Saturday Night Live Gets a Major Cast Turnover In Season 51, Here Are Those Who Aren’t Coming Back
Saturday Night Live is set to have a major cast turnover in its 51st season, with many beloved cast members not returning. Here’s a recap of who’s leaving.
Saturday Night Live Season 51 Faces Major Cast Shake-Up as Beloved Stars Exit(Photo Credit –Instagram)
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Saturday Night Live’s 51st season is set to be the end of an era for many of the iconic comedy series’ cast members. The NBC show’s 51st season is set to see a particularly high cast turnover, with many beloved comedians having departed in its lead-up.
Many of these announcements have come via the social media handles of the SNL stars, as well as media reports from outlets like Variety. Read on to learn more about all the beloved Saturday Night Live stars who will no longer be with us from the 51st season onwards.
The Following SNL Cast Members Are On Their Way Out
Heidi Gardener is among the most high-profile departures from Saturday Night Live. The comedian has the distinction of being the longest tenured female cast member in the show so far. Gardener originally trained in comedy with The Groundlings and first debuted in SNL’s season 43.
Heidi Gardner was a recurring presence in SNL’s Weekend Update skits, where she played the movie critic caricature Bailey Gismert. Some of her other prominent sketches include “Fisher Price Podcast Set”, where she starred alongside John Mulaney, as well as “Beavis and Butt-Head”, where she worked with Ryan Gosling and Mikey Day.
Mike Longfellow has been an SNL cast member since season 48. He was well known for his Weekend Update appearances, where he appeared alongside Colin Jost to riff on intrusive identification programs like Read ID, as well as Sydney Sweeney’s and his own Trump-supporting family members.
Michael reflected fondly on his three-season tenure at SNL on Instagram, saying “ It was the best three years of my life so far. I feel nothing but gratitude for the experience and everyone there. Lorne, you gave me the greatest job in the world and changed my life.”
Devon Walker, like Mike Longfellow, will be departing SNL after three seasons. The cast member became well known on the NBC show for his impression of controversial former New York mayor Eric Adams, as well as former NFL footballer and television hist Michael Stratham.
Aside from his work on SNL, Devon has been a writer on the Netflix animated series Big Mouth, as well as the Freeform original series Everything’s Trash.
Emil Wakim only worked on SNL for one season before his departure. The comedian was the first cast member of the show to be of Lebanese ethnicity. He was well known for his impression of Luigi Mangione, who gained public notoriety for his murder of UnitedHealth CEO Bryan Thompson.
When speaking of his departure on Instagram, he admitted it was a “gut punch”, but he was nonetheless grateful for the experience and promised to make “art without compromise.
