The current season of Saturday Night Live featured the show’s largest cast ever, with 21 different comedians appearing on screen at various points during the year. Based on current reports, it sure sounds like that number will be a bit lower for the 48th season. The Hollywood Reporter reports that this weekend’s season finale will be the final appearance as cast members for Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney.
Admittedly, this isn’t the most shocking of news. In comments made to The New York Times, SNL‘s Lorne Michaels spoke of “a year of change” on the horizon. And the number of high-profile veteran cast members with long stints on the show suggests that something like this was likely in the cards.
It’s worth mentioning that several of the cast members don’t seem to be venturing too far afield. Davidson is set to star alongside Edie Falco in the Peacock series Bupkis, for which Michaels is an executive producer. Michaels had a similar credit on Bryant’s recently-concluded Hulu series Shrill and Mooney’s Saturday Morning All Star Hits!, the first season of which debuted in December on Netflix.
If there’s an upside to these departures, it’s the way that it allows for some other cast members to get more time in the spotlight for next season. Given the depth of the cast this year, that’s not a bad thing.
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