By Jack Beja
Correspondent
As Saturday Night Live’s 51st season premiere approaches in the fall, fans of the show have been intrigued by who’s joining the cast and crew while simultaneously scared for who’s departing.
In the last few years, stars like Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon and John Mulaney have all left the late-night show, and despite initial reactions of sorrow for their departure, their careers have skyrocketed through movies, TV shows and comedy specials since their SNL stint.
In the last week, the first batch of cast and crew members leaving have been released, many of whom were fan favorites.
The latest cast member on the chopping block was Emil Wakim, who started his SNL career during the show's most recent season. Wakim was a fan favorite over the course of the 50th season, with his performances on the show frequently gaining attention online. He took to Instagram announcing his departure, writing, “it was a gut punch of a call to get but I'm so grateful for my time there.”
The news of Wakim's departure has upset many people online. Many have taken to X, TikTok, and Instagram expressing their disappointment. Tweets were receiving hundreds of likes within minutes as he trended following the announcement.
Another departing is third-year cast member Devon Walker. He took to Instagram with a heartfelt goodbye. “Me and the show did three years together, and sometimes it was really cool. Sometimes it was toxic as hell,” he wrote. “But we did what we made the most of what it was, even amidst all of the dysfunction.”
This departure did not surprise fans of the show due to his lack of screentime in the last season, as opposed to Wakim, who was a frequent player in many episodes and had a large following.
The day after Wakim's departure, two more major players announced their leave from the show. After a three-season run, Michael Longfellow has left, and Heidi Gardner, who has been a part of the cast for eight seasons, announced she would be leaving.
Longfellow, in a similar fashion to his former coworkers, took to Instagram to show his disappointment with not returning.
Many fans online, among the sea of sadness, are also optimistic for the cast’s careers, citing their performances on the show as potential for bright futures ahead for them.
During his time on SNL, Wakim had many comedy shows in and around New York City that grew a following. Especially a prior exposure, when opening up for comedian Nikki Glaser, who grew to popularity due to her roasts in comedy specials such as “The Roast of Tom Brady.”
Gardner has amassed a wide following after being on the show for nearly a decade, and has been prominent in commercial acting since she began working on the show.
Longfellow, despite being a newer SNL cast member, has grown in popularity, especially in his social commentary segments on the Weekend Update section of the show.
Walker has already faced mild success on comedy stints and worked on shows like Big Mouth, further gaining success in the comedy world.
Behind the scenes in Studio 8H, the writers' room has also undergone changes. Writers Celeste Yim and Rosebud Baker have been the first two announcements to depart from the show. The latter has left to embark on a comedy tour, and Yim has been writing some of the most popular sketches for the show, including working heavily with comedian and prominent cast member Bowen Yang and hosts like Anya Taylor-Joy and Dan Levy.
Saturday Night Live’s premiere on Oct. 4 will feel a little emptier without these cast and crew members, but there is sure to be new talent that can become fan favorites, and we can’t wait to see where the departed comedians go from here.
