With Saturday Night time Dwell’s return simply weeks away on the 2025 TV schedule, the thrill across the new season is barely getting louder. Whereas followers are keeping track of the upcoming SNL hosts and musical visitors, the larger thriller proper now could also be what’s occurring behind the scenes because the present simply confirmed its first official solid minimize, with Devon Walker saying his exit after three seasons. However solid turnover won’t be the one shake-up on the best way. A brand new rumor suggests even the enduring Weekend Replace desk might look totally different when Season 51 premieres.
In accordance with a report from Late Nighter, the long-running comedy establishment has already screen-tested at the least one new anchor pairing. Although Colin Jost and Michael Che stay unconfirmed for Season 51, the truth that producers are taking a look at options factors to the opportunity of change. Michaels himself teased a shake-up was coming and that choices could be finalized quickly, telling Matt Belloni that an announcement could possibly be coming “in every week or so.” And since Jost and Che aren’t head writers anymore, it appears doable they could need to give attention to different alternatives.
For practically a decade, Jost and Che have held down Replace, changing into the longest-running duo within the present’s historical past. Their dynamic, Jost’s straight-man supply towards Che’s biting, typically trolling punchlines, has grow to be a defining function of contemporary SNL. Nonetheless, turnover at Replace is nothing new. From Chevy Chase and Norm Macdonald to Tina Fey and Seth Meyers, the desk has developed with the present’s eras, and Season 51 is likely to be the following turning level.
An inside supply instructed Late Nighter that Michael Longfellow and SNL author KC Shornima taped auditions. Whether or not their chemistry on the desk impressed Michaels sufficient to maneuver ahead stays to be seen, but it surely’s notable that testing even occurred. Weekend Replace anchors are at all times chosen with care, as they set the tone for the present’s political satire and viral punchlines, one thing that’s particularly essential with a heated midterm election season on the horizon.
Sunday additionally introduced the information that author Celeste Yim is leaving the present after 5 years on employees. As with Devon Walker’s departure, Michaels appears to be signaling that Season 51 might function a reset second for SNL, each onstage and off.
The destiny of the Weekend Replace desk continues to be unsure, however there’s no query the phase will stay a centerpiece of the present’s rhythm. One fixed viewers can rely on is James Austin Johnson, whose scary-accurate Trump impersonation has grow to be one of many defining components of SNL’s political satire in recent times.
The larger query now’s who else might be standing alongside Johnson when the brand new season begins. Mikey Day has expressed a need to stay round “for so long as [he] can,” whereas Bowen Yang’s reflections on Season 50 carried a touch of doable departure. For the second, it’s a ready sport to see which acquainted faces return and which resolve to maneuver on.
Lorne Michaels has promised that casting information will arrive quickly. Till then, followers can revisit Season 50 with a Peacock subscription and begin making their very own want lists of who they hope to see again in Studio 8H this fall.
Saturday Night time Dwell Season 51 premieres Saturday, October 4, at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC, with full episodes streaming the following day on Peacock.