After a handful of departures and arrivals, “Saturday Night Live” has finalized its Season 51 cast, Variety has learned.
Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim and Chloe Fineman will all return to the NBC sketch comedy series alongside Kenan Thompson for his record-breaking 23rd season.
Despite reports that Lorne Michaels was screen-testing new anchors for “Weekend Update,” Colin Jost and Michael Che will return for their 12th season together behind the desk.
Also returning for Season 51 of “SNL” are Mikey Day, Sarah Sherman, Marcello Hernández, Andrew Dismukes and James Austin Johnson. Plus, Season 50 newcomers Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline are coming back for their sophomore season.
Variety reported in August that “SNL” vet Heidi Gardner was leaving the series after eight years. Her exit followed the departures of Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow and Emil Wakim. Plus, the show split up the sketch comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy, as Martin Herlihy moves to the writing staff and John Higgins leaves the show.
Please Don’t Destroy’s Ben Marshall has been upped to the main cast as “SNL” adds four fresh faces: Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska.
Despite the media circus surrounding the lineup changes, this type of yearly cast shake-up is fairly common for “SNL,” which has previously weathered the exits of series stars like Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig, all in quick succession. As Variety‘s Brian Steinberg pointed out, the roster refresh also puts a spotlight on “SNL” even in its off-season, as dozens of news stories have given the series a pump of publicity ahead of its Season 51 premiere.
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“Saturday Night Live” returns to NBC on Oct. 4.
From Variety US