According to hollywoodreporter.com, Lorne Michaels saw the recent mass departure of Saturday Night Live cast members and says that he sees it as a result of the pandemic and promises that SNL’s Weekend Update segment will remain the same with head writer Colin Jost and Michael Che in charge. Prior to the premiere of season 48, eight cast members left the series including Kate McKinnon, Pete Davidson, and Aidy Bryant.
According to Michaels, “The pandemic had put us in this position where no one could really leave because there were no jobs, And at the same time, if I don’t add new people every year, then the show isn’t the show. There have to be new people, for both our sake and also for the audience. We got to a point where we had a lot of people, and people weren’t getting enough playing time. The way the series has survived is by that level of renewal, The price of success is that people go off and do other things; their primary obligation is to their talent and to keep pushing that. And there’s something so much better about the show when all that matters is the show. There’s a time to say goodbye, and there’s a natural time for it, but the natural time just got interfered with by the pandemic.”.
Michaels also dismissed any rumor of him retiring but did mention going big for the show’s 50th anniversary season. Michaels stated that, “The 50th will be a big event. We’ll bring everyone back from all 50 years and hosts and all of that. It will be a very emotional and very strong thing, There won’t be as many plus-ones, I can tell you that much.” He continued to say that, “I’m not a big person for celebrating, Even the 40th [anniversary show], in the end, the only way I got through it was because I knew I was doing a show, and at a certain point, the credits would roll, and we’d be off the air.”
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