Ahead of Saturday Night Live’s upcoming 51st season, some major shakeups are coming to the cast.
Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim all announced their departures from the show on social media this week.
Heidi Gardner — who has become a core part of the show in her eight seasons with SNL, playing characters like Angel (Every Boxer’s Girlfriend from Every Movie About Boxing Ever), and taking part in fan-favourite sketches — is also reportedly leaving the cast.
CBC has reached out to representatives for Gardner for confirmation but has not received a reply. NBC also said they could not comment on the matter.
Gardner was one of the longest serving cast members on the show during the last season, and spent the most time on the program of the four who won’t be returning. Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker both spent three years on the cast, while Wakim had just joined last season.
Walker was first among the group to say his time with the long-running sketch comedy show had come to an end, posting a photo of himself in front of a Saturday Night Live sign to Instagram on Aug. 25 with the caption “me and baby broke up.”
He went on in the post to liken jobs in comedy to marriage — “some of em last for a long time if we’re lucky, but most of them are fleeting.”
“Me and the show did three years together, and sometimes it was really cool. Sometimes it was toxic as hell.”
It’s unclear whether Walker left on his own terms or not. Instead, the comedian cheekily nodded to that detail — the note in his announcement post is titled “wait … did he quit or did he get fired?”
For his part, Longfellow alluded that he was let go. “Will not be returning for a fourth season at SNL. Wish I was but, so it goes,” the former cast member wrote in an Instagram post announcing his departure.
Still, he said he felt “nothing but gratitude” for his time on the show, thanking SNL creator Lorne Michaels in particular for hiring him. “Lorne, you gave me the greatest job in the world and changed my life,” he wrote.
Wakim also alluded to being fired, saying on Instagram that the phone call came as a “gut punch.”
He said the job was a “terrifying, thrilling and rewarding” one that he will miss, but also said he was looking forward to what might come next.
In addition to the cast member departures, writer Celeste Yim also announced they were leaving after five seasons via social media.
The announcements follow Michaels saying that he anticipated changes following the show’s historic 50th season. No cast members had announced their departure following the season’s conclusion.
In an interview with Puck that ran last week, Michaels answered “yes” when asked if he expected to “shake things up.”
“It’ll be announced in a week or so,” he said then.
Michaels told Puck at least one cast member was certain to be back: James Austin Johnson, who plays President Donald Trump.
Colleagues, fans express support
Fellow comedians and fans alike have expressed their sadness and shock at seeing the cast members go.
SNL cast member Bowen Yang and Hacks star Hannah Einbinder both commented on Longfellow’s announcement post, sending messages of support. Gardner and comedian Ziwe also commented in support for Walker on his Instagram.
On social media, fans said Gardner in particular left big shoes to fill. “She’s one of the most consistent dependable cast members there’s ever been,” one viewer wrote.
Jason Reitman’s new biopic Saturday Night immortalizes the chaotic early days of Saturday Night Live and how it revolutionized television with sharp political comedy. But after 50 seasons, some say the show has lost its edge by playing it too safe.
But given her long tenure, others said it seemed like it might be time for the comedian to take on other projects, with one writing, “She’s had a great run but I could see her saying it’s time to move on.”
And for Walker, Wakim and Longfellow, some fans felt like they hadn’t had the chance to reach their full potential on the show.
“I feel like he was just getting started,” one Redditor said of Longfellow. “They’ve gotta stop getting rid of good first season cast members,” another said of Wakim.
The SNL cast is no stranger to big shakeups, and many of the changes in the show’s more than 50 year history have been met with criticism and sadness. Fans were upset when former cast member Chloe Troast, for example, announced last year that she’d been let go ahead of the show’s 50th season.
