Saturday Evening Stay’s fiftieth Anniversary celebration has come and gone, and nonetheless on the helm is Lorne Michaels. The legendary late evening sketch present creator has caught with SNL by way of thick and skinny, and he continues to seek out success with the present. Seth Meyers and others collection alums have opined that nobody might ever fill Michaels’ footwear. Nonetheless, that hasn’t stopped individuals from discussing who might inevitably take over and, now, former solid member Molly Shannon is weighing in with a decide.
Colin Jost, Tina Fey, and Seth Meyers have all had their hats thrown within the ring by the rumor mill as potential successors for Lorne Michaels. Nonetheless, Molly Shannon cited none of these choices when discussing the matter with Folks. It was throughout the chat that she was requested whether or not Kenan Thompson might do it, and I’ve to say I used to be each stunned, and never so stunned, to listen to her agree with that assertion:
I really like this concept. He’s the best — I am keen on Kenan. [Kenan is] so gifted. That’s a superb thought.
Apparently, we’re at some extent in Saturday Evening Stay’s historical past by which many individuals are asking former solid members to endorse Lorne Michaels’ potential successor. After all, these questions come even though the veteran producer has made it clear he isn’t fascinated by speaking about retirement anytime quickly. Michaels has change into so synonymous with the favored NBC late evening program that his biographer doesn’t anticipate ever writing his exit from the present, saying that the highly effective EP will proceed to be in Studio 8H on Saturday nights so long as bodily attainable.
Lorne Michaels apart, there are few different key SNL gamers and writers who’ve stayed over a decade. Nonetheless, Kenan Thompson is the longest tenured Saturday Evening Stay solid member by far. The Kenan and Kel actor made his SNL debut in 2003, and he is since change into a beloved a part of the present. The staple repertory participant has expressed his timeless love for the sketch collection and his objective of being a lifelong solid member. So Shannon deciding on him as her candidate doesn’t shock me. In any case, few know the present’s course of higher than somebody who has lived it for 22 years.
Nonetheless what did shock me was the truth that Shannon named Thompson as her reply. Thompson’s SNL stripes have been earned, by way of beloved characters resembling Steve Harvey and Willie, and that’s not at all up for debate. Nonetheless, the comedic actor is a secure reply to a loaded query.
I’ll deliver up the truth that the Nickelodeon alum has by no means been a head author. Somebody who’s served in that place, like Colin Jost or Tina Fey — who labored intently with Michaels on a regular basis for years behind the scenes — may be extra apt for working the complete operation that’s Saturday Evening Stay. There’s additionally the truth that Thompson considers himself an actor over a comic, to the purpose the place sketch scripts are written in another way for him. These attributes might make him extra of a wild card decide.
Issues are shifting at SNL, although, with Thompson saying there’s “probably loads of change subsequent 12 months” following the fiftieth Anniversary season. Bowen Yang gave exit vibes following his goodbye on the finish of the previous season, and different solid members like Heidi Gardner and Mikey Day are rumored to be leaving. In the end, although, nothing has been confirmed simply but.
One thing I don’t anticipate to vary when Saturday Evening Stay returns to the 2025 TV schedule within the fall is the inclusion of Lorne Michaels’ identify on the finish of the credit. Whereas it is probably that folks will not cease trying to find a strong reply on his successor, that thriller might very nicely persist rather a lot longer than the Season 51 solid reveal. Within the meantime, stream SNL episodes now utilizing a Peacock subscription.