Posted in: NBC, Preview, TV | Tagged: lorne michaels, nbc, saturday night live, season 50, snl, studio 8h

Saturday Night Live: Lorne Michaels Saying "Buh-Bye" with Season 50?

Published Mon, 20 Dec 2021 15:05:11 -0600

After an end-of-the-year episode that was supposed to see Paul Rudd hosting and Charli XCX performing but ended up becoming a COVID-impacted amalgamation of "Best Of" and new sketches recorded earlier (and doing a damn fine all things considered), the last thing we thought we would be reporting on again before the end of the year was NBC's Saturday Night Live. But when series creator Lorne Michaels starts hinting around about passing the SNL baton onto someone else with the upcoming 50th anniversary season (2024-2025 broadcast season), it's definitely going to get our attention.

Speaking with CBS Mornings host Gayle King during a tour behind-the-scenes of SNL's show night for his recent Kennedy Center honor, Michael revealed that he had been thinking of retiring and thought it was a "really good time to leave." But first and foremost, his commitment is to see the show make it to that milestone. "I think I'm committed to doing this show until its 50th anniversary, which is in three years. I'd like to see that through, and I have a feeling that'd be a really good time to leave," Michaels explained. "I won't want the show ever to be bad. I care too deeply about it. It's been my life's work. So I'm going to do everything I can to see it carry on and carry on well," he continued. And while Michaels was loathed to discuss details on something that wouldn't happen for three more years, he did admit that when it comes to who would take on the role from him that they had "a sense of where we're headed with that."

Kennedy Center honoree Lorne Michaels talks legacy and "Saturday Night Live" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbAH77TGHik)

NBC's Saturday Night Live Season 47 cast includes Aidy Bryant, Michael Che, Pete Davidson, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Ego Nwodim, Chris Redd, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, Melissa Villaseñor, and Bowen Yang; feature players include the returning Andrew Dismukes and Punkie Johnson, as well as new players Aristotle Athari (Future Man, All Rise), James Austin Johnson (Silicon Valley), and Sarah Sherman (The Eric Andre Show).