'Saturday Night Live' Season 48 to premiere after biggest cast overhaul ever
As "Saturday Night Live" cast members prepare for Season 48, viewers will see multiple new faces on stage tonight after the largest cast overhaul in its history. Executive producer and creator Lorne Michaels blamed the pandemic for the late-night comedy show's recent turnover. "The pandemic had put us in this position where no one could really leave, because there were no jobs," Michaels said, according to the New York Times. He continued to say that there "was no place to go" for the comedians who have been on the show for years amid the tumultuous times of the pandemic – which he called a "transition year." Some of ‘Saturday Night Live’s' prominent cast members who exited the stage for good include Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor and Aristotle Athari, as well as Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon and Kyle Mooney.