Saturday Night Live is coming back with a fresh season! Saturday Night Live Season 51 will see one of the biggest changes in cast with several additions and departures from the show.
Saturday Night Live’s Season 51
According to The New York Times, NBC has confirmed five new names, adding to the lineup for the new season.
Saturday Night Live’s Season 51 new cast
Joining the ensemble this time will be writer Ben Marshall, along with Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson, and Veronika Slowikowska.
Marshall, who is best known for Please Don’t Destroy shorts, will now step in front of the camera.
Brennan, the Just for Laughs fame, who’s also appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, joined the roster.
On the other hand, Jeremy Culhane, the popular face on Dropout TV, has built a following with his viral videos and regularly performs improv with the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles.
Patterson, popular for his work on the live comedy podcast Kill Tony and Netflix’s 72 Hours, and Slowikowska who has gained attention through viral sketches and roles in Tires and What We Do in the Shadows.
Members exiting SNL
Their arrival in SNL Season 51 comes in the wake of a wave of exits.
Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim, and Devon Walker all confirmed within the past week that they won’t return to the show this time. Longfellow, who joined in 2022 and became a familiar face on Weekend Update, described his three years on the show as “the best of my life so far”.
He wrote on Instagram, “I feel nothing but gratitude for the experience and everyone there. Lorne, you gave me the greatest job in the world and changed my life. You even put my mom on TV. Thank you doesnt begin to cover it, but thank you.”
Wakim, who joined last season, confirmed his departure and called it “difficult.” “It was the most terrifying, thrilling, and rewarding experience of my life and I will miss it dearly,” he wrote in an Instagram post.
Devon Walker candidly called his three-year stint “sometimes really cool, sometimes toxic as hell,” on Instagram. But, he said, he was grateful for the experience.
Walker, who was promoted last year, titled his post: “wait … did he quit or did he get fired?”
Meanwhile, SNL’s writing team is also seeing a change.
Celeste Yim, the show’s first openly nonbinary writer, announced their exit after five seasons. She wrote on Instagram that the job was both a dream and a gruelling grind.
“I slept in my office every week BUT my friends helped me with everything BUT I got yelled at by random famous men BUT some famous girls too BUT I loved it and I laughed every day and it’s where I grew up,” an excerpt from her post read.
Rosebud Baker, who worked on Weekend Update, is also quitting the show after four years. John Higgins, one-third of the Please Don’t Destroy trio and son of SNL producer Steve Higgins, confirmed he is stepping away from the writers’ room to pursue his acting career.
Show creator Lorne Michaels confirmed that James Austin Johnson will reprise his role as Donald Trump.
Saturday Night Live’s Season 51 premiere date
The 51st season will premiere on October 4 at 11:30 pm ET on NBC. It will also stream on Peacock the next day.