Sometimes comedy hurts, literally. To prove that point, after Will Ferrell previously credited Molly Shannon for saving Saturday Night Live with her character Mary Katherine Gallagher, she explained that she actually got a ton of bruises while playing her. So, while those sketches must have been painful for the SNL star, it also, clearly, paid off.

Now, recurring characters on SNL are a must. When something works, it’s consistently brought back and is made even better. During Shannon's time on SNL from 1995 to 2001, she had a few recurring characters, including Mary Katherine Gallagher. The fan-favorite character made her debut during Season 21 in 1995, and Shannon shared on Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend that the sketch, which frequently called for intense stunts, gave her some bruises the day after the show:

An unpopular teen Catholic schoolgirl, Mary had a tendency to be pretty dramatic and have socially awkward exchanges with her fellow peers before ultimately falling over, crashing into a wall, or destroying something. This would then lead her to utter her iconic catchphrase, “Superstar!” and show everyone that she was okay. It happened in every single sketch, and, in true Mary Katherine Gallagher fashion, it was always overdramatic.

So, I can't say I'm surprised that the actress got beaten up doing these bits. She was literally throwing herself around the set. The fact that Shannon didn’t even feel anything during or right after the sketch is impressive.

Many actors have gotten bruised on projects, such as Alan Ritchson, who goes through the wringer each season for Reacher. SNL cast members can get battered and bruised too, which is really not surprising, considering the amount of physical acting and comedy required for a lot of the sketches.

While Shannon was on Saturday Night Live until 2001, she stopped doing Mary Katherine Gallagher on a frequent basis in 1999. She brought the character back in February 2001 during Season 26 for her final episode. That was not the last time that fans saw the chaotic Catholic schoolgirl, as she stepped back into the uniform one last time in 2007, when she hosted SNL during Season 32. She returned to host in 2023, reprising a couple of other fan-favorite characters, but not Mary Katherine Gallagher. And knowing how bruised she got doing that bit, I can't say I blame her.

Now, fans can watch those sketches and every single season of SNL with a Peacock subscription. And if you see Shannon doing Mary Katherine Gallagher, maybe give her an extra round of applause, because not only did Ferrell say she saved SNL with that character, but she also committed to the bit so hard she wound up with bruises.

Kenan Thompson has been a consistent talent on Saturday Night Live for an astounding 23 years, while Seth MacFarlane has also been making us laugh with some of the best animated TV shows for adults for over two decades. The Good Burger alum has now signed on to MacFarlane’s new Family Guy spinoff, and I’m actually surprised they haven’t collaborated before outside of SNL.

Stewie, an upcoming Fox animated sitcom that’s centered around Seth MacFarlane’s fan-favorite Family Guy baby, was announced earlier this year. In addition to the creator and Family Guy voice actor Mike Henry, several names have been added to the voice cast, including Kenan Thompson.

SNL’s longest-tenured cast member will voice Royal, who is described (per Variety) as “one of Stewie’s new friends who’s got a ‘Hell no’ attitude about the hazards of Stewie’s adventures.” Kenan Thompson has done plenty of voice work in his career, but somehow never for an episode of Family Guy, American Dad!, The Cleveland Show or any other Seth MacFarlane project.

He’s not the only Saturday Night Live talent tapped to join Stewie either. Vanessa Bayer, who left the show in 2017 after seven years, will voice the titular character’s teacher Morgan, “who should probably spend more time watching the kids, and less time partying.”

The trio appeared together in multiple sketches when Seth MacFarlane hosted SNL back in 2012. They joined Bill Hader in a hilarious puppet show sketch, and then Kenan Thompson got to pull out his Steve Harvey impression for a bit about giving MacFarlane’s character an extreme makeover, which you can see below:

It’s fun to see that these three will reunite after so many years, and they’ll be joined by Melissa O’Neil, Aaron Lee, and Jessica Lowe, who were also part of the Stewie casting announcement.

So what can Family Guy fans expect when the Griffin family’s youngest member becomes the main character? The official synopsis reads:

Stewie will be the second spinoff series from Family Guy following The Cleveland Show, which aired for four seasons from 2009 to 2013 and can be streamed with a Hulu subscription. Both Stewie and the flagship series’ 25th season are expected to premiere in 2027, so unfortunately nothing for the 2026 TV schedule.

With this cast list — particularly the first non-SNL collaboration between Seth MacFarlane and Kenan Thompson — hopefully it will be worth the wait.

Following Saturday Night Live’s mass cast exodus before and during Season 51 last year, Season 52 will see even more changes. Ahead of the premiere on the 2026 TV schedule, SNL had its first cast exit of the year, with Chloe Fineman officially bowing out after seven years. She’s now revealing how she broke the news to Lorne Michaels, and it couldn’t have come at a more awkward time.

Fineman decided to leave SNL after being offered a role in David E. Kelley’s upcoming Netflix series, Myron Bolitar. The decision reportedly wasn’t easy, and what was even more difficult was telling her boss. The comedian told Variety that when she called Michaels to inform him that she would be departing, he was apparently enjoying the World Cup, and I can only imagine what it was like:

I have to give props to Fineman for building up the courage to call Michaels (who can probably be very intimidating) to tell him that she’s not coming back to Saturday Night Live. But the fact that she did it while he was watching the World Cup is pretty horrible timing. He’s having a good time, watching the game, and then he gets a call from a cast member telling him they’re leaving the show. It likely put a damper on the game, and not just because England ended up losing.

It’s pretty awkward to call your boss during a World Cup game, even if you didn’t know, and tell them that you’re quitting while also trying to make light of the situation. Luckily, Fineman revealed that it wasn’t all awkward. The two of them had a good conversation after all was said and done, and there doesn’t seem to be any hard feelings about it, other than the fact that Michaels lost twice that day:

Considering SNL has been airing for over five decades, I’m sure there have been phone calls about cast exits that have been a lot worse than Fineman’s. At the very least, it sounds like she and Michaels were able to have a good chat, which likely squashed any awkwardness that was still left over from when she called during the game.

With Season 52 premiering this fall, it’s possible Fineman won’t be the last exit. Over the years, there have been a handful of rumors as to who could be leaving SNL and who could be staying, and you never truly know until it’s announced. Even after the cast is confirmed, things could always change throughout the season. For instance, Bowen Yang departed after the Christmas show last year. If anything, with the World Cup over and Spain taking it all, the next time a cast member exits, they don’t have to worry about interrupting Michaels at a game to tell him the news.

After seven years as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, Chloe Fineman has decided to exit the NBC mainstay. She leaves behind a strong legacy of iconic sketches and characters and for a while, seemed like one of the faces of the show. However, there have been a lot of changes at SNL, and for Fineman it seemed like the right time to depart. Of course, it's know that she's already landed her next gig and, per a report, her decision to step away from Studio 8H came together very quickly.

Fineman was offered a new TV opportunity that would reportedly conflict with SNL’s famously intense and demanding schedule. As has been revealed, Fineman was offered a role in David E. Kelley’s upcoming Netflix series, Myron Bolitar. And, according to a source for Page Six, Fineman allegedly decided upon everything in the matter of a day:

Myron Bolitar is one of many Harlan Coben adaptations in development at the aforementioned streamer, as the author’s books have been the source material for thirteen series currently available on the platform. This immense success of the previous adaptations bodes well for this latest production, so it makes sense that Fineman wouldn’t want to give this huge opportunity up. And, in theory, a dramatic turn like this could be a way for her to showcase her range.

Additionally, Page Six's insider also claims the purportedly fast decision could also be a result of Fineman’s current status at the show. Fineman’s presence on the show had dimmed a bit due to the power of new performers at the show, which includes rising star Ashley Padilla, who was one of the most heavily featured performers last season. SNL is a very competitive environment, and Padilla was notably taking on roles in sketches that had been given to Fineman in the past. A source claimed:

Many have noted over the years that timing an SNL exit is incredibly important, and knowing when to leave is crucial for one's career following their tenure. The Lorne Michaels-produced show is a great way for a performer to show what they're capable of, but some stars have spoken about how it can limit a person's opportunities outside the show.

Additionally, many cast members Chloe Fineman started with, including Bowen Yang, have already exited the show themselves. On that note, Yang praised Fineman alongside others like Kenan Thompson and Marcello Hernández after she announced her departure. All in all, fans seemed to love watching Fineman make a name for herself over the years, but it's great to see new faces too. Regardless of what exactly went into her decision-making and how fast it transpired, I'm excited to see what lies ahead for her.

Check out some of Chloe Fineman’s best sketch comedy moments by revisiting Season 51 of Saturday Night Live, which is currently streaming with a Peacock subscription. That'll be a solid way for SNL fans to pass the time before the show returns for its 52nd season on NBC this fall as part of the 2026 TV schedule.

It’s always hard to say goodbye to Saturday Night Live cast members, and that’s especially the case when they’ve worked at the show for a long time. So, yes, it’s difficult to comprehend that Chloe Fineman really is leaving SNL after seven seasons. However, while it’s sad, it’s also worth celebrating the incredible run that she had, which is exactly what Bowen Yang, Kenan Thompson and so many more did.

Chloe Fineman’s departure from SNL marks the first cast exit ahead of Season 52, and the first comedian to leave since Bowen Yang said goodbye in the middle of Season 51. In her Instagram post about this news, the actress noted that “it’s time for [her] next chapter.” She also wrote that “it’s really hard to leave SNL, but it does feel like the right time.” In response, a bunch of current and former cast members commented, writing things like:

• Bowen Yang: You tore that shit up. I love you so much, Chlo. ✨
• Kenan Thompson: Fantastic work Chloe!!!! ❤❤❤❤❤
• Marcello Hernández: Congrats Carlotaaaa ❤️‍🔥🫱🏼🫲🏼 💃
• Ego Nwodim: Congratulations Chloe!!!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
• Jeremy Culhane: I’m gonna miss you so bad!!! ❤️❤️❤️
• Sarah Sherman: 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
• Ben Marshall: SNL legend 😭
• Veronika Slowikowska: Love you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Yang and Fineman both joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in Season 45, which makes his statement mean even more. Plus, it has to be moving to see SNL’s longest-running cast member, Kenan Thompson, call out how brilliant your run was on the show. Along with those two, Ego Nwodim congratulated Fineman, and so did Marcello Hernández and Sarah Sherman, both of whom joined after her but have worked with her for a long time.

Alongside the longtimers, some of Season 51’s newbies commented too. This included Jeremy Culhane and Veronika Slowikowska; Ben Marshall, who was a writer for a while before joining the cast full-time, also showed his love.

So, all around, despite this news being a bummer, there is a lot of love for Fineman among the SNL cast. She got a bunch of appreciation from other celebs too. Check out these comments:

• Reese Witherspoon: CHLOE !!! Your SNL characters were always the perfect blend of clueless & unhinged. So excited for your very bright future! ✨
• Natalie Portman: You’ve made us all laugh so hard for so many years! Excited for what you’ll do next
• Lily Collins: Wow! Thank you for being so insanely hilarious. Can’t wait to see what you do next
• Monica Barbaro: incredible. well done. you’re a star… a legend… also a genuinely nice chill person. idk how you do it all. so excited for you 🩷🩷

It’s always so sweet to see a Saturday Night Live cast member celebrated like this, and it’s certainly deserved for Fineman. Now, I can’t wait to see what she does next, and I’d assume those who commented feel the same way.

Of course, when SNL returns to the 2026 TV schedule for Season 52, it will be odd not to see Chloe Fineman on screen (you can still stream her old episodes with a Peacock subscription). However, the show will go on, and her career will continue to flourish.

Despite any and all annual claims from Michael Che that he's leaving Saturday Night Live in the near future, that thankfully still isn't the cast just yet. However, today did bring the somewhat disappointing and somewhat hopeful news that the long-running sketch comedy did lose its first longtime cast member ahead of Season 52 premiering later in 2026: the always great Chloe Fineman!

Lest this sound solely like a funeral dirge, this casting departure seemingly isn't due to anything detrimental happening behind the scenes, and hasn't yet sparked any rumors. In fact, she shared a bittersweet, photo-filled post on Instagram where she spoke directly about leaving, saying:

Doesn't sound like somebody who hated her job for the past seven years. Quite the opposite. She shared more fun memories, and closed out with this:

You heard her, scientists. Get on that. And while you're at it, you might as well figure out a way to clone the actress so that she can go off to do other jobs, and SNL won't have to lose her stable of characters and impressions that have made her seven-year run so much fun to watch. Who are they gonna get to do Drew Barrymore now? Kenan Thompson? Fine, I'll watch it.

Now let's talk about what Fineman reportedly has coming up next.

Chloe Fineman Is Reportedly Joining A Netflix Drama With KJ Apa

According to Deadline, Chloe Fineman has wasted zero time in locking down her first on-screen project following up on her SNL exit. She's reportedly in negotiations to join the cast of the Netflix drama series Myron Bolitar, based on the book series authored by the streaming service's go-to mystery scribe, Harlan Coben.

Already looped into the cast for Myron Bolitar are Riverdale vet KJ Apa, The Flight Attendant's Colin Woodell, and Doom Patrol's Diana Guerrero.

Before today, the most recent sketch star to vacate Studio 8H was Bowen Yang, who exited in the middle of Season 51, rather than doing all that waiting business. Season 51 had already faced a whirlwind of shake-ups prior to its premiere, starting with Devon Walker being let go, followed by news that Emil Wakim, Michael Longfellow and Heidi Gardner were also let go, which was later followed by Ego Nwodim bowing out on her own accord.

Which stands to reason that Fineman's career change is only the first, with more to come as the summer progresses. The exits didn't start last year until mid-August, so we're already ahead of schedule.

Who will be the next SNL cast member to bow out ahead of Season 52? Place your bets, and then send me half of whatever you win, because you're nice like that.

Saturday Night Live’s host lineup is always impressive each season. Even after over 50 years, the producers of the show manage to attract some excellent talent to Studio 8H. Season 51 saw a mixture of first-timers and veterans, including Matt Damon. The Saving Private Ryan star hosted for the third time in May, and he recently opened up about what got him to host the first time, and I can’t argue with his reasoning.

Damon made his SNL hosting debut back in October 2002 for the Season 28 premiere. Even though it’s been 24 years, the actor still remembers that week like it was yesterday. He recalled on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast what it was like getting the call about SNL all those years ago. He was initially confused about why he'd get the gig, because he had nothing coming out at the time. (The Bourne Identity had just released that summer.) However, his agent had a sure-fire way to talk him into saying yes:

I've always wondered what it's like for an SNL host to headline an episode when they're a massive fan of the night's musical guest. Bruce Springsteen is a pretty darn good reason to host Saturday Night Live, so I can’t say I blame Damon for immediately jumping on board after hearing that he’d be the musical guest. Of course, I can't help but think that Damon would have agreed to host SNL at some point even if Springsteen wasn’t the musical guest. Either way, I'd say everything worked out well for Damon (and his agent).

Even though he made his hosting debut in 2002, Damon made his SNL debut in 2001, and Springsteen was not involved. He cameoed during Gwyneth Paltrow’s episode in Season 27, so he had a taste of what to expect when he agreed to host. However, I get Damon’s initial reservations, as he didn’t have anything else coming out, meaning he couldn’t really do any self-promo, and the season premiere is a big deal.

During his most recent hosting gig in May, though, Damon did have something to promote. He is part of the star-studded ensemble cast for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, an upcoming 2026 movie that has everyone buzzing. The epic fantasy flick is releasing in theaters on Friday, and Damon is hyped as well. Due to his lead role as Odysseus, Damon was put through the wringer and talked about being cold and wet at times during the shoot. However, the leading man also seemed to relish the experience and even got to reunite with Charlize Theron, who he first worked with on The Legend of Bagger Vance.

While waiting for The Odyssey, fans take a step back in time, so to speak and watch Matt Damon’s first-ever episode of Saturday Night Live with a Peacock subscription. His subsequent episodes during Seasons 44 and 51 are also available to stream, along with his many cameos. And, of course, be sure to check out Bruce Springsteen's performance in the first of those episodes.

We always talk about the sadness that comes with Saturday Night Live cast members departing the show, but the truth is every time someone leaves, it also leads to additional opportunities. The most obvious of those opportunities comes in the form of screentime, but there are also additional benefits like more access to writers, better offices and hilariously in the case of Seth Meyers, his preferred cue card holder.

Meyers was recently asked about cue card master Wally Feresten during a Q&A with the audience on his talk show. After praising Wally and calling him “the best ever,” Meyers admitted that when his longtime Weekend Update partner Amy Poehler left SNL, he was elated when he realized that meant he’d get to start using Wally for himself from that point forward. Here’s a portion of his quote...

Saying Meyers has a strong relationship with Feresten would be an understatement. The cue card writer and holder, who has been with SNL since 1990, actually now pulls double duty and works on Late Night With Seth Meyers, as well. In fact, during the same conversation with the audience, Meyers said he thinks at this point, Wally has held up the cue cards for 95% of all the words he’s ever spoken on television. Given his lengthy career, that’s a huge statement.

Meyers and Poehler tag teamed the Weekend Update desk during Seasons 32 and 33 and part of Season 34. After Poehler left the show to star in Parks & Recreation, Meyers then manned the desk by himself (with the help of Wally) until Season 39 when Cecily Strong was added. That turned into Strong and Colin Jost, which turned into Colin Jost and Michael Che, who have shared the desk for the last decade plus since Season 40.

Meyers, of course, transitioned from the Update desk to his own talk show, Late Night With Seth Meyers, that has produced more than 1,800 episodes in the years since. Feresten has been around that entire time, and he remains an active part of SNL, where he’s now one of the longest serving crew members. Meyers himself also still shows up from time to time.

You can watch Meyers gush about Wally in the full video below…

As for what changes we might see at SNL before the next season, that’s still an open question. Rumors, as always, are swirling about everyone from longtime showrunner Lorne Michaels to Weekend Update hosts Jost and Che, but we likely won’t have any official word until much closer to the season. It’ll be sad to see anyone leave, but as always, it’ll just create additional opportunities for screentime and access to beloved employees like Wally.

Travis Kelce is a lot of things. He’s the guy on the Chiefs, a three-time Super Bowl champion, and now Mr. Taylor Swift following the wedding of the century. That’s not all, however. He is also deemed Bowen Yang’s “straight male friend for life,” and the Saturday Night Live alum just revealed how Kelce earned that title.

In 2023, Kelce hosted SNL during Season 48 (which fans can watch with a Peacock subscription) and he was in some pretty memorable sketches. One of those was a “Straight Male Friend” sketch, a commercial parody that saw Yang talking about having a straight male friend so he can hang out with someone who isn’t a group of women and there’s no emotional attachment. The sketch seems to have made it out of the TV, because Kelce is truly Yang’s straight male friend for life. As Yang once told the Los Angeles Times:

I love how close Yang and Kelce have gotten, the fact that the “Straight Male Friend” sketch basically helped make their friendship even stronger makes it all the more better. Yang revealed they’ve DMed but have yet to get to the stage where they’re texting a lot. However, Kelce wanted to reunite with Yang, it just didn’t work out. But it’s clear that they definitely have a special bond.

This just makes me sad that the NFL player was unable to return to SNL after hosting the show for the first time before Yang departed in December. Assuming Kelce hosts the variety sketch series again in the future, perhaps Yang could make a surprise appearance for his straight male friend for life. SNL is known for celebrity cameos, especially when they come out of left field, so you never know. At the very least, it sounds like this friendship is not going down so easily, and it’s even more evident after Yang reportedly attended the MSG Tayvis wedding.

It’s been over three years since Kelce hosted SNL, and it’s hard to imagine how his friendship with Yang would have been like if he never stepped on the Studio 8H stage. If there even would be a friendship. Yang might have to thank Heidi Gardner for his straight male friend for life, as she previously revealed the story behind Kelce hosting SNL. Lorne Michaels had just one requirement, which was for Kelce to win the Super Bowl. So it wasn’t a surprise when he hosted not long after the Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII.

Yang may no longer be on SNL and we probably won’t get a “Straight Male Friend” sketch 2.0 if Kelce ever hosts again. But at the very least, their friendship probably won’t die any time soon. That “for life” that Yang mentioned seems to be forever, and I’m glad to see this is yet another SNL sketch that has made it out of SNL. It’s not the same as an SNL character getting a movie, but it’s pretty close.

Will Ferrell is one of the biggest names to ever come out of Saturday Night Live, and some would say he’s the absolute best cast member of all time. But at one point, he was just a young comedian doing improv comedy at the Groundlings hoping for his big break. The Step Brothers star recently opened up about his first audition for the NBC sketch show, and a bit he tried to do with Lorne Michaels that he just couldn’t get over the line.

In an interview with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson for their podcast, IMO, Ferrell talked about the nerves surrounding his first audition for SNL, including doing characters like Ted Kennedy, an adult who plays with cat toys, and Harry Caray, which ended up becoming one of the funniest recurring characters on the show. He was so nervous because nobody laughed at his audition; however, after being asked to meet with Michaels later, he knew he was still in the running.

Ferrell had heard a story about how Adam Sandler, who made quite the impact on SNL, got the gig after a five-minute meeting with the legendary showrunner. As a result, Ferrell decided he’d do a bit during the meeting to showcase his talents. He said:

This is an absolutely hilarious idea, and such a perfect Will Ferrell bit that would land perfectly during a sketch. However, Michaels has a reputation for being intimidating and a pretty serious guy, despite the fact that his expertise is in comedy. Ferrell had these big plans of doing this ridiculous bit, but apparently the second he walked into his future boss's office, the energy and the tone of the meeting shot him down right away. He said:

A briefcase is certainly a bizarre thing to bring to a meeting about comedy. It is so big and clunky and implies you brought a lot of stuff with you to a meeting that doesn’t require much of anything. Without context, I can’t imagine what Michaels was thinking.

The whole thing was made even worse when Steve Higgins, who was one of the head writers at the time, said “nice briefcase” to Ferrell during the meeting, who was still too nervous to do the bit. Even better, when the Talladega Nights star was asked to come back for a second meeting, he wanted to try and do the bit again. He explained:

He literally planned and failed to do the bit twice, which makes the whole thing even funnier. Especially considering he asked Michaels’ assistant, who was sitting outside his office, to finish the bit for him, which Michaels ended up finding funny later. Farrell finished the story, saying:

The joke itself was one thing, but the real funny aspect of this story was that Ferrell kept trying to do this absurdly stupid joke but couldn’t manage to execute it. He went on to be a stellar addition to the cast and gained the confidence around Lorne Michaels to start doing ridiculous bits like this one to his face.

After his cast member stint from 1995 to 2002, Will Ferrell went on to host the broadcast mainstay six times. This includes the SNL Season 51 finale this year, which you can revisit now with a Peacock subscription. Fans of Ferrell can also check him out in his new comedy series The Hawk, which will be available with a Netflix subscription on July 16, 2026.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert may have ended a few months ago, but it's still making an impact on the 2026 TV schedule. That’s because as the 2026 Emmy nominees were named, Colbert’s program got one last laugh as it scored an Outstanding Variety Series nomination.

Coming off its first Emmy win last year, Colbert’s show was nominated this year alongside The Daily Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and Saturday Night Live. Notably, this year, these shows are recognized under the Outstanding Variety Series category, as the Outstanding Talk Series and Outstanding Scripted Variety Series categories were merged into one.

Last year, Colbert’s program won Outstanding Talk Series following news breaking about The Late Show’s cancellation. There were still months of episodes left at the time, and the series came to a close in the middle of 2026, making it eligible for this year’s Emmys.

Now, overall, the competition in this category is strong and fascinating. Last Week Tonight has won ten Emmys. It has won three times in Outstanding Scripted Variety Series and seven times in Outstanding Variety Talk Series. In 2023, it moved from Talk to Scripted series, and after that happened, The Daily Show won Talk Series twice, and The Late Show took home the trophy last year.

This year, all those shows will compete for the same trophy, and the other competition is Jimmy Kimmel Live! And Saturday Night Live, both of which are beloved programs that have good reasons to win too.

Notably, more than one show could take home gold. When this new category emerged, the Television Academy reclassified it as an area award. That means voters don’t select one winner; instead, they answer the question “Does this nominee merit an Emmy?” Any nominee that reaches a 90% “yes” threshold can win, per Deadline.

Even if multiple shows win, I still think Colbert and The Late Show are likely a frontrunner. Considering how his show ended for good this year, I’d guess that many would want to reward the program for its run and give it one last celebration.

Plus, there’s a lot of love for Stephen Colbert. Last year, after his show got canceled and the 2025 Emmy nominees were announced, Jimmy Kimmel actually campaigned for his competitor instead of his own show. He literally put up a billboard in support of The Late Show.

While I don’t know if that kind of thing will happen again, I would assume all the nominated programs will continue to support each other. I mean, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver and Stephen Colbert are pals, and they all appeared on The Late Show in the episodes before it ended this spring.

So, it will be interesting to see who wins this year. However, no matter what, the nomination alone gives Stephen Colbert one last laugh after CBS canceled his show. Yep, he’ll get to celebrate The Late Show one more time months after it came to a close, and I think that’s very deserved.

Now, to see if Stephen Colbert and The Late Show win, you can tune in to the 78th Emmy Awards on September 14 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC or with a Peacock subscription.

Saturday Night Live Season 52 premieres this fall on the 2026 TV schedule, and as of now, there aren’t any details about who will be returning and who could be leaving. Season 51 saw a mass cast exodus with several fan-favorites departing, while five new cast members joined. Now, some of those newbies are opening up about the advice series creator and producer Lorne Michaels has given them.

Joining a show like SNL isn't exactly easy. Many huge stars have come from SNL, but each of those cast members were battle tested, so to speak. Luckily, a lot of cast members -- current and former -- have given advice to new cast members. However, given Michaels' experience, he's a unique source of advice. When several of the new cast members spoke with Variety, Jeremy Culhane shared what Michaels does when he gives notes, and I wasn't expecting him to mention a Lord of the Rings character:

Obviously, if anyone knows what it takes to put together a show, it’s Lorne Michaels. He not only created Saturday Night Live, but has served as a producer for almost every single season. He’s experienced highs and lows, dealt with eccentric cast members and more. Michaels also knows what work and what doesn’t when it comes to sketches, and it sounds like he knows just what to say when something just doesn’t click.

Michaels apparently also knows when a cast member is trying too hard, which is exactly what Tommy Brennan went through. Brennan recalled:

I can imagine that throughout his time on Saturday Night Live, Michaels has come across more than a few cast members who've tried too hard to prove themselves. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as even veteran cast members have to work hard to get more airtime, but I can imagine it's also beneficial to relax and have fun, as Michaels wanted Brennan to do. Also, as Kam Patterson explained, Michaels can also use a random fact to make a point:

Following their inaugural season, the younger cast members seem to have a solid grip on SNL. Culhane, Brennan, and Patterson, as well as Veronika Slowikowska, joined the featured players roster for Season 51, and they weren’t the only newbies. Ben Marshall, 1/3 of comedy group Please Don’t Destroy (who have created some viral SNL sketches and digital shorts) also joined the cast at the beginning of Season 51.

So, needless to say, there's a lot of new blood at Studio 8H right now, and I'm hopeful that they'll hone and develop their talents over time. I'd say their lucky to have some veterans like Kenan Thompson, Sarah Sherman and Mikey Day around. However, if they're ever able to get some one-on-one time with Lorne Michaels, I'd imagine that's very beneficial as well.

The full cast for Season 52 has not been announced, so it’s unclear if all of these stars will be back on stage this fall. As a fan, I'm hopeful we won’t see any more changes to the cast for a while. (I’m still mourning over Bowen Yang’s departure. Saturday Night Live returns this fall on NBC, and all existing episodes are streaming now with a Peacock subscription.

Taylor Swift fans have been and continue to be desperate for any and all details about her getting “JUST&T MARRIED” to Travis Kelce on July 3. There have been a few surprises from what we’ve learned so far, including Karlie Kloss being one of the invited guests and comedian Adam Sandler officiating the wedding. The Billy Madison star has spoken glowingly about the artist in the past, but how do Swift and Sandler know each other?

Travis Kelce worked with Adam Sandler on Happy Gilmore 2, of course, where the NFL star played a waiter (there were theories that Taylor Swift also had a cameo), but the Sandman’s connection to the “Opalite” singer goes back way further than that. Sandler has been a Swiftie since his daughters, Sadie and Sunny, were kids, and he told Kelce how important she has been to the Sandler family on New Heights in 2024, saying:

The two movies Adam Sandler mentioned were released in 2010 and 2012, respectively. So we’re talking over a decade of Taylor Swift fandom here (though it’s unclear if they actually met each other during this time). But Sandler’s praise for her music didn’t stop there, as Sandler continued:

Adam Sandler has said that he, his wife Jackie, Sadie and Sunny have even gotten to meet Taylor Swift several times over the years. Possibly the first time was in October 2019, when Swift served as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. Sandler told Travis Kelce that he appreciated how she “saw the kids there, took her time, hung out with them.”

Then they got to hang out again at the premiere of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. The Sandman recalled:

How incredibly sweet is that? Taylor Swift taking time from her own movie premiere to praise Sunny and Sadie Sandler for their own film. In fact, Swift has made such an impression on the women in Adam Sandler's life that he feels pressure to not ruin it. He said on New Heights:

It’s not just her music and her message that the Sandler family loves so much either — they happen to be big fans of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce as a couple, as he concluded his mounds of praise by telling Kelce:

Honestly, anybody who talked about my relationship like that would be welcome to officiate my wedding, so I can totally see why they made that choice.

I’m kind of dying to know what Adam Sandler said during the ceremony. But, even though Taylor Swift reportedly had her wedding filmed, I’m afraid that might be something kept private just for the thousand people in attendance. Only time will tell but, clearly, Travis and Taylor's relationship with the Sandlers is now one for the ages.

Everyone always talks about the incredible run Kenan Thompson has had on Saturday Night Live. He’s been on the show for more than two decades and is the longest tenured Not Ready For Primetime Player by a large margin, but for almost that entire stretch, Colin Jost has been right there with him. The writer, turned head writer, turned Weekend Update co-host jointed the show all the way back in 2005, just two years after Thompson. The two even shared an office for almost a decade, and that’s apparently where one of the greatest SNL recurring sketches of all-time came from.

Thompson recently joined The Rundown, which is a fun bit SNL does on its social channels where cast members pick out a sketch from the past, as if they were putting together a show Lorne Michaels style. During the segment, Thompson talked about some of his all-time favorite sketches from other comedians, as well as some of his personal favorites. That’s when the subject of Scared Straight came up, and he gave the backstory, which I had never heard before.

If you haven’t seen any of the Scared Straight sketches before, you’re missing out. They’re a direct nod to the 1970s documentary Scared Straight, which paired troubled teens with prison inmates who told them what life inside was actually like an effort to get them to reevaluate their life choices. In SNL’s version, Thompson plays an inmate who yells at troubled teenagers, but all of the stories he tells are quite clearly references to old movies.

You can watch the magic below…

I’m firmly convinced that one of the secret weapons of Saturday Night Live has always been its unique ability to force hilarious people to hang out with each other almost constantly. The crazy hours, shared offices and all night writing sessions bring people together and allow for all kinds of wacky collaborations and partnerships that you wouldn’t have seen coming like this one.

Exactly how much longer these two continue working together remains to be seen. It’s the summer and like every summer, there’s a thousand rumors about the SNL cast and who might be staying and who might be going. I’m not sure anyone knows what’ll happen over the next few months, but I think there’s a good chance both of these two will be back. Jost has really broken out over the last year and has started appearing in a ton of non-Weekend Update sketches, and Thompson remains one of the most popular and beloved cast members on the show. Fingers crossed we get to see them work together for at least another year.

Saturday Night Live is a television institution, and a dream job for countless comedians. The sketch show (which is streaming with a Peacock subscription) has created many stars, including Bowen Yang, who earned 5 Emmy nominations during his tenure on the show. And he recently recalled the way fellow alum Tina Fey supported him in his post SNL career, specifically the Las Culturistas Culture Awards.

For ten years now, Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers have hosted the Las Culturistas Podcast, which is a deep dive on pop culture and their personal lives. In 2022 they introduced a spoof Awards Show called the The Culture Awards, with the last two years being televised on Bravo and Peacock. In a video from The Wall Street Journal, the Wedding Banquet star shared a story about Fey related to the Culture Awards, starting with:

While televised and star-studded, The Culture Awards are ultimately one hilarious gag. Categories include "Best Vibe Hands Down", "The Allison Williams Cool Girl Award" and "Most Beautiful Name for a Daughter You Haven't Even Thought of Yet". So while Bowen Yang left SNL, he's still been busy writing laugh-out-loud bits for us to enjoy.

Later in the clip, Yang revealed how Tina Fey propped him up about The Culture Awards. The faux Awards Show has become legitimate in her eyes, as he revealed:

Touché. And since Tina Fey has hosted the Golden Globes so many times, she knows a thing or two about Awards Shows. While The Las Culturistas Culture Awards are indeed a tongue-in-cheek evening, it has become a star-studded even that people end up taking seriously. And in that way it's just like every other Awards Show.

While Yang departed SNL, he's kept super busy and Las Culturistas continues to be a wildly popular podcast. He and co-host Matt Rogers are also going to write a book The Rules of Culture, Volume 1, further cementing the pod's place in the entertainment world. And I'm hoping we're getting a third televised Culture Awards next year.

The Las Culturistas Culture Awards are streaming over on Peacock as part of the 2026 TV schedule. He's also part of the voice cat for the new Cat in the Hat movie, which will hit theaters November 6th.

Saturday Night Live produces stars, and many of its sketches live on in the pop culture zeitgeist for decades. That’s bound to make the comedians in the cast feel great. I’m sure it can also inflate egos. However, according to David Spade, there’s a piece of advice Lorne Michaels gives that helped him keep his ego in check while on the show.

This came up while Spade, Dana Carvey and Marcello Hernández were chatting about recurring characters on SNL during an episode of Fly on the Wall. Hernández, who famously has gone viral multiple times for playing Domingo, specifically mentioned that it can be tough to pitch a sketch about a character that’s already been done, because it can feel like there’s a “little bit of entitlement” behind it. That led to Spade recalling a tough piece of advice Lorne Michaels gave him:

While brutal, the point totally makes sense. There’s a lot of chatter about who gets the most screen time on Saturday Night Live, and breakout stars, like Ashley Padilla from the season that aired on the 2026 TV schedule, get lots of adoration online. However, along with the praise comes criticism too, as the way people react to sketches on SNL tends to fluctuate.

So, one moment you can be up, and the next moment you can be down. It makes sense that your ego would need to be in check to deal with all that. Therefore, a brutal reality check from Lorne Michaels can probably be helpful, as David Spade explained:

“Brutal and true” seems to be the name of Lorne Michaels game. He clearly loves his cast, and he’s helped so many of them both professionally and personally. However, he also knows how to make tough calls, and he isn’t afraid to show he doesn’t like something, as is shown when he reacts to sketches under the bleachers in his documentary Lorne and the Written By documentary (both of which you can stream alongside SNL with a Peacock subscription). So, the fact that he’d tell Spade and other cast members that they’re not the funniest people on the show feels on-brand.

Plus, while brutal, it feels like a good thing to remember. SNL is full of incredible comedians. Every week, any of them could shine the brightest. And while the show has its massive stars, from episode to episode, the best player of the night tends to change. Meanwhile, sketches get cut mid-episode, and working on this program is notoriously difficult. So, staying humble and keeping that ego in check feels important.

So, yeah, the advice Lorne Michaels gave David Spade was pretty harsh. And I can’t imagine it’s easy to hear. However, it also helped the comedian keep his ego in check while working on Saturday Night Live.

The joke swap between Saturday Night Live Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che has become one of the most anticipated parts of the show, and we thought we’d seen in the SNL Season 51 finale just how far Che was willing to go. Maybe not, though, because Che paid tribute to Jost on his birthday with a message that may not have been a blind joke swap, but was still trolling of the highest order.

Colin Jost celebrated his 44th birthday on June 29, but just because it was his big day doesn’t mean he was safe from the shots being fired by his Weekend Update partner. Che posted a series of photos and videos to Instagram, along with a couple of frames of text that read:

Undoubtedly, the funniest part of this lengthy message is the fact that Michael Che included receipts for these memories (both real and photoshopped), including an image of the two of them in the ring at WrestleMania 35, a selfie driving past a Whites Drug & Department Store, a doctored image of their 2018 Variety cover, handwritten notes from Harry Styles and more.

Che’s post continued:

Yeah, you have to give Michael Che credit for putting this one together, and then remembering to name some of the best former Weekend Update anchors like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Norm Macdonald, Kevin Nealon, Jane Curtain and others. I definitely think Jost and Che's names deserve to be on the list of greats.

Perhaps the best birthday gift Colin Jost could have gotten from his colleague is that his wife Scarlett Johansson escaped the tribute mostly unscathed. That definitely hasn't always been the case, as Jost has been made to read jokes about the Black Widow star — sometimes even in front of her — during their joke swaps.

The Weekend Update joke swap has a great origin story, and it’s something that Colin Jost and Michael Che reserve typically for their Christmas show and each season finale. During their SNL segment, they write jokes for each other that they don't see until they read them live on-air.

I love that Michael Che didn’t wait for Saturday Night Live to return to the 2026 TV schedule before we got more trolling between the Weekend Update anchors, and it really just makes me more excited for Season 52. While we wait for that, you can catch past SNL episodes on streaming with your Peacock subscription.

Saturday Night Live is currently on its summer hiatus, preparing to return for Season 52 on the 2026 TV schedule this fall. With a new season means possible cast exits or additions following the mass exodus ahead of Season 51 last year. After having to say goodbye to five cast members in fall 2025, fans had to say goodbye to one more when Bowen Yang departed after the Christmas show. His absence, like other former cast members, is definitely still felt, and I love Sarah Sherman’s take on what she’s been missing since he left.

Many cast members paid tribute to Yang after his final episode aired, and it’s still hard to watch the show without him. He was in his feels cleaning up the last of his stuff from 30 Rock, but luckily, he’s remained close to his former colleagues. As for Sherman, she took some vicious shrapnel from a writer about his exit, but it mostly just shows how big an impact Yang made on SNL. Sherman revealed on Deadline’s Comedy Means Business podcast what the environment was like during those first few shows post-Yang:

For a show like SNL, cast exits happen frequently, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt... especially for the cast. Yang and Sherman grew close during their time together on the series, and Yang has hyped up her projects, and she’s probably done the same. While the 35 year-old Fire Island star has remained close to his former colleagues since his exit, I can only imagine how different the table reads were after getting back from winter break. Especially if Yang’s laugh filled up the room.

Even though it’s hard having to say goodbye to friends, Sherman does love it when new people come on and give the show something fresh. Season 51 saw five new cast members, including Ben Marshall from Please Don’t Destroy, and there’s no telling if anyone new will be joining for Season 52. Regardless, Sherman looks forward to the vibes the newbies bring:

The great thing about Saturday Night Live is that everyone on the cast, even the show’s longest-tenured cast member Kenan Thompson, was once a newbie. They know what it’s like to join the coveted ranks of SNL, so it’s not surprising to know that Sherman welcomes the newbies with open arms.

As of now, cast changes for Season 52 have not been revealed, and it’s unknown if there will be any cast changes. It’s possible that after losing six cast members last season, the only casting changes made will be promoting some featured cast members to repertory, hopefully fan-favorite Ashley Padilla. Season 52 will be the first full season without Bowen Yang, but maybe he can come back to host, especially with his podcast and the Las Culturistas Culture Awards doing so well. For now, fans can watch their favorite Yang moments with all seasons of SNL streaming with a Peacock subscription.

Jackass was famously the subject of a bidding war before the show even aired a single episode. MTV, Comedy Central and FX all liked the pitch enough to make offers, and at one point, Saturday Night Live even got involved. Star Johnny Knoxville and his producing partners Spike Jonze and Jeff Tremaine of course went with MTV, but that hasn’t stopped fans from playing the what-if game for the last quarter century, especially about SNL.

Well, it turns out the sketch comedy offer was a little different than at least I had realized. Ahead of Jackass: Best And Last, an old Howard Stern interview with Knoxville has gone viral in which the subject of Saturday Night Live came up. The actor said he met with showrunner Lorne Michaels, who offered him three to five minutes of airtime each episode, but he ultimately turned it down because apparently it wasn’t for Jackass. It was for him and wouldn’t have included the rest of the crew.

For some reason in my mind, I envisioned a weekly stunt or prank that involved Knoxville and the other guys, but this makes a lot more sense given how SNL casts work. It apparently would have just been the lead actor himself doing some bit of craziness.

I’m sure that would have been funny and blown the minds of network TV audiences who would have been shocked, but that wouldn’t have been Jackass as we know it. That would have just been Knoxville doing his thing. I wonder if he would have gotten the chance to appear in other sketches like a traditional cast member too. He’s hosted the show before so we know he would have been able to pull it off.

This might sound out of left field for Saturday Night Live. In some ways, it obviously is a big departure from the heart of the show, but it’s not quite as crazy as it might seem. There’s definitely an established pattern of SNL partnering with comedians to do something other than traditional sketch comedy.

When the show first premiered, it included a more adult version of The Muppets that Jim Henson created. There have also been plenty of filmmaking duos who have made weekly shorts for the show that are pre-taped with The Lonely Island probably being the most prominent example.

I’m sure SNL would have loved to get in on the Jackass phenomenon, but we should all be happy that it worked out the way it did. Arguably the best part of the entire franchise is the chemistry and love between the leads. Everyone laughing at each other helps the audience feel okay with laughing, and the show and subsequent movies also benefited from having a high number of sketches in order to play to different comedic tastes. Some people want to see Knoxville attach bottle rockets to roller skates. Some people want to see Steve-O get stung by bees, and some people want to see Pontius dance for random people. It’s an eclectic vibe.

You can catch the main Jackass guys one final time in Jackass: Best And Last, which hits theaters this weekend. The film is a mix of older footage, unaired stunts and new bits the team shot, alongside some of the newer cast members that appeared in Jackass Forever. It's getting very strong reviews.

While the benefits of being on Saturday Night Live are amazing, and the show has produced many successful comedians, it also takes quite a toll on its cast and crew. I mean, Michael Che says he’s going to leave every season because of how challenging it is, and many others have spoken about just how tough it is to perform week after week. Now, Sarah Sherman has gotten very personal about why she felt like “roadkill” after wrapping up a season of SNL.

This conversation came up as Sherman was discussing touring as a stand-up comedian on Deadline’s Comedy Means Business podcast. She explained that she’s not doing it right now, despite the fact that her special, Sarah Squirm: Live + In the Flesh (you can stream it with an HBO Max subscription), came out in December last year. While that feels unnatural, it was needed after she wrapped another season of SNL, as she explained:

Sarah Sherman has always kept it real when it comes to SNL. She’s talked about things she still hasn’t figured out, and she’s explained what it’s like to have a sketch cut in the middle of an episode. While these comments are not rude or angry, they are candid and highlight the challenges that come with working on this show.

In her latest comments, she explained that she was so tired after this last season that ended on the 2026 TV schedule that she was in desperate need of a break. Explaining that point a bit further, and diving into why SNL is so exhausting, she said:

This all makes perfect sense. Week after week, the writers and cast of SNL are expected to write and perform new work. Then, through that process, a lot gets cut and changed. It’s a tough and ultra-fast-paced job that comes with funky hours, intense highs and low lows. So, I get why a cast member might feel like “roadkill” after a given season.

However, despite the challenges, the cast is coming back and killing. On top of that, they’re also working on other projects. In fact, while Sherman isn’t doing stand-up right now, she will be later this summer. Plus, in 2026 alone, she’s worked on three movies – Pizza Movie, Roomates and Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma – while also performing on SNL.

So, yes, while the work is challenging and exhausting, it’s clear that even though Sarah Sherman is taking a break right now (and a deserved one at that), she really shows no signs of slowing down.

Meeting Paul McCartney has to be one of those experiences where your brain briefly turns into a shaken soda can. What do you even say if you suddenly find yourself face-to-face with one of the Beatles backstage at Saturday Night Live? If you are SNL cast member Sarah Sherman, apparently, you talk about your very Paul McCartney-coded mullet... then let the man inspect the merchandise. While the sketch comedy series is on hiatus before returning to the 2026 TV schedule, the comedy star gushed about meeting the former Beatle and shared his hilarious reaction to her haircut.

In an exclusive interview with People at the 5th Annual Las Culturistas Culture Awards, the 33-year-old performer recalled how the former Beatle approached her after he appeared as the musical guest on SNL’s Season 51 finale, which Will Ferrell hosted. The setup came from Sherman previously joking on the show that her haircut looked like the rock legend’s Wings-era mullet. Apparently, he remembered. As the comedian put it:

Talk about the perfect SNL celebrity encounter. A musical legend inspecting your mullet like he’s authenticating a rare artifact? Beautiful. This is exactly the kind of backstage story that feels too specific to invent.

The late-night sketch performer also shared more of the encounter during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which she later posted to TikTok. She said McCartney came up to her during the goodnights, knew her name and pulled on her “mullet tails.” Jimmy Kimmel joked that it is probably rare for someone to get their mullet pulled by a Beatle, and Sherman had the only correct response: she liked it.

Honestly, that tracks for Sherman. Since joining SNL in 2021 and later being promoted to the repertory cast, she has made a whole art form out of being proudly strange. Her comedy has always had a chaotic, squirmy, body-horror-adjacent energy, so of course her Paul McCartney story involves hair verification.

The best part, though, is that the You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah actress did not just talk hair. She also made sure the British music icon knew she was a real fan. She told the outlet that she praised him directly, and his response was somehow even funnier than the mullet bit. She continued:

I love that so much. There is something deeply refreshing about a rock legend not pretending he is embarrassed by praise. The 84-year-old singer-songwriter has earned a little adulation. Actually, he has earned several dump trucks of it. If Sarah Sherman wants to complement McCartney II, the obscure 1980 solo album that has since become a cult favorite, who among us is going to stop her?

She also named McCartney II as her favorite album for People Picks, along with Martin Short’s Clifford as her favorite movie and The X-Files as her favorite TV show. That is such a Sherman-coded trio that it almost sounds like a character description. The whole thing is just a great collision of personalities. Plenty of people have probably told Paul McCartney they love his music. Far fewer can say he pulled their mullet first.

You can catch Sherman’s comedy special, Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh, with an HBO Max subscription.

Leslie Jones managed to make quite a mark during her five-season stint on Saturday Night Live and, since leaving the show in 2019, she's provided insight into her experiences working there. While Jones has been open about the highs of the gig, she's also been honest about some of the lows. More recently, the actress and comedian talked about being typecast in many of her sketches, despite wanting to be included in roles that were more dynamic.

Ahead of SNL's return on the 2026 TV schedule, Jones was a guest on The Sam Sanders Show. During a conversation about whether the sketch-comedy show was a great place for Black comics, the Top Five alum talked about her own experience and consistently being put in sketches where she was fighting or having to be angry:

While she's said in the past she originally didn't even want to be on the show, Leslie Jones apparently joined Saturday Night Live with the notion of wanting to showcase her abilities both as an actress and comedian. Although Jones' work on the show is quite enjoyable, she does make good points in that many of her characters do fit the mad or fight-ready descriptions.

When asked if she was OK with the sketches at the time, Jones admitted that her desire to be on the series was what took precedence. However, she also admitted it took a while for her to even realize she was getting the same thing to do every week. At the same time, though, she was also on national TV as part of a cast many others would die to be a part of. The comedian explained:

Though frustrated, Leslie Jones can see that Saturday Night Live is a machine. Writers figure out what audiences like about a cast member, and they'll continue to hit on what works. This is to say, she's not the only former SNL cast member to frequently be put into the same box, but that doesn't mean it's any less disappointing for her.

What seemed to be at the center of Leslie Jones' displeasure was her desire to "play" more and show the various abilities she has as an actress. Still, as she reiterated, being a product of the machine meant writers were reluctant to go outside of her "character" when it came to sketches, which further annoyed her:

When asked if Saturday Night Live was a good place for Black comedians, Leslie Jones said it was a great platform that can open a lot of doors for any comedian. There are plenty of success stories involving cast members who've had careers after being on the NBC staple. And, most notably, Kenan Thompson has even made being a cast member a long-term career.

It's been interesting to hear Jones be candid about her SNL experience. Since leaving the series, she returned to join the star-studded 50th anniversary special, and she still seems to have solid relationships with some former castmates. While it's unfortunate that her time on the show wasn't what she wanted, I'm glad she seems to have still maintained a solid connection to the series.

Saturday Night Live returns to NBC this fall, and I'm eager to see what upcoming hosts and musical guests are planned for next season. I may need to watch some old episodes with my Peacock subscription, because I've been needing some sketch comedy in my life as of late.

With Saturday Night Live hitting its 50th anniversary last year, there’s been a lot of looking back at the early days, from the brutal audition process to the sketches that didn’t go according to plan. Molly Shannon has had the opportunity to reminisce lately, as well, as she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Will Ferrell paid tribute to his longtime friend and gave her a lot of the credit for bringing the show back from being “Saturday Night Dead.”

Molly Shannon and Will Ferrell joined Saturday Night Live in 1995 amidst a dip in ratings for the NBC sketch comedy show, and as Shannon was honored with a literal Hollywood “Superstar!” on Monday, June 22, the Spirited actor recalled the night she debuted what became one of SNL’s most iconic recurring characters — Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher. Ferrell said:

Saturday Night Live fans are more than familiar with the armpit-sniffing Mary Katherine Gallagher, who shared one memorable sketch with Whitney Houston (after Molly Shannon convinced her to do it) and even got her own movie Superstar in 1999, which ended up being one of the best movies based on a Saturday Night Live character. Will Ferrell spoke about how instantaneous the audience’s reaction was to Molly Shannon in that role:

That’s quite a huge amount of credit to give Molly Shannon, as SNL is considered one of the best sketch comedies of all time with Season 52 premiering this fall on the 2026 TV calendar. You can see the sketch that Will Ferrell was referring to below:

Molly Shannon definitely deserves all of the flowers. She stayed with Saturday Night Live until 2001, earning an Emmy nomination in 2000, but has returned to 30 Rockefeller Center as a guest several times and hosted twice. Her success has continued outside of sketch comedy with amazing roles on shows like The White Lotus and The Other Two. The SNL star has even pulled off dramatic roles including A Good Person.

I love that Will Ferrell has such glowing memories of his time with Molly Shannon on SNL, and it makes me even more excited to see the two reunite for the comedy series The Hawk. The upcoming Netflix series stars Ferrell as a golf legend, with Shannon playing his ex-wife Stacy. Make sure your Netflix subscription is up to date, because that premiere is coming our way Thursday, July 16.

As Saturday Night Live prepares its return to the 2026 TV schedule in the fall, the cast is still talking about last season and Bowen Yang's exit. Understandably so, as he had an emotional impact on the cast, and apparently it resulted in Sarah Sherman catching some strays from a writer about her jokes landing in his absence.

Yang, Sherman, and SNL's longest-tenured cast member, Kenan Thompson, all talked about the exit during a recent interview with Variety. After talking about what they'd miss with Yang no longer there every week, Sherman shared that a writer pointed out her table reads may suffer now that he's gone. She said:

Sarah Sherman's talked about Bowen Yang hyping up her projects, and it sounds like he did the same thing at Saturday Night Live. Kind of vicious for a writer to call her out like that, but her example showed maybe Yang was laying things on a bit thick when they'd be reading for sketches.

Yang quickly chimed in and confirmed he's a big supporter of Sarah Sherman, saying she's the "funniest woman." Kenan Thompson chased that with pointing to his appreciation of those types of friendships between SNL castmembers, and how it adds to the fun of the show:

Sometimes the best part of a sketch is watching a Saturday Night Live cast member break, so I think it's all the more imperative that the cast likes each other and has the comfort to do so. With the immense pressure that comes along with being on the show, those moments wouldn't happen if there wasn't a vibe backstage saying that it's ok to laugh.

Bowen Yang's SNL exit was somewhat oddly timed, happening midseason rather than following a season finale. Yang has since revealed that he stayed on an additional season at the request of Lorne Michaels, who wanted him to serve as a mentor to the new wave of cast members coming in. While Yang previously felt like he never felt central to the series in any way, hearing Michaels wanted him on as that role convinced him to stay on a little longer.

Saturday Night Live continues to thrive without Yang, who is off to pursue various projects. Who knows, he may even end up hosting the show one day, should any of his future movies and shows warrant that level of promotion. Given how often he's in the news, I have to think that moment is coming sooner rather than later.

I know I'll be keeping an eye out for what's next for Bowen Yang, and ready for Saturday Night Live's return to NBC this fall. For now he remains busy with his podcast Las Culturistas, which just aired a comedy award show on Bravo and streaming with a Peacock subscription.

Nothing is a guarantee during awards season, but more often than not, one or two Saturday Night Live hosts get nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor or Actress at the Emmys for their work on the show. Predicting who among the twenty-something hosts will get selected by the voters can be challenging, but one particular fanbase is convinced their favorite is about to be chosen.

The presumptive nominee is Connor Storrie, the breakout star of Heated Rivalry. He hosted back in February and got a very positive response from fans who were impressed by his wide variety of accents, as well as his willingness to just go with a bunch of ridiculous characters, including an injured stripper heroically fighting through the pain. At the time, he seemed like one of several possible hosts who could wind up getting pushed, but over the last week or two, he’s really separated himself from the pack.

First, the show officially submitted him for consideration, which is a bigger hurdle than you might think, as only around half make the cut. Second, his fans started being loud on social media about wanting to see him nominated, which matters as voters sometimes need to be pointed in the right direction. Third, he started showing up in prediction lists, most prominently over at Gold Derby, which has him at or near the top of the list from both the site’s editors and users.

There’s also the Heated Rivalry of it all. The breakout hit, which has been renewed for season two, was one of the buzzier TV shows of the last year, but because it’s a Canadian production, it’s not actually eligible for the traditional Emmys. It instead has to compete in the International Emmys, which get a lot less fanfare. An SNL nomination for Storrie would give voters a chance to honor the show and him. That might sound weird if you’re not someone who follows awards shows closely, but those of us who do understand that narratives and make-up awards are most definitely part of the game.

If Storrie gets his nomination, he’ll be in great company. SNL has gotten its hosts dozens of nominations over the years and quite a few wins. Maya Rudolph, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Tiffany Haddish, Justin Timberlake and more have taken home the trophy, and a ton more have at least been recognized over the years. Voters clearly like rewarding the unique skill set Saturday Night Live can bring out of a performer.

You can watch an example of that from Storrie in this wild sketch about ice skating from his episode…

The nominations officially come out on July 8th with the ceremony following on September 14th. If I had to guess, I’d say there’s about a sixty percent chance Storrie actually gets nominated. That means Heated Rivalry fans are free to get their hopes up, but I wouldn’t start betting large amounts of money on it. With Rob Reiner’s turn in The Bear widely expected to get nominated and several big names the popular Shrinking in the mix, the competition is very tight.

Eddie Murphy is the GOAT. He’s the GOAT of SNL; he’s the GOAT of Black comedy; he’s probably the GOAT of all comedy in general. Which means even other famous people get super weird when they are around him. Eric Andre just recently told a story about everyone acting weird around Eddie Murphy when he showed up at Ted Sarandos’ party. This is a real thing that happens. In fact, his in-law Martin Lawrence even has a story about this.

Opening up in a speech at Netflix’s Eddie Murphy AFI achievement, Martin Lawrence got real about the first time he met the former SNL star. It was well before his daughter married Murphy’s son. At the time, he was just sort of becoming a known name in Hollywood for the first time. So, he ended up in the same room with Murphy, who shot him down hard.

Eddie Murphy was already famous by the mid-eighties thanks to “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood” and other infamous SNL sketches. He joined the show at only 19, and now he’s about to become a grandad, so he’s legitimately been famous for more than 45 years. Lawrence is just a few years younger than Murphy, but he didn’t become famous until Martin broke big in 1992, and by then the other comedian had already broken very big with leading man movie roles like Beverly Hills Cop and Coming to America.

These days, Martin Lawrence feels comfortable bothering the other comedian as much as he wants, and his playful comment is giving me trolling vibes in the best way.

Now, Martin Lawrence is no slouch in the comedy department, but it’s clear he feels Murphy is on a totally different level. He even literally said as much a few months ago ahead of their kids getting married. When asked who was making the toasts, he admitted it should be Eddie Murphy, both ‘cause he’s funnier and because the Bad Boys star was worried about getting emotional. It's unclear if he deferred to his buddy when it came time to pick up the check too.

Throughout Saturday Night Live’s 51-season run, the sketch series has done quite a few memorable recurring bits. Whether it’s returning characters and/or returning sketches, some of them just never get old. What has perhaps turned into one of the best traditions on SNL is the annual joke swap on Weekend Update, which is headlined by Colin Jost and Michael Che. And, now, I've just learned how it all started.

Longtime Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che began the fan-favorite Joke Swap segment during Season 44 back in 2018. Since then, they have done it for almost every Christmas show and season finale. The segment sees the pair give each other jokes that the other has not seen, and the results are usually both hilarious and cringey in the best way. Che recently appeared on Mike Birbiglia’s An Amateur Therapy Session and revealed that this tradition began with jokes that would bomb during dress rehearsals:

Dress rehearsal is very important, because it’s then that the final decisions on what’s cut and what gets moved around are made. Based on Che's comments, it sounds like some jokes just did not land for him and Jost during that time. Nevertheless, the two found a way to turn lemons into lemonade, and that apparently went down when some famous SNL alums came to host:

The rest, as they say, is TV history. Honestly, now, it's hard to remember a time without Joke Swap. While it sucks that some jokes that went well during the table read completely bombed at dress rehearsal, I am so happy Che and Jost had the idea recycle them for what's become an excellent segment. Che went on to explain how all of that solidified the actual Joke Swap idea for the show and he shed some light on one of the reasons why he finds it tricky to write quips for it:

Of course, one of the best parts about the Joke Swap is seeing how far Che and Jost will go, and it’s usually been Jost that gets the short end of the stick with jokes about race or his wife, Scarlett Johansson, while Che hilariously acts as shocked. Still, Jost has been turning up the heat lately, and he even had Johansson on Weekend Update to roast Che when she hosted the Season 50 finale. All in all, I never know what to expect with the Joke Swap, and that’s what makes it fun.

When Jost and Che eventually leave Saturday Night Live, it’s going to be weird not having the Joke Swap on Weekend Update. It’s always possible the next anchors at the desk might continue the tradition, but it's hard for me to see anyone doing it better than them. As of now, there isn’t any word of either of them departing ahead of Season 52, so hopefully we won’t have to say goodbye to them and Joke Swap just yet.

The 52nd season of SNL is set to premiere sometime this fall amid the 2026 TV schedule. In the meantime, all seasons are available to stream with a Peacock subscription.

Impersonating a celebrity, especially on a show as popular as Saturday Night Live, is always a tricky thing. While some famous faces take the parodies with good humor, there are plenty, however, who make it clear they’re not happy about being the butt of the joke. As you can imagine, it can be emotionally complicated trying to figure out how mean to be, and it can be especially complicated when you’re impersonating the President of The United States.

Just a handful of people in Saturday Night Live’s history understand that unique burden, and right now, that heaviness is weighing on James Austin Johnson’s shoulders. After Alec Baldwin was replaced following President Trump’s defeat in 2020, Johnson went in a very different direction with his take. His version is still biting but feels like more of a fully realized human than Baldwin’s more aggressively mean-spirited caricature. That was an intentional decision, and according to Johnson, it’s one he thinks is a lot more sustainable.

During a recent appearance at the Tribeca Film Festival, Johnson was asked if he’s afraid of President Trump. Busting out his impression, he talked about how the politician once referenced him at a rally during a larger rant about Alec Baldwin. After calling the former actor a “sick puppy,” he said he heard SNL has a new comedian doing the impression who is pretty good but that he doesn't watch the show.

Johnson then pivoted back to the original question and gave a really honest answer about where comedy is at right now and finding something that’s sustainable.

A lot of people have played Donald Trump at one point or another during the show’s long history, but there are three impressions that had real staying power and were done for extended periods of time. Darrell Hammond played Trump before he was a politician and mostly angled his take to be more of a goofy, over the top pop culture salesman. It was Trump as a larger than life character, and it was the one impression Trump himself really enjoyed. He’s talked publicly about how much he liked it.

Once Trump became a more serious political figure, the show rolled out a new take from Alec Baldwin. He played Trump as a snarling and almost inhuman figure. He contorted his body to be almost hunched and really exaggerated his vocal inflections. It was an impression clearly designed to be as vicious and biting as possible. Not surprisingly, Trump was very open about how much he hated his take and how terrible he thought it was.

Johnson’s version blends the two together in a more grounded way. Much of the material itself is still rife with social commentary and opinion, but when you watch Johnson, it feels 90 percent like the actual person we’re seeing in the White House. It does a better job capturing the President’s humor and some of the charisma that got him elected twice in the first place. The goal of the comedy seems to be more reliant on the sharpness of the writing and the accuracy of the impression, rather than the over-the-top nature.

Personally, I think Johnson’s version makes the impression better. It feels like it has less of an obvious agenda, which makes everyone, regardless of political leanings, more likely to pay attention and not write it off. That being said, it seems like based on his comments that some of that move to the middle may be a calculated choice to keep the show and himself from generating the amount of vitriol that Baldwin and the show received during his tenure.

You can watch Johnson’s answer below in a video from Entertainment Weekly that’s going around on social media…

SNL hasn’t made any official decisions for Season 52, but it’s widely expected that Johnson will be back to play the President. There was some initial skepticism when he took over the biggest role on the show, but within a few episodes, fans overwhelmingly got on board with what he’s doing. I can’t imagine the show wanting to go find someone else, and besides, it seems like Johnson is starting to find his footing with the rest of the show, as well. Besides he’s started appearing more in non-Trump sketches and has some nice upside, mostly as a straightman playing off some of his flashier costars.

Throughout its 51-season run, Saturday Night Live has produced some pretty heavy hitters. One of those stars is Tina Fey, who got her start on SNL as both a writer and cast member. Her duties also included Weekend Update anchor, and she was just brutally reminded about how long it’s been since her first segment as anchor.

Fey took over the Weekend Update desk in 2000 at the start of Season 26 alongside Jimmy Fallon after Colin Quinn left. She would go on to do Weekend Update for six years, four years with Fallon and two with Amy Poehler. Fey is arguably one of the best Weekend Update anchors, and while her SNL tenure is long over, the show will always hold a special place in her heart. It’s just crazy knowing just how long ago it was, as she was shown a clip from her first Weekend Update on Today. Honestly, it looks like she’s still trying to process just how long it's been:

It’s crazy to think about how long it’s been since Fey made her Weekend Update debut, but I don’t think anyone is as mind-blown as her. Twenty-six years is definitely a long time, and I can’t even imagine what her reaction will be when the 30^th anniversary hits for her.

Fey has made quite the mark on SNL, so much so that she’s been asked about replacing Lorne Michaels whenever he decides to take a step back and retire. But no matter how many projects she does, her stint on Weekend Update will always be a favorite, even if it’s been 26 years.

At the very least, while it’s been 18 years since Fey left Weekend Update, it hasn’t been that long since she returned to the desk. Over the years, the 30 Rock creator has returned to SNL to either host or do a surprise cameo, whether it’s a Five-Timers Club sketch or stopping by the Weekend Update desk. In fact, Fey, Poehler, and Seth Meyers participated in a surprise joke-off in October during Season 51 with current anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che, and it was like nothing had changed.

Meanwhile, the comedian may be as busy as ever with other projects, but she always manages to still make time for SNL, as evidenced by her cameos. She also hosted the very first episode of SNL UK earlier this year, and she’s definitely overdue for a return to Studio 8H as host. As of now, Season 52 hosts and musical guests have not been announced, but more details on the new season should be revealed later this summer.

It’s unknown when Fey will make her next return to the Weekend Update desk, but fans can always watch her in all episodes of Saturday Night Live with a Peacock subscription. Season 51 will be premiering later this year on NBC.

Tracy Morgan knows the upside of being a former Saturday Night Live cast member better than most. He spent seven seasons on the NBC sketch institution, later became one of the funniest weapons on 30 Rock, and remains closely tied to the comedy world, even starring in a sitcom on the 2026 TV schedule that has been called 'catnip' for 30 Rock fans. But when he talks about what it feels like to miss the cut at SNL, the memory still sounds raw. In an interview, the funny man revealed how you know you’re “in trouble” while pitching sketches on the late-night staple.

During a Variety and CNN Actors on Actors conversation with current SNL cast member Marcello Hernández, Morgan looked back on his time at the show while also offering advice to the comedian who recently wrapped his fourth season and released his comedy special American Boy (which is available to everyone with a Netflix subscription). One of the most striking moments came when Morgan explained how quickly writing week can turn painful for an SNL cast member. As he put it:

That is a brutal little peek behind the curtain of a show that often looks like a weekly party from the outside. Viewers see the monologue, sketches, musical performances and goodnights. What they do not always see is the smaller heartbreak of spending a sleepless Tuesday night chasing an idea, only to find out by Wednesday that it may not survive the board.

Morgan’s description also makes the SNL process feel like a pressure cooker. Tuesday is when writers and cast members try to create the material that will define their week. Wednesday tells them whether those ideas have a real shot. If the sketch lands on the wrong side of the board, that can mean the difference between appearing in the episode and waving from the back during the final credits. Hernández clearly understood the feeling, adding:

Hernández is working in a very different media age than Morgan did, where sketches can explode online long after the live broadcast ends. Still, the emotional math seems pretty much the same.

The comedy veteran's larger advice to Hernández was warmer than that one harsh memory. He told him he belonged at SNL, encouraged him to use his own name at the Weekend Update desk rather than just rely on characters, and said Eddie Murphy had taught him the value of becoming known as himself. Morgan also talked about feeling culturally isolated during his own run before Lorne Michaels reminded him he had been hired because he was funny.

That mix of pain and mentorship is what makes the exchange such a fascinating read. The NBC sitcom star was not romanticizing SNL as some magical comedy factory where every good idea gets rewarded, but instead reminding Hernández that the job can break your heart but also shape you if you survive it.

Tracy Morgan is also back on TV with the hit new comedy sitcom, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins. The show normally airs Monday nights on NBC at 8:30 p.m. ET. While its first season recently wrapped, all episodes are available to stream with a Peacock subscription, which is also where you can go back and watch the comedian on his seasons of Saturday Night Live.

If you've caught even a single episode of Saturday Night Live on the 2026 TV schedule, you know Sarah Sherman has turned roasting Colin Jost into one of her signature moves. But even she recently learned that one joke about the Weekend Update anchor had to go. The reason had less to do with the insult being too harsh and more to do with Michael Che already having a bigger prank loaded in the chamber.

During an appearance on The Zack Sang Show, Sherman talked about how her Weekend Update segments with Jost come together, with the show’s TikTok account later posting a clip from the conversation. She explained that, despite how brutal the jokes can sound on air, Jost is not walking into the segment blind. He sees the material during the usual SNL process and helps make it work before the live broadcast. She said:

The comedy performer's Update appearances often make it look like she has wandered over from another sketch just to emotionally vandalize Jost’s desk. In reality, he is part of the bit, which is why the jokes can get so nasty without seeming genuinely mean. Their whole rhythm depends on Jost trying to keep a straight face while Sherman turns him into a human piñata wearing a suit.

Still, one recent joke had to be removed, and the comic said the request came from one of the Update writers. The bit involved Sherman making fun of her own mullet before Jost told her she looked better in a wig. She said:

The SNL scene-stealer was confused by that note because, by her own measure, she had said far worse things to Jost on the air. As she put it:

That “whole bit” was part of the latest Jost and Che joke swap, the recurring Weekend Update tradition where the anchors write brutal jokes for each other to read cold on air. In the Season 51 finale version, Che pushed the prank further by bringing out a barber and setting up a fake haircut for Jost. The bit stopped before Jost actually lost his hair, but he later appeared during the goodnights with a bald cap, which NBC’s own recap described as part of the night’s jaw-dropping joke swap.

So Sarah Sherman’s joke was not too mean. It was just wandering into the same haircut-shaped lane as Che’s bigger stunt. In a way, that is even funnier. On SNL, apparently, you can accuse Colin Jost of almost anything, but you cannot step on the hair joke if Che already called dibs.

Bowen Yang officially said his goodbye to Saturday Night Live right before Christmas last year in a final sketch that included Ariana Grande, Cher and a lot of singing. It was a touching way to send the beloved cast member off, but apparently, it wasn’t the original plan he envisioned. In fact, the sketch changed quite a bit between the dress rehearsal and the final show thanks to one last note from longtime showrunner Lorne Michaels.

Yang was part of a panel discussion at USG University along with Liz Patrick, who directed his last SNL episode. During the conversation, Patrick asked Yang if Cher was always supposed to be in the sketch. Apparently she was added during the week following the first table read, but it was actually another change that had a far bigger impact on the overall tone.

In the sketch in question, Yang plays a guy in the Delta Lounge of an airport who runs an eggnog station. He’s about to retire and phones his wife to say he’s coming home. In between singing verses of “Please Come Home For Christmas,” he also serves customers, accidentally spraying them with a small amount of eggnog. In the final version of the sketch, those eggnog spills work as a little bit of comedic relief and levity, but in the dress rehearsal version, they were much messier and more elaborate.

Here’s a portion of Yang’s story, per IndieWire…

More specifically, Sarah Sherman and Mikey Day were apparently supposed to be a large background presence in the sketch. The original version apparently saw them slipping and sliding and making a mess, as the eggnog machine went haywire and essentially sprayed a fountain they couldn’t figure out how to stop. It sounds like a riot but also a pretty radical shift in tone from what we eventually got. After dress, Lorne Michaels approached Yang and his co-writer Celeste Yim and told them they should keep the sketch “tender.”

You can watch the version we got below and imagine how it might feel a bit different with Sherman and Day screaming their heads off and flopping around in a bunch of eggnog.

Yang was originally planning to leave Saturday Night Live following the SNL 50 season, but he was convinced to stay for part of a season by Michaels to help assimilate the new cast. That plan worked like a charm because some of the newer voices really started to emerge as budding stars, and Yang got a really sweet final moment to say goodbye to the show that earned him five Emmy nominations.

Fortunately, it feels like there's a pretty good chance we'll see Yang back on the Studio 8H stage at some point. A lot of the bigger cast members return to host the show at some point later in their careers and many more stop by for a cameo or an anniversary special. Fingers crossed it won't take him too long to come back.

CBS News has seen a huge shakeup in its staff since Bari Weiss took over as editor-in-chief in October, but few people have been as outspoken as former 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley about the multiple firings. Pelley himself was terminated after saying the new leadership was “murdering” 60 Minutes, and as Bill Maher discussed CBS’ most recent fireworks, I definitely wasn’t expecting him to compare the situation to Saturday Night Live cast changes.

Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, went on Overtime with Bill Maher to discuss what’s happening at CBS’ longtime TV news magazine, accusing Trump of trying to create a “censorship state.” Bill Maher, however, pushed back at the idea that 60 Minutes and CBS as a whole were MAGA just because they were replacing staff. Companies change hands all the time, the host asserted, and it’s standard for new bosses to bring in their own people. Maher said that didn’t necessarily make it a political issue, adding:

It’s true that SNL does have a pretty high turnover rate — the Season 51 cast looked a lot different even before Bowen Yang left mid-season. Each year cast members have to wait to see if they’ll be brought back, and in addition to the choices made by Lorne Michaels, few cast members choose to stay on Saturday Night Live as long as Kenan Thompson and other veterans due to the sketch comedy’s famously grueling schedule.

However, Bill Maher’s example isn’t exactly an apples-to-apples comparison. Unlike Saturday Night Live, people can spend their entire careers at CBS News, which has many longtime employees like 60 Minutes' Lesley Stahl, who’s been there for 55 years. Scott Pelley worked for the news organization for 37 years before he was fired, winning 51 Emmy Awards in that time.

The Real Time host went on to say that he agreed Trump is a “danger to freedom of speech,” but when it came to 60 Minutes, he didn’t see a “smoking gun.” Bill Maher also admitted that he never liked Scott Pelley, who continued to slam CBS even after his exit.

Scott Pelley spoke with the New York Times this week, calling for Bari Weiss to be removed from her position at CBS. He said, “We need adult supervision, and at the moment we don’t have it.” Pelley also alleged “a subtle political bias” that he said he hadn’t seen on the news magazine’s show before.

Former 60 Minutes EP Bill Owens, who resigned in April, and former host Steve Kroft have defended Scott Pelley and spoken out about the direction CBS News is headed. Bari Weiss’ leadership has been in question since being put in that position with the merger of Skydance Media and Paramount Global.

In December she made headlines for her last-minute decision to pull a story about the Trump administration’s alleged handling of migrants being sent to an El Salvador prison, which drew questions about political influence on the news.

Stay tuned, because the discourse regarding CBS News doesn't seem to be drying up anytime soon.

Michael Che and Colin Jost are used to roasting each other on the air at this point. Their semi-annual joke swaps are about as vicious as you can get on network television. No family members, eccentricity or social taboo has been off-limits over the years. If you ask Che, it’s all been on the right side of the line, but upon further review, he did admit one prank he pulled on Jost was “really mean.”

The conversation in question happened during an appearance on Working It Out with comedian Mike Birbiglia. Che was first asked about the joke swaps and whether there was ever a joke or a moment he felt went too far or that he pulled back on. He said no but said the writers did ask him to pull back on a bit he did for April Fools’ Day. As a prank, he told the studio audience not to laugh at anything Jost said during Weekend Update. His original plan was to just let it go on the entire segment, but other people “negotiated” with him to tell his co-anchor what was going on after a few jokes.

If Che had followed his original plan, Jost would have been spinning for several more jokes, but instead, he let him off the hook after just a few minutes. Initially, he thought that would lessen the impact of the prank. Maybe it did, but in retrospect, he was happy it didn’t go on any longer. He told Birbiglia he was ultimately glad they didn’t take it any further because it was “really mean.”

If you’ve never seen the bit before, I cannot recommend watching it enough. You can tell the lack of a reaction is messing with Colin’s head during the first few jokes, and it almost throws off his timing as he’s figuring out what’s going on. He’s a professional and works through it, but it’s also obvious he’s down bad. You can watch the prank below…

Perhaps the funniest part of this conversation is what wasn’t discussed. Che and Jost have forced each other to say and do some outrageous things during their decade long tenures on Weekend Update. Jost has been forced to read absolutely vile comments about his wife Scarlett Johansson directly to her face. Che has been forced to roast himself about his dating habits and say outrageous things about race. None of that was too far, but interfering with a comedian’s laughs is considered psychologically damaging.

We still don’t know for sure if Jost and Che will be back for Season 52 of Saturday Night Live. There are rumors about the two every summer, but fans are cautiously optimistic they will return. Che seems to still be enjoying his place on Weekend Update (even if he says otherwise), and Jost has started appearing in a ton of regular sketches. The fanbase clearly wants them back, and in a perfect world, wants to see a few more of these epic pranks.

Bowen Yang recently got deeper into his exit from Saturday Night Live, and shared that he would've left a lot sooner had it not been for a phone call from Lorne Michaels. As the sketch comedy is on hiatus ahead of returning to the 2026 TV schedule in the fall, Yang explained his mid-season exit was part of mentoring the next batch of young stars.

The comedian appeared alongside Rachel Sennott on Variety's Actors On Actors series. Sennott asked Bowen Yang to go into his exit on SNL, and he obliged, talking about the circumstances surrounding the situation and that he did plan on leaving before his midseason exit in Season 51:

Bowen Yang has talked a lot about being pushed into roles where he played a gay male stereotype or even an inanimate object. Sure, he was in his feelings about leaving, but it seems clear from these comments that he felt like he'd gotten all he could get out of Saturday Night Live, and it was time to move on.

Yang needed a reason to stay, and it came to him with a call from Lorne Michaels. As he explained, Lorne wanted him to stay on for just a while longer so he could mentor a bunch of incoming writers and cast members. He got into it below:

The comedian was given a chance to leave his mark on Saturday Night Live, and he ran with it. Bowen Yang has already complimented the cast on how they've done after his departure. And now, in hindsight, I have to wonder if that was a sly way of crediting himself for the people he helped train for the moment.

Since leaving Saturday Night Live, he's found continued success with his Las Culturistas Podcast, and remains working on other projects and movies in the meantime. I'm eager to see his continued success, and wonder if we'll eventually get to see him return to SNL at one point as a host. Maybe then he won't have to play an inanimate object!

SNL is rolling strong into Season 52, with some newcomers like Jeremy Culhane already making a big splash with the audience. It feels like the late-night sketch comedy series is the strongest it's been in years, and credit to Bowen Yang and many others for bringing it back into the limelight and making late-night television relevant at a time that time slot needs any win it can get.

Expect to see Saturday Night Live back on NBC's schedule in the fall, and check out previous episodes over on Peacock. As for Bowen Yang, we've got an eye on the things he's up to, and can't wait to see what he'll be doing over the next year and beyond.

Bowen Yang may have left SNL in the middle of Season 51, but that doesn’t mean he has any less respect for the work happening on the NBC mainstay. Recently, the comedian opened up about how difficult it truly was to be one of the cast members on Saturday Night Live. On top of that, Yang also got real about seeing all of his co-stars for the first time since he departed the long-running sketch comedy series.

The Season 51 SNL cast recently reunited for an FYC event where they were interviewed on a panel moderated by Variety. Despite Bowen Yang’s preemptive departure this past season, he was still in attendance. The former cast member got candid about how much he missed the show's cast since his exit, especially considering he hasn’t seen them in months. Yang also shared some particularly kind words about the effort that his colleagues put into crafting episodes of the show throughout a given season. He said (via Entertainment Weekly):

On top of how difficult it is to perform sketch comedy live for an audience, the SNL work schedule is anecdotally grueling. The team has to put together six to eight fleshed out sketches with props and sets that sometimes aren’t fully completed until hours before the show. They're also expected to present even more sketches for consideration early in the week and, oftentimes, the writers and performers stay up all night writing to prepare for the table read. There’s additional pressure on these sketches going well, because often the amount of airtime you get correlates with if you get to stay on the show or not.

Needless to say, it's a lot and the fact that everything is able to come together -- and we as an audience get to watch the newest cast members improve week after week -- is in fact an accomplishment. Yang understands this intimately and, even though he is seeking a comedy career outside of SNL, he still clearly has a ton of respect for the performers who are continuing their journey on the show, or are just beginning.

Considering his words of reflection, Bowen Yang seemed to be quite affected by seeing his old castmates again after taking time away. It appears to have struck him with nostalgia, making him think about how his time at the show helped him grow as a performer. Based on Yang's non-SNL work, I'd also argue that his time on the sketch show was invaluable for his development. Now, I personally can’t wait to watch the current cast grow in a way that's similar to Yang's development when they one day explore other ventures.

You can grab a Peacock subscription revisit the most recent season of SNL now. Season 51 had some of the best hosts and musical guests ever, so make sure you check it out. Fans of Bowen Yang should also check out his hit podcast with Matt Rodgers, Las Culturistas, which is available to stream on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The fact that Saturday Night Live is, well, live means everyone needs to be ready for everything, and that includes having their sketches cut for time. Specifically, as the show is pushing up against the end of its timeslot, full sketches can be pulled. Sarah Sherman described what it’s like to learn this in the middle of an episode, and let me tell you, it sounds brutal.

After Season 51 of SNL wrapped up on the 2026 TV schedule, Sarah Sherman appeared on The Rundown to chat about the last sketch of an episode. She spoke about the challenges of this slot and the reality of facing the end of the show. In some cases, full sketches have to be cut while the episode is in progress because they’ve run out of time. Explaining what that feels like, the comedian who has been on the show for five seasons said:

Well, that’s just brutal. For starters, I’d imagine being the final sketch of the night is nerve-wracking because you have to wait through so many other sketches before yours goes live. Add the fact that it could get cut for time, and I’d be anxiety-ridden. Then, to find out it’s cut as you’re getting ready for it? Talk about stressful!

That’s the nature of the beast, though. When we watch an episode of SNL on NBC or with a Peacock subscription, it’s live, and that means anything can happen. And sadly, “anything” includes sketches getting cut.

It also includes sketches having to be shortened or edited as they’re being performed. In fact, Sherman explained that during “Lisa From Temecula,” which was the last sketch of Pedro Pascal’s episode in Season 48, the writer was literally pulling cue cards as they were performing to make the sketch shorter and fit within Saturday Night Live’s timeslot.

Overall, this story from Sherman about learning her sketch was being cut further shows how hard it is to work on this series and how resilient its performers are. It can’t be easy to be slotted here, wonder if your work will make it onto the air, and then have it cut. However, these performers have to keep going, because they have another episode to prepare for.

To that point, Michael Che has joked about leaving SNL every season, and he got real about how draining a given season can be. This cast and crew ride a lot of very high highs and lows, and dealing with all that has to be challenging.

However, while they have to deal with sketches being cut during an episode and they have to be ready to create new content every single week, whether they’re ready or not, they also get to create iconic characters and moments that live in pop culture for a very long time.

I’ve always been aware of Saturday Night Live’s cut-for-time sketches, and I know that working on the show is not easy at all. However, I’ve never realized how both those elements can play into the final sketch of a given episode. That all changed, though, as Sarah Sherman recalled how one now-iconic sketch had to change as it was being performed to make sure the show ended on time.

As its title states, Saturday Night Live is done live, and that means anything can happen. That also means if anything happens and the plan gets changed during the episode, everything will probably be impacted. For example, if one sketch runs long, another could be cut for time. Therefore, having your sketch in the final slot of a given episode means you have to be ready to make changes within seconds' notice, as Sarah Sherman explained during The Rundown:

Of course, the sketch Sherman is referring to became one of the iconic moments from Season 48. It aired during Pedro Pascal’s episode, which you can stream with a Peacock subscription, and it was indeed the final sketch of the night.

However, up until now, I never suspected that changes were being made as the sketch was literally being performed. Talk about consummate professionals (even though Pascal famously broke throughout the sketch)!

Now, I’d love to see what the full version of the first "Lisa from Temecula" looked like. However, I also think what aired is a masterpiece, and I think its 9.5 million views on YouTube confirm that fans also got a real kick out of Ego Nwodim's hilarious character:

Overall, this is just another example of how talented the Saturday Night Live casts are. Not only do they write and produce their own work with the show’s team of writers, but they are also ready to update and change things with little to no notice, and they do it seamlessly.

While it’s clear when you hear them talk about this that these situations are stressful, it typically isn’t apparent on-air as they’re performing. “Lisa from Temecula” proves that, because even though lines were being cut as the cast was reading the cue cards on air, they still performed at the highest level. And the sketch went on to be such a hit that it was brought back two more times during Seasons 48 and 49.

So, now, when Saturday Night Live returns on the 2026 TV schedule, I’ll be sure to pay closer attention to the final sketch of the night and really give those performers and writers some extra credit. That’s not an easy slot to be in, and it’s very possible that they’re making changes as the show airs, and that’s a feat worth acknowledging.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani allegedly wants to go on Saturday Night Live. Rumors swirled last year that he pitched himself for a segment ahead of the mayor’s race. Now rumors are swirling again that he’s not straight up asking to go on but is letting other people put out the word that he’s down to make an appearance if longtime showrunner Lorne Michaels wants it. During another time in the show’s history, a cameo would almost feel inevitable, but at this moment in time, I’m not so sure. Let’s talk this out.

Saturday Night Live has always and almost certainly will always cover politics. It’s been a core part of the show’s identity since Chevy Chase mocked then President Ford’s clumsiness with exaggerated pratfalls during the show’s first season. How frequently and with what tone it covers politics, however, has ebbed and flowed quite a bit over the last five decades. The number of political cameos has also waffled to various extremes. In fact, there hasn’t been any political cameos on the show since Kamala Harris briefly showed up prior to the 2024 election.

That shouldn’t be terribly surprising to anyone who watches the show on a weekly basis. We still get a political sketch almost every single episode and some scattered jokes on Weekend Update, but it’s nothing like things were in the lead-up to President Trump’s first win in 2016 or during his first tenure inside The White House. At that point in time, it felt like SNL was built around politics. Alec Baldwin’s snarling President Trump impression that almost felt like a caricature was a really buzzy topic of conversation, and there were some moments where many felt the show elevated political advocacy over humor.

In more recent years, it’s felt like there has been a concerted effort to pull back, not only from the ideological lean but also from the relentless presence of politics. James Austin Johnson’s President Trump impression still has bite to it, but it also showcases more of the President’s humor and goofiness. It feels a bit less serious, and there’s even the occasional episode that doesn’t reference politics at all, at least outside of Weekend Update. It’s all gone back to something the show does, not the support beam that holds the show up.

There’s also the issue of Equal Time. There has been a lot more talk in recent years about talks shows (see The View) and even comedy shows needing to provide equal time to candidates from opposing political parties, and when Kamala Harris made her appearance on SNL, NBC wound up giving President Trump two minutes of airtime at a later date to even the score. That makes any political appearances more complicated these days versus what they may have been decades ago.

That brings us to Mayor Mamdani. He’s, without question, the most famous Mayor in The United States, and there’s a long history of SNL bringing on NYC mayors. Rudy Giuliani hosted once and made four additional cameos in the late 90s and 2000s and is still being impersonated. Ed Koch also hosted twice and made two cameos in the late 70s and 80s. Eric Adams, Michael Bloomberg and Mamdani himself have also been impersonated on the show at various points, but that’s a far cry from actually taking the stage at Studio 8H. So, will Mamdani ever get his chance?

My guess is probably, though that’s far from a guarantee. SNL is no longer at the point where it’s just putting on politicians for the sake of putting on politicians, but history says the show will waffle back at some point and get a bit more outwardly political. Putting famous faces on is also always a great way to earn some easy press, and Mamdani is such a huge name, both in New York City and in the larger political space, that he would earn some press.

Page Six, as an example, is running an exclusive right now about an alleged whisper campaign that involves other people putting in a good word for him. I think some element of that is probably happening. My guess is Mamdani would love to appear on SNL. He released a YouTube video of himself talking to Rami Youssef, who impersonated him on the show, and was clearly delighted by the whole thing. He’d almost certainly do it if he was asked.

So, yes, given all the press it would generate, the fact that he’d clearly say yes and the likelihood that he may be mayor for some time, I think it’s more likely than not we’ll get Mamdani on the show at some point. NBC will need to jump through some hoops, depending on when it happens, because of the Equal Time Rule, but I’m sure they can make that happen. I wouldn’t risk large amounts of money, but if I were him, I’d like my chances.

Colin Jost has weathered quite a few jokes about his wife, Scarlett Johansson, over the years, with most of them coming from his SNL Weekend Update co-anchor, Michael Che, during their brutal joke swaps. But I’m sure he didn’t expect to be catching strays from audience members when he joined Pop Culture Jeopardy!. Jost revealed some of the questions he gets from fans, and I’m dying over his perfect response to one about the two-time Oscar nominee.

As Pop Culture Jeopardy!’s new season continues on the 2026 TV schedule, Colin Jost has followed Ken Jennings and Alex Trebek in the Jeopardy! tradition of answering audience questions during tape breaks. Jost visited the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, where he said he’s often asked about his and Pete Davidson’s Staten Island Ferry purchase, whether he really lost a toe at the Olympics and who the most famous person in his phone is (other than Scarlett Johansson, of course). However, it was another ScarJo-related inquiry that really cracked everyone up, as Jost recalled one fan asking:

Now, with Pop Culture Jeopardy! filming in California and Colin Jost living with his family in New York City, I really don’t understand why Scarlett Johansson wouldn’t know where her husband was. Colin Jost seemed perplexed, too, joking with the podcast hosts:

But that wasn’t the response he gave the audience member. To that person he took a tone of faux bitterness:

The audience collectively understood that Jost knows he is not the breadwinner of the family. Johansson is amongst the highest-grossing actors of all time — she even topped the list until January of this year — thanks to her work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No wonder Jost gets so mad at breaks in the Marvel movie release schedule.

Of course, Colin Jost deserves some of the credit too — when you combine their net worths, after all, they’re probably one of the top couples at the box office, by his logic.

The SNL vet married the Lost in Translation star in 2020, and he recently revealed to Travis Kelce that he actually finds it a “huge relief” to be the less-famous person in his relationship — something the Kansas City Chief knows a thing or two about. Scarlett Johansson is so famous, Colin Jost said recently, that when they go out to eat, they never get the food they ordered, because servers are too starstruck by his wife to write anything down.

Who can blame them?

Saturday Night Live has wrapped its 51st season, but you can relive the fun by streaming episodes with a Peacock subscription. Also, be sure to check Colin Jost out on Pop Culture Jeopardy!, as the current season is streaming with a Netflix subscription.

Kenan Thompson has found plenty of success throughout his career, having broken into the entertainment industry as a child actor and even co-headlined his own show. Of course, now, Thompson is widely known for his work on Saturday Night Live – a show he joined back in 2003 and remains a part of. Thompson is now the longest running cast member in the show’s history, and some may wonder why he’s stuck with it for over two decades. The beloved star recently shared a part of his reasoning, and it’s a bit heart-wrenching.

Through the years, Thompson has shared plenty of positive thoughts on working at SNL, and he mostly seems to enjoy the work. However, there’s also an economic factor to this as well. Thompson recently appeared on an episode of Bullseye with Jesse Thor and discussed his career, including both the peaks and valleys he’s experienced. When asked if he still thought about the periods when work was scarce for him, the Good Burger icon shared some raw feelings:

Kenan Thompson made his debut as one of the OG members of Nickelodeon’s All That in 1994 and, from there, he truly emerged as a marquee, young star. He eventually parlayed that into Kenan & Kel as well as roles in several movies and guest spots on TV shows. However, Thompson did go through something of a professional drought, however, before landing his role on SNL. It’s the reminder of that period in his life that apparently helps fuel his decision to stick with the NBC staple:

Such harrowing comments really reframe the way I look at Thompson’s long-standing position within SNL’s ranks. Even though he’s apparently enjoyed the opportunity to delight audiences with sketches like “Black Jeopardy!” and “What’s Up with That?” But, like anyone, Thompson also wants career stability, and that’s definitely understandable in a business that can be unpredictable. It’s also worth noting that Thompson is a proud father of two daughters, and he has to think about their well-being, too.

Regardless of the financial aspect of Thompson’s decision to stay On Saturday Night Live, I’m just glad he’s still there. It is, in some ways, hard to believe he’s been with the show for over 20 years, especially since the writers still manage to craft great material for him. The only “milestone” Thompson jokes that he still has to hit is to become the only star to never leave the show. I certainly wouldn’t be mad if he wanted to stay longer (and I’d like to think his financial portfolio would benefit from that as well).

Check out Kenan Thompson’s extensive work on SNL by streaming seasons of the sketch comedy show using a Peacock subscription. Let’s also hope nothing changes and that Thompson is still a member of the cast when the show returns for Season 52 this fall amid the 2026 TV schedule.

Saturday Night Live has been the dream of so many comics who work their entire lives for a shot to appear on the show. Famously, the grind doesn’t stop when someone gets cast. It’s been rumored to be a grueling work environment, full of late nights, long hours, and competition fueled by a desire to get material on air. This seems to be a lot of people's shared view of SNL, but apparently stand-out featured player Ashley Padilla didn’t feel that way, based her own take on competition at the show.

If you ask most former cast members, SNL is far from a cakewalk. Bill Hader has been open about the intense amount of stress the show caused him. Also, Conan O’Brien talked about the levels of anxiety the work environment caused for the cast and crew. Aside from the stakes apparently feeling high, it's been rumored that cast members even use using tactics to get more screen time. Padilla, on the other hand, says this has not been her experience at all that that she's actually found the show to very collaborative. She said during the Hollywood Reporter's Comedy Actresses roundtable discussion:

Many of the other comic actresses at the table were surprised to hear those thoughts, because most of them have heard anecdotally about how much competition had supposedly been fostered and encouraged at SNL. Of course, it's possible that the work culture has potentially changed over the years as people have cycled out. Also, Padilla may have just been prepped to deal with any "sharks in the water." She revealed that she credits a lot of this to her previous training at the Groundlings improvisation theater, saying:

Lisa Kudrow, who was also involved in this chat, said she thought Padilla could be having such a positive experience because others may be intimidated by her talent, and this would certainly be understandable. Padilla shined in her SNL audition and, ever since her first appearance on the show, she's arguably received more acclaim than a number of her co-stars. She was the cast member with the most airtime and was a key part of many of the show’s most viral sketches last season.

Padilla is still early into her tenure, but she’s already cementing herself as one of the show’s best sketch actresses. While this might be a lot of pressure, and intimidating for some, it seems like Padilla isn’t focusing on what’s hard about working at SNL and is just enjoying what makes it such a fun place to work. This outlook and energy may give her a lot of longevity at the show and, as a fan of her work, I'm hoping that's the case.

You can see Ashley Padilla, and the rest of the Season 51 SNL cast on this past season of the show, which is streaming now with a Peacock subscription. She had some all star moments this season, and I'm expecting to see her crush it even more next season.

When it comes to sketches on Saturday Night Live, you never know how it’s going to go in terms of laughter and audience response. Sometimes a sketch does so well that it becomes a recurring thing, which happens often. This includes Nate Bargatze’s George Washington sketch, which has been done twice. Surprisingly, the beloved sketch was apparently not well-received during the table read.

The George Washington sketch sees America’s first president, played by Bargatze, relaying his “dream” to his fellow soldiers. Namely things that the U.S. has actually done or implemented, such as being a country to largely abandon the metric system and other ridiculous (but unfortunately true) facts. It’s a simple but hilarious sketch that didn’t do all too well during the first read-through. As Bargatze recalled on Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights podcast:

It’s a surprise that it didn’t do well, considering that “Washington’s Dream" (which was almost shot down by Lorne Michaels) has turned into a fan-favorite that definitely has to be done every time Bargatze hosts. But when it comes to a show like Saturday Night Live, it’s hard to imagine where the jokes will really land without an audience. This is why the dress rehearsals are so important, because that’s when the last tweaks are made, and sketches are cut. For Bargatze, SNL was also a different ballpark for him as a comedian, and he explained why the table read was so hard:

A table read is definitely important because you’re with everyone going through the script, and in SNL’s case, the sketches for the first time, and that’s probably where the tweaks really start. But dress is definitely more important, even though it’s the night of the live show, because you have an audience. Luckily, Bargatze was able to get some peace of mind. Because when the sketch was done in front of an audience, it did pretty well. As he put it:

While sketches are likely cut after doing the initial table read, it’s a good thing “Washington’s Dream” got a second chance to shine during the dress rehearsal to really show just how funny it really is. So funny that it made a return at the Emmys, with Bargatze, who hosted the 2025 ceremony, explaining the future of television to some SNL cast members. While Bargatze was not part of the SNL Season 51 lineup, perhaps he will return for Season 52, and we get a third round of “Washington’s Dream.”

For those who want to watch the beloved sketch, both versions from Bargatze’s two episodes are available on YouTube. His full episodes are also available to stream with a Peacock subscription, along with every single episode of Saturday Night Live. Information on who will kick off Season 52 probably won’t be announced until later this summer, but it’s possible that Bargatze could make a return at some point next season for another dose of George Washington.

It hasn’t taken Ashley Padilla long to become Saturday Night Live’s most important cast member. In just two seasons, she’s gone from fresh-faced newbie hoping to find her place to the show’s clear MVP and screentime leader. Her natural charisma and comfort with sketch comedy is obvious every time she’s on screen, but that doesn’t mean it was necessarily clear during her audition.

Padilla was recently featured in an Actress Roundtable with Quinta Brunson, Lisa Kudrow and others for The Hollywood Reporter, you know because she’s turning into a huge star, and during the convo, the subject of her audition came up. She revealed that she thought it went well and even celebrated with her manager because she thought she nailed it. It turns out she did not nail out. Longtime showrunner Lorne Michaels told her she needed to throw away all her material and come back with a fresh set. Here’s a portion of her quote…

The problem with Padilla’s audition wasn’t that she was bad (or that she had a weird exchange with Michaels). It was that she spent her entire time doing characters and completely disappearing into various roles. Michaels and the producers felt like they never got a chance to see her because she was “hiding.” They told her to return to do a whole new act and not to bring any wigs this time.

She got the message and showed up as herself, trying to be funny in a more natural and less character-y way. That time it worked and she finally booked the job.

The great thing about Padilla is she can play really over the top roles where she does disappear into a weird character, but at the same time, she’s also really good at just being a relatable woman you could meet in real life. She has an almost everyman-type vibe to her. She has a good sense of when to go really big and make the comedy larger than life and when to go more subtle and play it straight.

That’s also why she ends up being on the show so much. She can be the centerpiece of some wild sketch where she’s playing a zany character, and at the same time, she can also appear as a key support in other people’s sketches as the straight woman. She’s like Phil Hartman where she carries just as well as she supports.

No cast decisions have been made about Season 52 of Saturday Night Live, though everyone is already speculating on the future of Michaels, as well as the rest of the cast. I have not, however, seen a single person speculate on the future of Padilla. She’s still technically just a Featured Player, but at this point, it seems like the show is going to build around her. It would be a shock not to see her back next season, just as it would be a shock not to see most of her auditions from this point forward not require a second round.

The Saturday Night Live season just ended; so, as per usual, we’re all having a conversation about Lorne Michaels’ future. The creator and longtime showrunner has repeatedly said he has no plans on leaving the show, but given he’s over eighty and SNL remains a major pop culture force, it’s still a hot topic of conversation every summer. As arguably the fan favorite to replace Michaels, former head writer Tina Fey was recently asked for her take, and her answer has me thinking a lot about how she would change the show.

Before we get to that though, let’s talk about Fey’s answer, or more specifically, her non-answer. She sat down for an interview with Watch Mojo about the second season of The Four Seasons, the Netflix show she co-created and serves as the showrunner for. During the chat, all that showrunning experience was referenced, and she was asked if she’s the likely successor for Michaels. Here’s the diplomatic take she gave…

There’s obviously almost nothing to that answer. Whether she wants to take over SNL or not, she’s far too thoughtful and experienced to say that in an interview. Plus, I genuinely think she really likes Lorne, feels like it’s his show and wants him to run it as long as he can. In fact, I think that’s how pretty much everyone who has worked on SNL feels. It’s his baby. He’s still doing a good job, and he should decide what his exit plan looks like.

That being said, there was more to Fey’s answer. She also talked about her experience as a showrunner…

Now, by all accounts, SNL has a fantastic crew and is staffed by really nice people. I certainly don’t think her comments were in anyway a reference to those working on the show she was a huge part of for so long. That being said, I do think the wanting everyone to have “a good time at work” part is really interesting and a possible clue as to what Fey might change if she ever were to take over for Michaels.

SNL is a live show that comments on popular culture and geopolitical events that take place the same week or even the same day as the episode. There is always going to be late nights and some stress involved, but Fey and many, many others who have worked on SNL have been open in the past about how chaotic and bizarre the schedule can be.

Most writers and cast members do very little prep work heading into the week, and there is an expectation that you work well into the night as pitches are being prepared. Fey has talked openly in the past about some of her frustrations with the set-up, and a lot of great cast members and writers have left over the years, specifically because of burnout or a frustration with the schedule, which is pretty much the same as it’s been since the 1970s.

I have to think, given these comments and plenty of other ones she’s made in the past, that if Fey ever took over SNL, she would take a hard look at how the week is structured. It’s never going to be the same as working on a more traditional show, but it seems like there could be ways to update how it’s put together that would help people find at least a slightly better work life balance.

Or maybe not? I’m not inside Fey’s head, and none of us, except maybe Lorne Michaels, know what the succession plan even looks like. His biographer has long speculated that he’ll never retire and instead just give up little bits of responsibility to make it more manageable. Maybe that’s what we’ll see. Or maybe he’ll just wake up one morning and decide he’s done. If that happens, maybe Fey would get the job or maybe it would go to someone like Colin Jost (or Seth Meyers or maybe Kenan Thompson), who also has head writer experience and is more directly connected to the current show. We’ll see.

Regardless, expect to hear plenty more about Michaels’ future this summer, as well as plenty of conversations about which cast members may or may not be returning. The season finale didn’t have any obvious goodbyes; so, everyone’s status is pretty much up in the air, except for Ashley Padilla, who is quickly turning into the show’s biggest star.

The Saturday Night Live cast members are very used to doing sketch comedy in front of a live audience, but the same cannot be said for all of the hosts. Some of them would come in quite nervous, and if the monologue and first few sketches don’t go well, it could turn into a long and uncomfortable night. Fortunately, during his tenure on the show, longtime Not Ready For Primetime Player Pete Davidson got really good at lying. In fact, there was one lie he used over and over again.

Davidson recently appeared at Netflix Is A Joke alongside stand-up comedian and longtime SNL writer John Mulaney. The subject of host monologues came up, and they were very open about how most of them suck. Mulaney estimated that 8 out of 10 of them go poorly but said he’d reassure them afterwards that it went well.

If the audience didn’t laugh, he’d tell them not to worry because the viewers that matter are the ones at home. That's famously the exact opposite message showrunner Lorne Michaels gives the cast, but the host doesn't need to know that.

That's how Davidson feels too. He owned up to his version of the same lie. He said he repeatedly told hosts that the people in the audience are often tourists who don’t speak good English. Here’s a portion of his quote, per Deadline…

Fans like to think about SNL like each sketch exists in a vacuum, but it’s definitely more complicated than that. Good shows can build up a nice momentum and good vibes with the audience. When one sketch works, it puts everyone in a good mood heading into the next sketch. Laughter tends to beget more laughter, and a cast member or host who crushes it during one sketch, always appears to go into the next sketch looking looser and more comfortable.

Unfortunately, the opposite can also be true. If the monologue and then a few sketches in a row bomb, it can be harder to earn laughs from the audience from that point forward. It can also be hard to get a good performance from a host especially if they feel like they’re bombing out there. They can’t be worrying about the reception and whether it’s going well. They just need to commit.

That’s why Mulaney was always in favor of lying too. During the same conversation about not being honest, he admitted he told a major comedy star who once bombed his monologue that he shouldn’t worry because Studio 8H has “bad acoustics.” That’s an outrageous lie, given it was formerly the home of the NBC Orchestra and has a really intricate system of microphones that pick everything up, but once again, sometimes a little fib to keep everyone’s confidence up is the right call.

Davidson and Mulaney have both been off SNL for awhile now, but they remain extremely popular and well thought of former contributors. They each returned for SNL 50, a show that contained a famously bad audience that Davidson put on blast. They have also returned many other times for cameos and full-blown hosting stints. They’ll each almost certainly be back. Fingers crossed the next time they come, none of the current cast will have to lie to them about the crowd reaction.

It feels like every year, there are reports and questions about Michael Che’s future on Saturday Night Live. While he and Colin Jost have said it’d be hard to say goodbye to SNL, Che also joked that he personally says he’s going to leave every year. So, it’s hard to get a read on if he’ll come back season after season. But he always returns. Why does this keep happening? Well, the long-time Weekend Update host explained his reasoning.

Thankfully, Mike Birbiglia also had this question, asking Che why there are always headlines about him not coming back for another season. Without hesitation, the comedian explained on the Working It Out podcast:

He went on to say that he thinks the outlets are getting this information directly from the source himself. However, the thing is, Che never leaves. In fact, he’s been on Saturday Night Live for 13 seasons as a full-time cast member. To put that in perspective, while Colin Jost is the longest-running Weekend Update host, Che is not that far behind him, with well over a decade behind the desk.

With that in mind, Birbiglia asked, “what the psychology” is behind the comedian saying he’s not going to return every year. In response, Michael Che started talking about his mother on Thanksgiving:

Now, you might be wondering how this anecdote ties back to SNL; trust me, I was too. Don’t worry, Che brought it all back around to his work on the show, saying:

He then joked that he needs people to “fight” for him to stay, which got Birbiglia laughing. After that, Che got real again about why he goes through this rollercoaster every year. Part of it comes down to just how exhausting and hard it is to work at Saturday Night Live, as he said:

He went on to reiterate how difficult the show is, saying it’s more “draining” than any standup he’s ever done. So, by the time they reach the end of a season, like they just did on the 2026 TV schedule, Che is left thinking:

However, despite SNL being rough at times and really hard work, it’s great work. And during the summer, after a much-needed break, Che is usually reminded of all that, as he said:

He also said it’s exciting to welcome new cast members and hosts, and all that hype makes him want to return.

So, in short, it’s all a cycle. Now, we’re at the end of one, and I’ll be curious to see if Michael Che decides to stay or say goodbye. My guess is he’ll stick around for Season 52. However, SNL saw a big cast shakeup for Season 51, so anything can happen. However, I will say, if you see Michael Che say he’s going to leave, maybe take it with a grain of salt until the official cast list comes out.

Colin Jost and Michael Che have forced each other to say and do a lot of crazy things during their semi-annual joke swap segments on SNL, but the two somehow found a way to out-crazy themselves during the season finale by bringing a barber on stage. Che put a stop to the bit before Jost’s head actually got shaved, but everyone left with the impression that Colin was about to actually get rid of his mane. It turns out that’s because he was.

The longtime Weekend Update co-anchor stopped by The Today Show this morning for a chat with Carson Daly. He was, of course, asked about the incident, and he ran through the panicked thoughts that went through his head. He said he assumed they’d cleared it with his wife Scarlett Johansson, who is very familiar with the joke swaps, and the crew for the project he’s about to shoot and was fully prepared to move forward. In retrospect, he has no idea why he was going to say yes, but he was going to say yes. You can read a portion of his quote below…

This was my initial read while watching the show live too. The goal of the joke swap is you can’t show fear. You have to read whatever is on the cue card Ron Burgundy style, and deep down in your soul, you have to know no one will blame you because the other person is in control of your fate. This whole head shaving thing really pushed the boundaries on that, but with almost no time to actually think about it, I’m not surprised Jost screamed internally but also went with it.

You can see what I mean by revisiting the sketch below...

If nothing else, the incident was a great reminder that Che and Jost are just as exciting as ever. In the past, some Weekend Update anchors and/ or partnerships have gotten a little stale at some point. It’s always important to keep SNL feeling fresh, but more than a decade into their tenures, the two friends are still finding ways to push the boundaries and feel fresh. No announcements have been made about their futures, but I sincerely hope they come back, especially because Jost is really coming into his own on the show.

For most of his tenure, the former head writer was known almost exclusively for Weekend Update and his behind the scenes contributions. This season, however, he’s started appearing in a way higher volume of sketches, sometimes playing Secretary Of War Pete Hegseth and sometimes just playing random characters (like Buzz from Home Alone). It turns out he’s quite good at it. Hopefully he gets a chance to keep nurturing that over the next few years, and hopefully he can do so with his glorious hair fully in tact.

Saturday Night Live’s 51^st season just closed out its run on the 2026 TV schedule, and it ended on a pretty strong note with Will Ferrell hosting and Paul McCartney as the musical guest. The entire season had strong hosts, with there being a mixture of first-timers and veterans. One of the first-time hosts was Colman Domingo who gave a great showing and shared a touching speech at the end of the episode in April. Before all that, though, Tina Fey apparently sent him a sweet text, and I'm smiling over how mom-coded it is.

It was announced in late March that Domingo had been tapped to host the April 11th episode of NBC's long-running sketch comedy show. While the Emmy winner and Oscar nominee has had an extensive career, his SNL gig obviously signified new territory for him. As Domingo recently recalled to The Hollywood Reporter, though, he was fortunate to have Fey in his corner:

After hearing this story about how Fey texted Domingo and wanted to help him, I can't help but love the Five-Timers Club member more. On top of that, this text actually came after she herself hosted the first episode of SNL UK, so she wasn't too far off from being in Domingo's shoes. What I also love about this story is that in the text, Fey openly acknowledges the mom-like aspect of this. Honestly, I'd expect nothing less from the beloved comedian (who's actually a mom to two kids).

Despite Fey thinking her offer sounded too Mom-like, Domingo actually did take her up on it. He ended up texting her for advice and getting feedback on sketch ideas throughout the week. Not only that, but Fey was also in the room for the table read and was in the audience at the live taping. It goes without saying that Fey has plenty of experience with the inner workings of Saturday Night Live, considering her nine-season stint as a cast member. All in all, I applaud her for wanting to share her knowledge.

It’s also worth mentioning that Tina Fey and Colman Domingo have a prior working relationship. She cast him in her Netflix series, The Four Seasons, in which she also stars. As mentioned in Domingo's THR profile, the two formed a strong bond while working together. And, as of right now, they're looking towards the imminent release of Season 2, for which Domingo directed the premiere.

As for as SNL goes, I'd now hope that Domingo would seek to pay it forward in the event that someone he knows taps their first SNL hosting gig. Considering Domingo's persona, I could definitely see him going full dad mode in a way that mirrors Fey's mom-esque tendencies.

Check out Colman Domingo's episode of Saturday Night Live as well as other installments from Season 51 by streaming them with a Peacock subscription.

Saturday Night Live’s 51st season ended with the show pulling out the big guns last night. Beloved former cast member and major movie star Will Ferrell hosted. Former Beatle and arguably most accomplished musician alive Paul McCartney was the musical guest, and of course Weekend Update ended with one more joke swap, which has arguably become the entire show’s most popular recurring segment. Last night’s bit was a good reminder why it works so well too, as the madness got so out of control Michael Che had to stop his co-anchor Colin Jost from going too far.

Stopping each other from going too far isn’t typically an act of mercy you see on the joke swaps. Inflicting maximum humiliation is normally the point and is also why both Che and Jost can get away with reading ridiculous jokes they’d normally get cancelled for. We all get the joke is on them for having to say whatever they’re saying out loud. In this case, however, this specific bit had the potential to do more long-term damage, at least to Jost’s glorious hair.

Che had him read a joke about Kanye being right about Hitler, then apologize to everyone and make up for it by cutting off his “award-winning” hair. A barber then came on stage and got ready to shave it all off. Jost seemed ready to reluctantly embrace it before a shocked Che shouted, “no no no” and “you were really going to do it?” You can watch the crazy segment below…

For the record, I think he was absolutely going to do it. My guess is Che thought he was going to back down and thus, effectively lose the joke swap, but in previous versions, he’s been forced to read horrible things about his wife Scarlett Johansson literally in front of her. If he was going to power through that nightmare, I’m pretty sure he was going to get rid of his hair. It’s not like it would take him a full year to grow it back anyway. He’d have a few months of discomfort and be back in business by the start of Season 52.

Besides, it’s not like getting through the rest of the joke swap was a picnic for either of the friends. Che had to read a joke about how being molested by Michael Jackson gave him a fetish for older white women. Jost had to volunteer the use of the ferry boat he co-anchors with Pete Davidson to all Black people for free rides back to Africa. Even by joke swap standards, it was all pretty extreme.

Of course, every time there’s a joke swap now, most fans are quietly wondering if it’ll be the last one. The bit has been an every now and again thing for more than a half decade and always follows the same format. The two write jokes that the other is forced to read live on the air for the first time. Invariably, they include punchlines or are about subject matter that would normally be off limits, and the audience can’t get enough of the cringe factor.

The bits really show off their chemistry and make it pretty obvious why Jost and Che are now the longest serving Weekend Update anchors in SNL’s glorious history. Every summer, there are rumors about one or both of them leaving the show. To be perfectly honest, I thought they were probably done after last year, given it was Season 50 and ended with Johansson hosting the final episode. It felt like a fitting send off.

They ended up returning, and I’m so thankful they did. Not only did the duo have another spectacular season on Weekend Update, Jost really broke out for the first time by appearing in more conventional sketches. His impression of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth became a pretty regular thing, and he even started appearing as unrelated characters in some sketches. He clearly has a talent for it, and if he would like to do more acting than writing in the future, it’s now a lot easier to see a more traditional Hollywood path in his future.

Expect to hear more about Jost and Che’s future, as well as the rest of the cast as no one had an obvious goodbye-to-the-show moment during the season finale last night. Typically we start to hear what’s going on later in the summer. Fingers crossed we have at least a few more joke swaps in our future.