Before the 51st season of Saturday Night Live began airing, the show's longtime boss, Lorne Michaels, revealed that there were plans to freshen up the show's cast. Unfortunately for the sketch comedy series' fans, however, SNL's cast shakeup feels like it was underbaked. The biggest reason for that is the fact that some immensely talented stars left the show, and the newly added cast members haven't stood out much, at least so far.
After she sadly was one of SNL's departing cast members, Ego Nwodim spoke out about her exit and the current state of the show's cast. Of course, Nwodim is far from the only one who has expressed their feelings about her leaving the show, since she has many outspoken fans who wish they still got to see her perform many weeks of the year. As it turns out, however, it may have been smart for Nwodim to have left SNL since it appears that had to happen for her to finally get the respect that she always deserved.
Ego Nwodim has been nominated for her first Critics Choice Awards
On Dec. 5, 2025, The Hollywood Reporter published an article that listed the nominations for the 2026 Critics Choice Awards. That piece listed Ego Nwodim as one of the nominees for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series thanks to her Saturday Night Live season 50 performances. The article also revealed that the other nominees in that category are Peacemaker's Danielle Brooks, Hacks' Hannah Einbinder, Abbott Elementary's Janelle James, Nobody Wants This' Justine Lupe, and Ghosts' Rebecca Wisocky.
Nwodim's current Critics Choice Awards nomination marks the first time that she has been in the running for that award. In fact, IMDb's list of Nwodim's past nominations reveals the fact that she clearly has never been given the accolades she has deserved. That is the case because her only past nominations were for the NAACP Awards' Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, which she was in the running to win in 2024 and 2025. While Nwodim should have taken pride in her NAACP Awards nominations, she deserved to be honored more than twice in the past.
Since Nwodim joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, she became one of the show's most valuable players of the modern era by far. After all, Nwodim was able to pull something off that many of her past co-stars have failed at. During one sketch, Nwodim has been able to fully commit to portraying an over-the-top character that steals the focus of everyone watching. Then, during the next, Nwodim has been excellent at providing assists to either her co-stars or the guest host when they took the spotlight.
There are only two saving graces for anyone who believes that Nwodim deserved to have been given a lot more praise from the awards committees when she was still starring in SNL. First off, she has finally been given another much-deserved award nomination. Secondly, SNL stars often get ignored by the powerbrokers behind awards shows. For example, the last SNL star to be nominated for a Critics Choice Award was Kate McKinnon, who was in the running for Best Actress in a Comedy Series in 2016.