The promised shakeup following historic Season 50 of Saturday Night Live is happening. On Thursday, two more multi-season cast members were confirmed to be leaving the show.
Heidi Gardner is exiting SNL after eight seasons. She debuted as a featured player in Season 43, and became a solid contributor to the show almost immediately. During her tenure on SNL, Gardner has served as a versatile performer, shining in sketches, and adding a few memorable guest characters at the Weekend Update desk.
Following the departures of Cecily Strong (in Season 48) and Kate McKinnon (after Season 47) in recent seasons left Gardner as essentially the “go-to” female performer on the show for many roles.
SNL Rankings lists Gardner at No. 30 all-time among cast members in our exclusive rankings.
Also leaving is Michael Longfellow, who spent three seasons with SNL and failed to gain much traction as a cast member. In Seasons 49 and 50, Longfellow did appear more regularly at the Update desk as a guest commentator, but he never established himself in sketches, and rarely made an appearance in film shorts. The standup comedian is the latest in a long line in that profession who struggled to get on air with SNL.
Some SNL observers speculated that Longfellow would be an ideal Weekend Update anchor. His comedian chops and joke-writing skills seemed suited for the role. But Colin Jost and Michael Che have held a stranglehold on that job for more than a decade. Jost has been at the WU desk for parts of 12 seasons. Neither Jost nor Che are rumored to be leaving SNL before Season 51.
Earlier this month, Devon Walker announced that he will not be among the ensemble cast for Season 51, which debuts October 4. Walker is also a standup comedian who spent three seasons on SNL. He spent much of his time on the show being plugged in doing impressions of athletes like Michael Strahan and Draymond Green.
After only one season on the show, Emil Wakim is also being jettisoned from SNL. Earlier this week he issued a statement on social media that the decision is like “a gut punch.” Wakim was a promising young performer who never got much air time and seemed to be stuck behind a logjam of cast members in his lone season.
With the exits of Gardner, Longfellow, Walker, and Wakim that leaves the following cast members from Season 50 as still in the mix for the upcoming Season 51:
- Michael Che
- Mikey Day
- Andrew Dismukes
- Chloe Fineman
- Marcello Hernández
- James Austin Johnson
- Colin Jost
- Ego Nwodim
- Ashley Padilla (featured)
- Sarah Sherman
- Kenan Thompson
- Jane Wickline (featured)
- Bowen Yang
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