Saturday Night Live

...

Like the Drake as Hulk Hogan sketch last week, I just...don't know what to say or feel.

Was that a ten to one bit?

I just saw Second City perform last week for the first time in, oh, 20 years? Let's say 20 years. Anyway, hit or miss as usual, but I know they've been making efforts to move improv away from the usual white male default, and this cast included two African-American women and a Korean-American man. The last got me thinking and doing some lazy research, and I was shocked to learn that not only has SNL never had an Asian-American cast member (actually, that's not that shocking) but has only twice had an Asian host, once with Jackie Chan and the other Lucy Liu (who I think cohosted). There have been over 800 episodes!

http://uproxx.com/tv/snl-potato-chip/

http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/taran-killam-jay-pharoah-to-leave-saturday-night-live-w433408

That's wild, Killan is like their Phil Hartman/Darrell Hammond utility player, you'd think he'd be on the show for a decade

Also, shout out to Kenan, who's gonna tie Hammond's record if he sticks around this season

I haven't been watching for awhile but I assumed Killan was one of the more popular cast members?

I don't think he's that popular. Like he's great and dependable and has his moments to shine, but you don't see him jumping out and leading a movie or sitcom you know?

he's the lead in an upcoming lorne michaels produced movie!

as the straight man for bobby moynihan to go nuts around but still kinda surprising they didn't pick up his contract.

he was one of like 3 people on the cast who can actually act

huh, he's also the writer-director of a movie with arnold schwarzenegger
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_We%27re_Killing_Gunther

killam was really becoming almost a will ferrell-like figure as far as amount of screen time vs. the rest of the cast was concerned. he was in like half of the sketches! i was burning out on him a little bit but he will definitely be missed. jay pharaoh i always felt was never really used as well as he could be (i.e. get him to learn like 3 new impressions a year and let him loose every ep)

snl really getting to the point now where it's like "who's on this show again?"

It's just because we're olds. But yeah. It's been like four years since I consistently watched so I have no idea who half of these whippersnappers are.

if by whippersnappers you mean comedic genisuses like Kyle and Beck you should pay more attention!

i dunno about that, there's just a remarkable lack of old faces rn. Only four of the current cast have 5 years under their belt! (i couldn't believe it when I saw that Cecily has only had 4 year, feels liek she's been there longer, which I think is a testament to how great she is consistently. she feels like such a key part of the show imo)

side note: arguably still has the strongest female ensemble in SNL history right now assuming they don't lose anyone, and maybe the weakest male ensemble in SNL history (love kyle mooney but he is not a cleanup hitter. killam was the closest thing)

beck is fantastic too, hopefully he can develop more awesome characters and maybe do a fucking voice or two, and please for the love of god no more thna like 2 baby man sketches next year pleaaaaase

if by whippersnappers you mean comedic genisuses like Kyle and Beck you should pay more attention!

― dan selzer, Tuesday, August 9, 2016 9:29 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I admit that I'm totally at fault here. My lifelong SNL obsession just tapered off a few years back for no apparent reason. I'll get on a kick and marathon everything I've missed at some point.

I guess there was a moment a few years ago (2012) when they had a LOT of vets on the roster at once. Samberg, Hader, Armisen, Kenan, Wiig, Sudeikis and Meyers had all been there at least 8 years, Abby Elliott/Bobby Moynihan/Nasim Pedrad were approaching "vet" status (about 4 years each), and the new people felt like an injection of young talent vs. filling the void (McKinnon, Cecily, Aidy, Pharaoh, Brittain, Killam, Bayer, Tim Robinson).

It was one of the biggest casts @ 20 (and I think I remember complaining that it was too big lol) but it had the right blend of "people who have been doing this a while" and "new people to keep it fresh."

It's also the smallest cast it's been in a while right now, at 14, so they'll have to make that work (or add people). Aidy, Kate, Cecily, Vanessa, Bobby and Kenan as the vets, Leslie/Pete/Sasheer/Kyle/Beck entering their "shit or get off the pot" seasons, some guy named Jon Rudnitsky still whose face I will hopefully be able to conjure on command by seasons end (seriously, this guy is entering his third year and I can't remember what he looks like).

Seriously this cast would be perfect if they added two more solid dudes. One who could ground a scene (a Sudeikis or Forte) and one who is just absurdly likeable and not alienating (a Horatio Sanz type) and I am now fantasy booking SNL someone stop me

Rudnitsky is not coming back this season

i guess i will never remember his face! wow so that's a cast of 13... hasn't been that small in a while! (2007)

why yes i did make a spreadsheet that shows me these fact why do you ask

I have a spreadsheet, too! Not updated in a while but still.

This is the one time I wish I were still plugged into the improv scene and could make some predictions/suggestions of new SNL cast members.

(Although more people went to SNL from Chicago during the period that I was plugged in than I expect to see happen again anytime soon.)

they're bringing back darrell hammond

Did he ever actually leave? I picture him skulking around like the Phantom of Studio 8H for the past several decades.

hammond does the intro now that don pardo is dead and he kinda sucks at it

Kinda wonder if Hammond worming his way back into playing Trump is part of the reason Killam is leaving. It's like Carvey simultaneously ball hogging two presidential candidates all over again.

for the love of god no more thna like 2 baby man sketches next year pleaaaaase

boss baby character is like the only decent recurring sketch character they have at this point!

All the more reason to rein it in. I've seen the best recurring characters of my generation destroyed by ubiquity.

honestly Killam's Trump was awful and it quickly got silly for him to be doing it while Hammond was in the building, i think that switch was more an inevitability than anyone worming anything. it's not Hammond's fault that they didn't find anyone else who could do a passable Trump or Bill Clinton in the last 7 years.

and i say that as a Killam fan in general.

it's more surprising that Jay Pharoah isn't gonna be in the show for the end of Obama's term. will someone else do Obama sketches when the need arises or are they going to attempt to not bother doing sketches about the sitting president for a few months?

Armisen's just down the hall!

They either need to get rid of the "featured players" designation or bump Leslie up because this last year she got more time than Sasheer.

Oh, she'll be in the main cast this fall for sure.

not bummed on tk leaving that dude always gave me american psycho vibes

I seem to remember from his WTF interview that he didn't really have much of a comedy background before joining the cast.

http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Taran+Killam+AVCcsBC3yy9m.jpg
i don't see it. j/k xp

"Can we have a few words about ZZ Top's Eliminator?"

I seem to remember from his WTF interview that he didn't really have much of a comedy background before joining the cast.

― Blowout Coombes (President Keyes), Tuesday, August 9, 2016 2:55 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

joined cast of MADtv at age 19 and was a member of the main company of the LA Groundlings

pssh, who wasn't

I think Beck Bennett should be able to do anything that Killam does. And cheaper!

I think Beck Bennett should be able to do anything that Killam does. And cheaper!

― Frederik B, Tuesday, August 9, 2016 3:25 PM (1 second ago) Bookmark

except a character with any voice between "beck bennett" and "slightly deeper beck bennett"

idk why i am harshing on this guy's voice today i guess i just miss hader/sudeikis/forte too much. but come on, even kenan makes up dumb nonsense accents!

You're right, but Bennett's voice is the best!

don't care about Killam but Pharoah is a loss, always good to have a really talented mimic in the cast

yah he's a gem and could do anyone except i hate that i live in a world where ATTENTIONTEACHERSANDSTUDENTS is a reoccurring sketch

Armisen's just down the hall!

ten weeks a year

also ugh, please no armisen obama ever again