As mentioned in yesterday's post listing our favorite moments from this season of SNL, Season 38 has been dubbed a "transitional year" by many followers of the show. After a few years of relative stability among the core cast members, stars Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg left a year ago, followed by Abby Elliott later in the summer. With the start of the new season, three performers from Chicago's improv and sketch community joined the cast: Aidy Bryant, Tim Robinson, and Cecily Strong. In the wake of Wiig's dominating presence on the show, two freshman females in particular have emerged as go-to's: Kate McKinnon, who joined the cast [...]
What a weepy week it was for comedy nerds. NBC packed a double-whammy of goodbyes, with The Office's poignant series finale last Thursday, followed by Saturday's season finale of Saturday Night Live and final episode to feature Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, and (perhaps) Jason Sudeikis as regular cast members, which was announced only days before. It is indeed the end of an era, not just for the network, but for TV comedy as a whole, and we will talk plenty more about this changing landscape over the coming days, weeks, and months.
Unlike last year's farewell to Kristen Wiig, which had a best-of-Wiig vibe that unfortunately repeated itself a week [...]
Here's departing SNL cast member Bill Hader doing a bunch of promos for this weekend's SNL season finale alongside host Ben Affleck. Affleck's Bill Hader impression is solid gold.
After eight seasons as a cast member, Bill Hader is leaving Saturday Night Live. Hader tells The NY Times, "It was a hard decision, but it has to happen at some point. It got to a point where I said, 'Maybe it’s just time to go.'" In the Times announcement, Lorne Michaels recalls a young Bill Hader reminding him of Dan Aykroyd. "In terms of intelligence and talent, he was in that same tradition. He was so completely committed to the art of it and enough a student of it that there’s something strikingly original. He didn't explode onto the air, but gradually he found his voice, and [...]
Saturday Night Live has been home to over a hundred cast members throughout the past 37 years. In our column Saturday Night’s Children, we present the history, talent, and best sketches of one SNL cast member every other week for your viewing, learning, and laughing pleasure.
When the news broke in January 2012 that Paul Brittain was leaving SNL "effective immediately," I had a somber moment of silence for Funky Boy and the Little Lord. Though he appeared infrequently during his year and a half stint as a featured player, Brittain's small frame, shy-flirty delivery, and ability to sway from joyful to creeptastic and back again in even [...]
