We’re about 10 weeks from the debut episode of the 52nd season of Saturday Night Live. We don’t know the host or musical guest yet, of course. But something we can expect for that first episode is change.
SNL feels like its at a point of transition. One cast member has already announced her exit (Chloe Fineman after seven seasons) from the program before Season 52. Last summer two cast members exited: gal pals Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim. And the Christmas episode last December marked the final bow of Bowen Yang. That’s four cast members who have left SNL in the last 12 months.
What change can we expect for Season 52? It’s evident that the cast is in dire need of more female performers. At least two will likely be added. The show also feels long in the tooth in other areas, as it has more long-term cast members and writers than ever before. Even the executive producer role may need to be see some changes. Is it possible?
Here are five changes that would improve SNL for Season 52.
More Female Cast Members
This is the “Well, DUH!” section of this article. Obviously, SNL needs more women in the cast. With Fineman leaving, there’s now only one female repertory player: Sarah Sherman. With promotions likely from the featured players, that number could swell to four. It’s still not enough, especially in regards to having the type of people you want to choose from for sketches. Only Sherman, Ashley Padilla, and Veronika Skowikowska have experience working either with sketch groups or building characters outside SNL. Jane Wickline is coming along, and adds a unique presence, but more is needed. More on that in the next section.
Increased Diversity
Entering Season 52, if nothing changes, only two black performers are under contract: the immensely experienced but fading Kenan Thompson and the woefully unimpressive Kam Patterson. Where is a black leading man, or a man of color to anchor sketches, create characters, and so on?
For that matter, where are the women of color? Not surprisingly, SNL continues to fumble with female women of color on the cast. The last one was Nwodim, who left rather abruptly, most likely because her good friend Gardner was not asked back. Before Nwodim, there was Punkie Johnson who was on the show for four seasons through Season 49. But prior to that, from Season 39 to Season 45, the show only had two black women, Sasheer Zamata and Leslie Jones. in all, Saturday Night Live has employed only seven black female cast members in 51 seasons, in addition to one Hispanic, one of Middle Easter descent, and one mixed race.
Padilla is the unquestioned star of the existing cast and the face of this new generation. It would be gratifying if NBC surrounded her with fresh, talented women and built a second era of Strong SNL Women, as it had when Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph helmed the cast in the early 2000s.
New Featured Player Roster
Ashley Padilla’s amazing second season on SNL will earn her a promotion to repertory status. Padilla was the MVP of Season 51, and arguably was involved in all of the best sketches and moments of the season.
It should be expected that Jane Wickline, who came to SNL for Season 50 as part of the featured players with Padilla, will also be elevated to the repertory cast. Wickline was polarizing in her rookie season, and admittedly struggled to be comfortable on air. But in Season 51, Jane had many good appearances, and appeared more comfortable and sure of herself, especially in numerous Weekend Update segments.
Because the cast has so few female members, it’s possible Veronika Slowikowska will also be promoted to the repertory players. Of course, she can still be utilized as a featured player, but something tells me Lorne Michaels will fill his featured cast with a lot of new faces. A new era is rising on the show, one led by Padilla and younger writers, marking a switch from the Mikey Day era.
If Ben Marshall is promoted too, that would leave Tommy Brennan and Patterson as the only other legacy featured players, facing a second season., I would not be surprised if both Brennan and Patterson are jettisoned from SNL. Neither made much of a mark at all in Season 51. Patterson didn’t fit well at all. He’s not skilled as a sketch performer. He doesn’t do impressions, hasn’t written a character for himself, and he doesn’t particularly seem to care about SNL. It feels like SNL is something Patterson’s agent convinced him he should do. He’s a niche standup who relies heavily on attitude rather than strong material. It feels like we’ll see a Netflix comedy special from Patterson, and maybe small bit roles in movies starring Pete Davidson or Chris Rock. It seems almost certain he’s the type of former SNL cast member who will play a walk-on role in Grown Ups 4 in a few years.
With Padilla, Wickline, and maybe a few others (Jeremy Culhane AND Ben Marshall?) being moved to the repertory cast, that means Michaels will need a new gang of featured players. I’d expect to see no fewer than four new featured cast members for Season 52. That would leave us with about 16-17 cast members, or about what we had in Season 51.
An Executive Producer in Waiting: Lorne’s Replacement?
At some point, SNL will have to go on without Lorne Michaels, the man who co-created the show. For all but five seasons, Michaels has been the man behind the camera (most of the time), guiding the sensibilities of the late night program. If he thinks it’s funny, it often is. If he thinks a controversial host deserves a spot on the stage at Studio 8H, he takes the high road and welcomes them on. He is remarkable at making good decisions and creating success for his cast members and writers. He also knows how to make oodles of money for the network and himself.
Is Season 52 when we’ll see an heir apparent emerge behind the scenes of SNL? Some have speculated that former cast member Tina Fey could handle the job. Some say Seth Meyers. Others insist the successor is already in the building: producer and jack of all trades Steve Higgins.
Will Lorne retreat to Producer Emeritus status some day? My money is on no. I think Lorne may still be chomping on his beloved popcorn on the floor of Studio 8H under the bleachers when he’s 99 years old. Which is till about 17 years from now.
Fresh Takes on Weekend Update
Even more unlikely than Lorne Michaels naming his heir apparent is the chance that we will see someone new hosting or co-hosting Weekend Update.
Colin Jost has been behind the Weekend Update desk since 2014, at the tail end of Season 39. His co-host, Michael Che came along later that year for Season 40. That means Jost has been in the role for parts of 13 seasons, and Che has been doing it for 12 seasons. Those are the two longest tenures (by far) for Weekend Update anchors. The next most is seven seasons by Seth Meyers.
It’s time for a change. This segment chews up about 15-20 minutes of air time each episode. The role of anchor is a large part of stamping a personality on the show. It’s important to have new voices and new humor in that spot, to shoot barbs at the politics and pop culture happening in the world. But, Jost and Che are now the older guys who seem content to coast and have a much heralded joke swap each season. It’s time for much younger, funnier, fresh voices behind the Update desk. I don’t think either Che or Jost is going to leave before Season 52, but I think they should.
Which changes do you want to see on SNL for Season 52? Share in the comments section below.
