Lorne Michaels attributed recent changes to the cast of Saturday Night Live to the shifting habits of a younger audience, saying on the Emmys red carpet that platforms such as TikTok have helped push turnover as the show reinvents itself.
Michaels made the remarks Sunday before accepting the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for SNL’s 50th anniversary special. “The show has always brought people in from new, different ages and different generations, and it has to, it’s how it revives itself,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s always hard when people leave, but there’s a time for that. And our audiences always stay relatively young, more so now with TikTok.”
Michaels added, “Change is good. And the people we’re bringing in, I’m really excited about.” His comments followed announcements of multiple departures from the cast, including long-running performers Ego Nwodim and Heidi Gardner. Other recent exits include Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim and Devon Walker.
The producer noted that SNL’s 50th anniversary season drew its largest audience in three years, a surge that he said was aided in part by the heightened interest of an election year. The special he accepted the Emmy for marked another milestone for the sketch series: it was recognized as the show’s 113th Emmy, according to LateNighter.
Michaels acknowledged the span of his tenure while accepting the award, saying he first won the Emmy for the show roughly 50 years earlier. Records show his earliest Emmy win for SNL came at the 1976 ceremony.
SNL will return for its 51st season on Oct. 4. Four new cast members—Veronika Slowikowska, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane and Kam Patterson—were announced as rookies for the upcoming season, and writer Ben Marshall has been added to the ensemble. Michaels framed the additions as part of the program’s periodic refresh, a practice he has long described as central to maintaining the show’s relevance.
The departures of established players prompted discussion among fans and media about the series’ direction, but Michaels emphasized continuity with change, pointing to SNL’s history of rotating talent to reflect new comedic voices and cultural currents. He accepted the Emmy with a reflection on an unexpectedly long career: “I was younger and I had a lot of dreams about what would happen, and not one of those dreams was that I would still be doing the same show for the next 50 years,” he said during his speech.
As Season 51 approaches, the show’s leadership and its newly announced performers will be under renewed scrutiny to translate the program’s legacy into material that resonates with platforms and audiences that increasingly consume short-form comedy and clips online. Michaels’ comments suggest the show’s strategy will continue to account for those shifting viewing habits while drawing on SNL’s established format and production model.
Producers have said the season’s creative lineup will be revealed as show dates approach, leaving viewers to gauge how the new cast and writers will fit into the show’s long-running structure. Michaels’ acceptance at the Emmys reasserted his view that periodic turnover is part of the program’s DNA and a necessary step to keep it aligned with changing audiences and media platforms.