Amid swirling rumors of a cast shakeup following Saturday Night Live‘s wrapping of its historic 50th season last week, Kenan Thompson is hinting at a potential cast shakeup heading into the fall.
Speaking to Page Six recently, the comic and longest-tenured SNL member called the ending of Season 50, which included a flurry of anniversary activities and a lengthy Sunday special, “bittersweet.”
“Especially this year where it feels like there’s maybe, possibly, a lot of change next year,” he said, adding, “You want everyone to stay forever, knowing that people may be making decisions this summer … it’s always like you want your kids to stay young.”
With 22 seasons under his belt, Thompson also revealed that he has yet to sign a contract for his 23rd, though he remains optimistic, he said.
“You just never know what the future holds. I don’t want to be in the way of someone else or I don’t want to be the stale old man riding the same thing. That doesn’t really happen that much at SNL but there’s no guarantees, I guess,” he explained.
The finale last week, featuring host Scarlett Johansson and musical guest Bad Bunny, included plenty of sly jokes about big changes, including a throw-away line about Sarah Sherman being forced out without her knowledge and a Weekend Update joke swap where co-anchor Michael Che had colleague Colin Jost read a line threatening to take over longtime boss Lorne Michaels. “Retire, bitch! Let me run the show,” he quipped.
Despite a lack of final goodbyes during goodnights, people online couldn’t help theorizing whether MVP Bowen Yang’s emotional hug with Sherman was indicative of his departure; however, he confirmed shortly afterward that the heartfelt display was about him “just processing” the completion of the season.
But changes are likely to come with a 17-member cast that features six veterans who have been on the show for seven or more seasons: Jost, Che, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim and, of course, Thompson.
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