Ahead of its October premiere, “Saturday Night Live” has set its Season 51 cast.
The season will feature the return of established “SNL” cast members Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, Chloe Fineman, Mikey Day, Sarah Sherman, Marcello Hernández, Andrew Dismukes and resident Trump impersonator James Austin Johnson. Coming off their debuts in the sketch series’ 50th season last year, Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline are both set to return as well.
Colin Jost and Michael Che will reprise their roles as “Weekend Update” hosts for the 12th straight season together. “SNL” mainstay Kenan Thompson, meanwhile, is set to return for his record-breaking 23rd season of the NBC comedy staple.
The news comes not long after it was announced that “SNL” cast members Heidi Gardner, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow and Emil Wakim were all exiting the series ahead of its new season. Comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy was also broken up as part of this summer’s “SNL” shakeup with John Higgins departing the series altogether, while Martin Herlihy was moved to its writing staff and Ben Marshall was promoted to main “SNL” cast member.
In addition to Marshall, newcomers Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska have all been tapped to make their “SNL” main cast debuts in the new season.
There was fan outcry online in response to some of this summer’s “SNL” departures. As unexpected as Gardner and others’ exits may have been, though, “SNL” almost always makes some changes to its cast between seasons. Its renewed lineup only further proves that the Lorne Michaels-created series has yet to show any signs of slowing down or stopping anytime soon, despite crossing 50 years on the air this year.
In fact, coming off its 50th anniversary celebration in February, another important milestone already looms large for “SNL.” The series is expected to air its 1,000th episode in its forthcoming season.
“Saturday Night Live” Season 51 premieres Oct. 4 on NBC and Peacock.
