Saturday Night Live might be returning for another season this fall, but it seems not every member of its cast will be coming back. In fact, there’s only one member of the season 50 cast who, according to series creator Lorne Michaels, has been confirmed as safe from what could be a major cast exodus.
In a new interview with Puck News, Michaels made it clear that NBC’s long-running comedy series will soon be undergoing some major changes. The only member of the season 50 cast Michaels confirmed is returning for the forthcoming season is James Austin Johnson, who joined the cast in season 47 and will be returning for his third season as a repertory player.
The confirmation came as Michaels revealed Johnson will be back for season 51 and will continue to impersonate President Donald Trump. As for the rest of the season 50 cast, their futures on the show hang in the balance and it sounds like Michaels is ready to shake things up after avoiding cast changes in season 50.
As Michaels explained, the show chose not to make any major cast changes in season 50 as he did not want any casting moves to cause disruptions or distractions from the celebration of the show’s milestone season. However, now that season 50 is in the rearview mirror, it seems they’re ready to part ways with some members of the cast while bringing in new faces to keep things fresh.
The Saturday Night Live season 51 cast will be confirmed soon
With Saturday Night Live season 51 set to premiere on Oct. 4, we’re less than two months away from the show’s return and it seems the cast reveal is imminent. According to Lorne Michaels, the season 51 cast will be revealed “within a week or so,” which means we should know who will and won’t be returning to Saturday Night Live by the end of August.
With only James Austin Johnson confirmed to return as a member of the season 51 cast, that leaves the fate of every other cast member up in the air. This includes: Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Marcello Hernandez, Colin Jost, Michael Longfellow, Ego Nwodim, Ashley Padilla, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, Emil Wakim, Devon Walker, Jane Wickline, and Bowen Yang.
Of this list, one would assume Thompson will return to the show as we cannot imagine the show simply cutting him from the cast. Thompson is the longest-running cast member in the show’s entire history, so it would be shocking to see Saturday Night Live let him go rather than allowing him to go out with a proper final season.
It also seems likely NBC would look to keep a few of its veteran and breakout stars around heading into season 51, such as Che, Day, Fineman, Gardner, Hernandez, Jost, Nwodim, and Yang. However, the show has been known to spring unexpected departures on us, so there’s no telling who could be in danger.
Saturday Night Live season 51 premieres Saturday, Oct. 4, on NBC.