“Saturday Night Live”‘s longest-running cast member Kenan Thompson hinted that the Season 50 finale felt like an end of an era, and could portend some significant exits ahead of Season 51.
The sketch comedy series celebrated a milestone of 50 seasons of iconic characters, sketches and more since it first aired in 1975. But the “SNL” veteran said it felt especially “bittersweet.”
“Especially this year where it feels like there’s maybe, possibly, a lot of change next year,” he told Page Six Saturday.
The comedy show typically makes decisions on its new and returning cast members in the summer before the series returns to its late night slot in the fall. So far, no cast departure announcements have been made.
“You want everyone to stay forever, knowing that people may be making decisions this summer…it’s always like you want your kids to stay young,” the “All That” alum explained.
During the Season 50 finale, host Scarlett Johansson joked about Sarah Sherman leaving the sketch show, and Colin Jost joked during his Weekend Update segment that he wants boss Lorne Michaels’ job.
Thompson, who has been on the show for 22 seasons, said he has yet to sign a contract for his 23rd season.
“You just never know what the future holds. I don’t want to be in the way of someone else or I don’t want to be the stale old man riding the same thing,” the 47-year-old said. “That doesn’t really happen that much at ‘SNL’ but there’s no guarantees, I guess.”
There are currently 17 people in the “SNL” cast: rep players Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, Colin Jost, Michael Longfellow, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, Devon Walker and Bowen Yang and featured players Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline.
Gardner and Day have been on the show for eight and nine seasons, respectively. As two of the most tenured standing cast members, behind Thompson, they are among the rumored cast to leave. Yang, a breakout star since joining the cast in Season 45, has also pursued other ventures while on the show, including appearing in both “Wicked” films and “The Wedding Banquet” which appeared at Sundance. And Jost and Che have manned the Update desk together since Season 40 in 2014.
Thompson does not seem eager to leave the show just yet.
“I mean, I love that place,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite places to be.”
“SNL” Season 50 festivities included “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert,” a re-airing of the first ever episode of the sketch series, “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” and two documentaries, “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night” and “Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music,” celebrating the talent and musical guests created and featured on the series.
