Saturday Night Live Season 51’s cast is set, though that comes after various changes, with several familiar faces either being let go or exiting the show on their own. All of this was part of the plan, though, as executive producer Lorne Michaels previously promised that adjustments would be made. Of course, it’s only natural to wonder how he feels now that everything has been put in place. Well, someone finally asked Michaels, who was among the winners at the 2025 Emmys, and the TV legend shared his thoughts.
Lorne Michaels and co. ultimately won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for their work on Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special. Ahead of that, though, Michaels walked the red carpet at the event and spoke with members of the press. During a chat with Entertainment Tonight (which is on YouTube), the exec was asked about the recent changes made to SNL’s cast. Based on Michaels’ response, the rationale behind the cuts and new additions boils down to keeping the show fresh:
I think the show has always brought people in from different ages and different generations. It’s how it revives itself. It’s always hard when people leave, but there’s a time for that. Our audience has always stayed relatively young, more so now with TikTok. And change is good, and the people we’re bringing in, I’m really excited about.
SNL Season 51 is bringing in five new cast members – Kam Patterson, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Veronika Slowikowska and (Please Don’t Destroy member) Ben Marshall. As stark as the major changes might seem, Lorne Michaels does make a fair point in that over the years, the long-running NBC show has had to make such adjustments in order to keep from becoming stale. So what fans have been seeing as of late is, essentially, a natural period of transition for the sketch comedy institution.
While the Saturday Night Live boss’ mentality may make sense, the recent cast exits are still collectively a hard pill to swallow. Devon Walker was the first star to be cut ahead of Season 51, and that confirmation was soon followed by news of Emil Wakim being let go. Michael Longfellow’s exit was then revealed, after which fans learned eight-season veteran Heidi Gardner was leaving the show.
The SNL exits weren’t over after all that as, just last week, it was also announced Ego Nwodim would leave the show after seven seasons. Nwodim’s exit also came as a surprise to fans, who eventually expressed dismay about her exit on social media. Nwodim had a number of notable moments on the show, including her involvement in that Weekend Update moment from Season 50 that saw audience members screaming an obscenity. Lorne Michaels was asked about the moment during his interview with ET and revealed that like many others he was “laughing” over that moment as well.
On that note, it’s tough to see the likes of Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner and Michael Longfellow leave the show. Lorne Michaels deserves the benefit of the doubt in a situation like this, though. He’s been doing this job over the last 50 years and, if SNL’s longevity is any indication, Michaels certainly seems to know how to keep the show fresh from a cast perspective.
Saturday Night Live returns to NBC for its 51st season on October 4 at 11:35 p.m. ET as part of the 2025 TV schedule. Episodes will also be streamable with a Peacock subscription.
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