on his milestone, likely after finishing up a sketch. He is the show’s longest-tenured cast member, and he doesn’t seem to have any plans on quitting.
It's not surprising to see that Kenan Thompson reached such a big milestone, considering he’s been doing sketches for a big chunk of his life. Before Saturday Night Live, Thompson starred in another sketch series that fans will remember, Nickelodeon’s All That, which was basically the younger sibling of the NBC show. Last year, Thompson credited the kids’ network for training him for what he’s doing in his life right now.
Like SNL, All That included sketches and musical guests and guest stars, as well as behind-the-scenes hijinks. The comedian was one of the original cast members for the first five seasons and appeared in guest roles in a few of the following seasons. Kenan Thompson also served as an executive producer for the new iteration beginning in 2019-2020. It’s nice to hear that Thompson is grateful for his Nickelodeon days, as he certainly wouldn’t be where he is today without them.
Next year will mark Thompson’s 20th on Saturday Night Live, and it’s a feat that no one else has been able to achieve. He’s previously mentioned why he’s been on the show for so long and it’s simply because no week is ever the same; he’s always doing something different. And with the show’s new deal with its cast members, he’s able to work on other projects while also being in sketches.
Along with Saturday Night Live, Kenan Thomson is also starring in and executive producing the sitcom Kenan, which completed airing its second season in January. Although some might be afraid that the series will take the performer away from the NBC variety series, SNL creator Lorne Michaels is also an executive producer on Kenan, which must make scheduling everything easier on some level.
Season 47 of Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30pm EST on NBC. And if you're a fan of Kenan Thompson's there are a number of his projects you should check out.
