Lorne Michaels said bringing in new performers is "essential" to keeping Saturday Night Live fresh, addressing a wave of departures and additions as the show prepares to return for its 51st season.
Speaking to Derek Hough for Extra on the red carpet at the 2025 Emmy Awards, the longtime producer and creator of the NBC sketch series said the show benefited from the momentum of its 50th-anniversary season and that continual turnover helps the program evolve with its audience. "The 50th anniversary was like two years in the making, but we were really happy about it," Michaels said. "It's essential that we bring new people in every year." He added that the show's audience skews young and that as viewers change, "so does the comedy."
Michaels' comments come as SNL announced five new featured players who will debut when Season 51 premieres Oct. 4: Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska. The New York Post confirmed a slate of returning cast members that includes Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, Chloe Fineman, Kenan Thompson, Colin Jost and Michael Che, along with Mikey Day, Sarah Sherman, Marcello Hernández, Andrew Dismukes and James Austin Johnson. Season 50 additions Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline are also expected back.
The incoming group follows a notable shakeup that saw several performers not return to the show. Devon Walker, who had been promoted to the main cast in 2024, confirmed his departure. Emil Wakim, a one-season newcomer, and Michael Longfellow will also not be on the new season. Among the more surprising exits reported ahead of the new season is Heidi Gardner, whose contract was not renewed, according to an insider cited by The New York Post. The show and Michaels did not provide additional comment on individual departures.
Michaels, 80, was widely expected to step down after the 50th season, but insiders told The Post he remains involved and will continue in his role. He hinted at personnel changes in a recent interview with Puck News, saying he planned to "shake things up" and that announcements would follow.
Producers and longtime staff have periodically refreshed the SNL roster since the show debuted in 1975, a strategy Michaels described as tied to audience attachment. "The longest four years of your life are high school, and I think that's when people tend to attach to a cast, and that is the age of our audience in a way," he said, adding that older viewers remain but "they fall asleep early." Michaels' remarks connect to an ongoing effort by SNL leadership to balance veteran presence with newer voices and styles of comedy as cultural tastes shift.
The new and returning cast will rehearse and perform in Studio 8H as the series enters its next run, with production set to ramp up in the coming weeks. Michaels and the cast and crew collected a Primetime Emmy for the SNL50 anniversary special at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 14, underscoring the program's continued industry recognition even as it undertakes another period of transition.
The October premiere will provide the first public view of how the new lineup navigates sketches and recurring characters. Michaels and NBC have so far framed the changes as part of the show's long-running model of renewal rather than a response to any single development, emphasizing continuity alongside periodic turnover.