“SNL” ended its season, a rocky one, on a high note tonight. The show was funny and the cast was teary. But the latter may be because a lot of the cast may not return in the fall.
Kenan Thompson, who has his own sitcom on NBC returning in the fall, said “we’ll see you at Thanksgiving.” Which means we won’t be seeing him in September.
Kate McKinnon, who has won Emmys and is a movie actress now, is ready to go. She teared up on the show when she described the cast as “family” during the poignant cold opening.
Pete Davidson, who seems to be cleaned up at last and out of danger, thanked the audience for letting him grow up in front of them. This may be the end for him.
Cecily Strong stole the show as Judge Jeanine Pirro in what may have been her exit sketch. It was a crowning achievement. Cecily gives me Ana Gasteyer vibes: extremely talented but not motivated for superstardom. I hope I’m wrong.
Aidy Bryant might be leaving, although her other show, called “Shrill,” was not renewed on Hulu. She’s got a good gig at “SNL” and may consider that Vanessa Bayer hasn’t been seen much since she left.
Even if all these talented people leave, “SNL” has a deep bench. Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney are solid core players, Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang are ready for the spotlight. Mikey Day and Alex Moffat have a lot of life left in them. And Chris Redd already seems like a star. Ego Nwodim became one this season as Dionne Warwick.
So “SNL” will survive, as it always does. And don’t forget Michael Che and Colin Jost. They’re staying, and they make the show.
Come back tomorrow at 1pm and we’ll see how tonight’s ratings went. Lil Nas X’s very gay “Montero” song may have turned a lot of people off. His second number should have been his first. It was excellent. On “Montero” it felt like he was lip synching, as if any of his fans would care.
