I'm surprised Cecily Strong isn't included in the group. Weren't there rumors last year of her leaving before she signed on for another year?

I really won't miss Kate McKinnon. I mean, she's funny, but hardly the comedy juggernaut everyone (or, at least the studio audience when her name is called in the opening) seem to think she is. Too many times it's just have-Kate-play-a-man, and that's the entire joke. Her impressions of Fox News hosts are all identical and nothing like the person she's supposed to be parodying. I'm not saying she's totally untalented; the infamous African sex tourism sketch where guest host Adele was losing it was made even funnier by Kate going more into character when she saw Adele struggling to stifle her laughter. I also liked that Christmas sketch where she played the redneck who was kidnapped by Santa or something like that, and I've been told it's a recurring bit she's done in the past which definitely makes me want to seek out other sketches.

Hell, I'll probably miss Pete Davidson more (haven't seen him in several weeks now, at least not in bits other than pre-taped segments). The recent cake show sketch where he just stood there eating the cake really made me think he wasn't even supposed to be in the sketch, he just had the munchies.

Kyle Mooney was outstanding in Brigsby Bear, so he'll always have respect from me there.

As for Elon Musk's outing, I did like the Nintendo sketch even if it was a good 20 years late. I mean, how can you not laugh at a (pixelated) video of Luigi getting an erection with the magic mushroom sound sample?

Twitter

Here's the Variety article.

I'll miss Kate and Aidy... but won't shed a tear over Kyle and Pete.

Pete Davidson’s “don’t give a damn” attitude when he would appear on Weekend Update was always funny. Once Lorne snipped his balls off after the Crenshaw incident, he was mostly forgettable.

This is the first time I ever really took note of Kate and still one of my favorite bits. Still cracks me up.

the only loss is Kate.

I find Kyle Mooney perhaps the most annoying cast member to ever be a part of SNL and find him about as funny as cancer.

I’m not sure I’d go quite that far, but his failing comedian bit is maybe the worst recurrent skit in the history of WU.

Kate McKinnen leaving would probably get more headlines than Pete Davidson if she was fucking a Kardashian.

No it is not and once again as usual U are wrong.

He probably only did that two times

Kristen Wiig as the Target cashier is the most annoying repeating character ever.

She's supposed to be annoying. I had a Walmart cashier like her one time. Not quite to the extent she does on the show but the real cashier commented on something I was buying. Seemed odd.

And he put that Bruce Chandling character in his Netflix series, so he clearly thinks it's great.

But it's supposed to be funny, too.

Thank you my friend. I've been saying that about McKinnon for the last 3-4 years. And while she's been getting work in movies and other TV shows, it's nowhere on the level as Tina Fey, Amy Poehler or Kristen Wiig. I hope that changes for her. She is talented and seems like a nice person. But so far none of her work outside of "SNL" equals any of those other ladies. Davidson's absence these past few weeks and his phoned in appearances prior have been telling. Hell, his goodbye tonight on "Weekend Update" didn't feel genuine at all. It felt like he was checked out a long time ago. And sorry, but I don't see much of a career in his future beyond stand-up. I will miss Aidy Bryant. She seemed to always pour her heart and soul into every sketch. Kyle Mooney will not be missed. He never found his groove on "SNL" IMO other than Baby Yoda. But I would keep all four over Bowen Yang any day. That guy has zero talent.

Bad episode and also a terrible choice in the host.

I used to really like Kate but she fell off in recent years.

There is some truth in that Bruce Chandler sketch where most comedians are like that where they are tortured souls who need the applause and laughter since they have some deep personal pain.

I always thought Chris Kattan was the most annoying guy ever on SNL and his voice got on my nerves and he was not really that funny either.

John Mulaney disagrees

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/john-...b01a50ab563f2b

I truly feel as if this show has been running on fumes for over two decades. It got interesting again during the Trump years, but even then it was pretty limited to the cold open. I too will admit that McKinnon wasn't always funny and her sketches pretty one note, but she definitely has range as an actor IMO and I hope we get to see her break out of the goofy woman persona and try some drama.

Does she? I didn't watch the poorly reviewed series, but in those trailers for Joe & Carol, she looked awful in it, like it was one long extended SNL sketch.
And the fact that she dropped out of The Dropout (ha) to do it makes me question her choices outside of SNL.

It seems like SNL spends a lot of time bashing Boomers lately. I don’t watch often, but for example, last night I only caught two skits towards the end, one a parody of the 1981 film 9 to 5 (what an odd choice) and the other about Boomers wearing pigtails? Neither of which I found funny at all.

What’s the average age for the SNL writers? 30’s?

Was it though? I'll remind you that they spoofed the Six Flags guy just two weeks ago AND a sketch about the Black Eyed Peas. In the same episode! I agree with Dr. DVD. This show has been running on fumes for a long long time. They need to fire most if not all of the writers and replace them immediately. And perhaps it's time for Lorne Michaels to step down. While it didn't hit all it's marks, the new season of "Kids in the Hall" was pretty funny. And it makes me wonder how much Lorne is involved in that show. "SNL" could definitely take a page or two from their book.

I've pointed out before that when Dick Ebersole took over, he dumped a lot of the traditional SNL bits; No more "Live from New York...", Weekend Update become SNL Newsbreak, they did episodes without a host, Don Pardo was gone, etc. Obviously all those things came back over time, but it served notice that SNL would be fluid and change over the years. John Belushi and Bill Murray were not coming back and the audience would have to accept new versions of SNL.

It might be time for that again. Shake things up like that.

Obviously I don't know Lorne Michaels, but I do know that he is 77 and in 2025 SNL will turn 50. I think he wants to get to that milestone, and then walk away. He will be 80 years old, and I can't for the life of me imagine that he loves making this show so much, and at some point NBC has to either be thinking the show has a future under someone new, or that it just stops when Lorne stops. It is also hard to imagine that he has not had private conversations with people about succeeding him.

If the ratings are still big why would they change even if it is not lol funny?

No way would the show end if Lorne left and it is a institution now and they could find a new showrunner or maybe a former SNL alum to run that show.

Maybe Tina Fey?