Saturday Night Live Is Losing Two Key Cast Members
Saturday Night Live has announced its cast for the upcoming 47th season and it looks like two key cast members won't be returning
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In terms of turnover, no other show in the history of television has had as many comings and goings as Saturday Night Live. Such is the case with long-running and iconic ensemble sketch comedy series which has become a societal staple over its 47 (you read that correctly) seasons. And with each new season, we typically see new faces while also finding out some of the main players have left to do other projects. That’s the case this time around as well with Deadline reporting that Saturday Night Live regulars Beck Bennett and Lauren Holt wouldn’t be part of the cast when things pick back up again this fall.
Beck Bennett joined Saturday Night Live back in 2013 and had become a feature part of the show over the years. Some of his funnier sketches included his “December to Remember” car commercial as well as “Picture with Dad”, hilarious send-ups of suburban dad mid-life crises. Plus, early on he’d brought along “So-Cal Boys” a stripped-down and laconic version of surfer kids trying to make it on public access television. It was like a sedated and bong-fueled version of “Wayne’s World”. He’d been known to do a number of different Saturday Night Live impressions over the years including Mike Pence, Bruce Springsteen, and even Vladamir Putin. He said his goodbyes through an Instagram post.
Meanwhile, Lauren Holt had just joined Saturday Night Live as a featured player last season. She lasted just one year with the show and it has been reported that she wasn’t offered a contract for this next season. She didn’t gain nearly the screen time of Bennett this past season. It has long been said by Saturday Night Live cast members and alumni that the nature of the weekly sketch comedy show can be cutthroat and getting screen time is a difficult proposition. This could have been the case with Holt. But the comedian and talent had nothing but positivity around the news, posting a heartfelt Instagram thanks to everyone on the show.
Though Beck Bennett and Lauren Holt are departing Saturday Night Live, plenty of the show’s other stars are planning on returning. Among that group will be Kate McKinnon, one of the brightest stars the show currently has to offer. Also returning will be Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, and Cecily Strong, all of whom have delivered some of the show’s biggest laughs over the last few seasons. The show has also added three new cast members in Aristotle Athari, James Austin Johnson, and Sarah Sherman. Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang got promotions to the featured Saturday Night Live cast.
With Saturday Night Live entering it’s 47th season, it has been rumored that series creator and boss Lorne Michaels is trying to retain his core group of talent through the show’s 50th season. Not wanting to have a cast en flux during such an iconic anniversary, it has been speculated that Michaels allowed concessions to certain cast members around working with different non-Saturday Night Live projects over the next few years. Saturday Night Live will open up this season on October 2nd.
