By Adriana Tamayo
Correspondant
This past week has been an absolute wild ride for any fans of the late-night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. Earlier this year, showrunner Lorne Michaels confirmed that there would be a significant “cast shake-up” for the upcoming season 51.
Michaels claimed that there was pressure to reinvent the show after its 50th season. And, needless to say, he was not messing around. Out of the three new Season 50 cast members, the only one cut was Emil Wakim, which stings a little because one season for him was not nearly enough.
Along with Wakim, three more cast members are confirmed to be leaving. Former cast member Devon Walker posted on Instagram announcing his departure after three seasons on the show. Another former cast member, Michael Longfellow, also posted, but he was one of the unlucky people on the chopping block after being on the show for three years.
Heidi Gardener, also a former cast member, will not be on season 51. However, it is unclear whether she left on her own terms or was not asked back. She had been on the show for eight seasons and was one of my favorites, so I am crushed to see her leave.
On Aug. 27, Wakim took to Instagram to announce his departure, writing, “i won’t be returning to snl next year. it was a gut-punch of a call to get but i'm so grateful for my time there.”
Many were devastated by this post. As for me, I felt like Wakim had so much to offer the show, but wasn’t given nearly enough time to showcase it.
Wakim comes from a background in stand-up comedy. In 2022, he made his late-night television debut on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” That same year, Wakim was named a New Face of Comedy at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival. He had also previously opened for comedians Roy Wood Jr., Nikki Glaser and Hasan Minhaj.
While on SNL, Wakim portrayed satirical versions of Luigi Mangione and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as a couple of other smaller roles in various sketches. He was also featured twice on the “Weekend Update” segment to perform stand-up comedy bits, which I believe was his chance to shine.
When I watched Wakim at the update desk, I thought he was so funny. His comedic timing is incredible, and his jokes are very well thought out and undeniably true. YouTube commenters agree with this, too.
The people wanted to see more of Wakim, and frankly, so did I.
The addition of Wakim to the cast was huge in terms of the diversity of the show. He was the first Lebanese-American cast member on SNL as well as one of the few Middle Eastern cast members, along with SNL alum Nasim Pedrad and Aristotle Athari.
A lot of Wakim’s comedy and writing comes from his experiences growing up and living as a Lebanese-American with an immigrant father. With Wakim gone, SNL is robbing Arab-American viewers of a cast member who makes them feel seen through jokes and writing.
Wakim’s perspective is so important to have on a show like SNL because, generally, diversity leads to more relatable comedy and could, in turn, create better sketches and memorable moments.
I’m aware that this isn’t the first time that SNL has abruptly fired fan-favorite cast members, and I don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. But from an audience standpoint, I still certainly believe that Michaels is missing out on what Wakim could’ve been if he had kept him on the show for at least another season.
Wakim is a very talented stand-up comedian and I think that he was a very good performer on the show. Even though he wasn’t in very many sketches, he was given a variety of different characters to play and he did them justice every time.
Regardless, I’m beyond devastated that Wakim wasn’t asked back for SNL’s 51st season, but I’m excited to see where he goes next as his self-proclaimed biggest fan.
