‘Saturday Night Live’: Which Cast Members Are Likeliest to Leave?

The landmark 50th season of Saturday Night Live is nearing an end, and already, fans are starting to look to the future of the long-lived sketch comedy series.

NBC has not renewed SNL for Season 51, but given its steady ratings and continued cultural relevance, it is very, very likely the show will come back.

What’s less likely, though, is that the entire squad of Season 50 cast members will return. Here’s a look at the cast members who might not return — ranked from least to most likely — with details about why.

Kenan Thompson

SNL‘s longest-running cast member wants to make that record stick, apparently. After 22 seasons, it doesn’t seem like he’s going anywhere. He told People it’s the “greatest job in the world” and a “blessing,” so he’ll always take the call to return. Still, at this point, it’s probably his decision to make, and he could certainly have a career outside of Studio 8H if he wants to.

Bowen Yang

As his acting career continues to blossom — most recently, with a new romcom called The Wedding Banquet — many have wondered whether he might be ready to leave the TV nest. However, the actor recently confirmed on The View that he is not leaving after Season 50. 

Andrew Dismukes

This star gets to have his cake and eat it, too. With a comedy tour in place for this summer, he’ll get his standup fix finished in September, just in time for Season 51 to begin. That timing doesn’t seem accidental, indicating he’s not going anywhere, even if Season 50 was his seventh on the show.

James Austin Johnson

With his impression of Donald Trump quickly becoming one of the all-time bests, this repertory player’s job can probably be marked as completely safe right now. 

Ego Nwodim

Speaking to The Wrap in 2024, the comedian said she wanted to explore the world of film and directing and that she’ll “know when it’s time to go,” but added that she’s in “no rush.” 

Michael Longfellow

After he appeared on “Weekend Update” last week, many fans are convinced the new repertory player is going to take over as cohost of the segment soon.

Marcello Hernandez

It’s way too soon for him to voluntarily leave the show, and given his popularity, it’s a safe bet he’ll stick around. After all, he told Vogue earlier this year, “I’ve had jobs that I didn’t like, and I did them for not a long time, and it felt like an eternity. And this job I like, so it has felt like it’s gone by pretty fast.”

Devon Walker

Similarly, even though some fans think he’s being under-utilized on the show, he was just promoted to repertory for Season 50, so it seems unlikely he’ll get the boot next season.

Emil Wakim

The comedian’s standup tour is only slated to run through August, so it seems he has all intentions of staying.

Jane Wickline

Also touring through the summer is this Season 50 newb who got a promising solo spot on “Weekend Update” recently.

Sarah Sherman

A repertory player since 2023, the comedian has expressed a desire to stick around on SNL for  a while, telling Polyester Magazine, “Hopefully, in the next few years, I’ll be able to do a bunch of crazy stuff on SNL, make a bunch of crazy movies, make a crazy stand-up special.”

Ashley Padilla

Some fans are convinced the SNL newbie just hasn’t done enough to justify another season. However, she recently made a debut on “Weekend Update,” which indicated that perhaps she was being tested as a potential replacement.

Lorne Michaels

The SNL creator went all-out with Season 50 to make it a big anniversary celebration of the series, and he has repeatedly said it could be his last. However, he had a different tune in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, saying, “As long as it’s important and I can be useful, I’ll stay… It’s more about keeping it on course than anything else, and, obviously, I really love it. And every year there are more and more people whom I rely on for other things, but, in the end, you really need someone to say, ‘This is what we’re doing.’ So I don’t really have an answer; I just know that this is kind of what I do, and as long as I can keep doing it, I’ll keep doing it. There’s no immediate plan.” 

Mikey Day

There was a time when Day’s goofy demeanor stood alone on the show, but that’s not the case anymore. Plus, Day has been steadily rounding out his extra-SNL career as host of Is It Cake?, a so-weird-it-works cooking competition series, and films like Home Sweet Home Alone and Unfrosted. 

Chloe Fineman

Promoted to repertory player in 2021, the actress has found plenty of work outside of SNL — most recently, on Big Mouth, Megalopolis, Despicable Me 4, Summer of 69, and Freakier Friday. Considering her lessened screen time on SNL, she might be looking to make her film pursuits a full-time thing after Season 50.

Heidi Gardner

After being a full-timer for more than five years (and being part of Groundlings before SNL), the actress has said she’s got “sketch fatigue,” which gave some fans reason to believe she’s ready to move on. Speaking to Craig Ferguson, she talked about wanting to write and star in a show of her own and said she “love[s] playing characters” but doesn’t like the pressure of having to constantly churn out ideas for sketches. “Some weeks … I’m like, ‘I do not have an idea for a sketch, a game, or a character.’ … That has gotten a little tough.” 

Colin Jost

Similarly, there may be reason to think Jost is stepping away from the desk after this year. He’s been a part of the show since 2005 and co-anchoring its news bit since 2014 (and boasts the distinction of longest-running “Weekend Update” anchor, too). 

Fans on Reddit put together a list of solid reasons the Season 50 finale might be Jost’s sendoff, including the fact that his wife Scarlett Johansson is hosting, it’ll mark his 200th episode, and he and Che said they plan to leave the show together. There’s also the fact that he recently debuted as host of Pop Culture Jeopardy!, which indicates his willingness (maybe even a desire) to move on to other fields of entertainment altogether.

Michael Che

The “Weekend Update” coanchor is no stranger to claiming he’s on the way out. He’s been a part of the show since 2014 and has signaled his intention to quit a few times before — including in 2022 at a comedy show and in 2024 over a dispute about a joke. He clarified in an interview with Howard Stern that the reason he always seems itching to go is, “because I always just feel like I miss standup and all this stuff.” 

This February, he sounded pretty darn serious about the fact that Season 50 would be his last. During a standup special at the University of Rochester, he told the crowd, “This is my last season. I’m not coming back, don’t worry. I’m done, it’s over for me. It’s been so much fun. It’s a little emotional, it’s bittersweet.” We’ll have to wait and see whether he follows through to the exit sign or not.