Don’t fret, “SNL” fans: Kenan Thompson ain’t going nowhere.
Ellen DeGeneres got to the bottom of Thompson’s “Saturday Night Live” future on her Friday show, asking the longest-tenured cast member in the show’s illustrious history if he’ll still be at the sketch-comedy staple for “a fourth president.” Yes, his 16-year run (to-date) has spanned three different commanders in chief.
“Oh, I would love it,” Thompson responded, adding: “Hopefully it’ll be, like, in 2020.”
“You’re staying?” Ellen followed.
“Yeah,” Kenan said. “It’s the best job in the world. I can’t see myself just walking away from it like that, even with how busy I’ve been lately, like I’m doing another show on NBC called ‘Bring the Funny.’”
Watch the video above. The clip also contains the time Thompson did the “worst, most offensive” Jay Leno impression to Jay Leno’s face. Kenan was never invited back to Leno’s “Tonight Show.”
TheWrap reached out to a rep for “Saturday Night Live” to inquire about Thompson’s contractual status for the 2019-20 season, but we did not immediately hear back.
Thompson also has a pilot in contention at NBC. “The Kenan Show” is a single-camera comedy that stars Thompson as a newly widowed dad determined to be everything for his kids while begrudgingly letting his persistent father-in-law become more involved in their lives.
Chris Rock directed the Universal Television pilot, which was written by Jackie Clarke. Thompson, his “SNL” boss Lorne Michaels, and Andrew Singer were producers. Andy Garcia co-starred.
When TheWrap asked NBC if we should read into the “Ellen” interview as evidence that “The Kenan Show” is not being picked up to series, we were told by a rep it was “too soon” to say. We’ll learn more about the pilots next week ahead of the following week’s upfront presentations to advertisers.