Kenan Thompson reveals the secret to SNL's continued success

If anybody has gotten a good look at the machinations of Saturday Night Live, it's Kenan Thompson. He's the longest-tenured cast member on the show by a country mile, and he plans to remain part of the show for as long as it's on the air.

SNL has had its ups and downs over the years, but the sketch show always manages to bounce back and connect with new generations of viewers. Kenan Thompson spoke on this unique phenomenon during a recent interview at Cannes Lions. In the comedian's estimation, the secret to the show's success is its ability to adapt with the times.

Kenan Thompson credits the show's diverse cast

Thompson praised creator Lorne Michaels for broadening the diversity of the cast over the last two decades. He noted that SNL only had one to two Black cast members at a time, but the cast is now more diverse than ever:

"Today, I’m one of five, and we also have Asian, Hispanic, LGBTQ+ members in our cast. It’s just not about appearances, it allows the show to do comedy it never could before."

The comedian echoed another Michaels credo, which is that the goal of Saturday Night Live is to appeal to "all ages and ideologies" on a weekly basis. "Just one night when we Americans and all of us across the globe come together and laugh at stuff," Thompson added. "The big tent that Lorne Michaels always talks about just keeps getting bigger."

Thompson also cited the show's guest format

In a broader sense, Kenan Thompson also praised the inventiveness of the SNL format that Michaels pioneered. Part of why the show has been able to stay relevant for nearly fifty years, according to the SNL veteran, is because the guests change with the times:

"Every week there’s a new host, every season there’s a new cast, also it’s weird how the crowd all seems to stay young, and I keep getting older."

Makes sense to us. Thompson, Michaels, and the other elder statesmen of SNL have been wistful in the lead up to the show's fiftieth season, but there doesn't appear to be any plans of stopping or slowing down.