Bowen Yang Leaving ‘Saturday Night Live’ — Why Midseason?
Bowen Yang is leaving Saturday Night Live after the episode with Wicked costar Ariana Grande and Cher this Saturday, December 20. It’s a shocking, rare midseason exit from the sketch comedy series, and it comes after a big group of surprising departures before Season 51 began earlier this year.
Yang’s exit comes halfway through his eighth season on the show. He first joined as a writer in Season 44 in 2018 and then became a supporting cast member in Season 45. He joined the main cast in Season 47 and has been nominated for Emmys for most of his seasons as a performer. His departure was reported by Variety.
The last midseason departure from a main cast member was in 2022, when Cecily Strong departed in December during Season 48. Other notable midseason departures from past cast members have included Molly Shannon (January 2001), Eddie Murphy (February 1984), and Dana Carvey (February 1993).
Yang’s exit follows the major cast exodus that occurred ahead of Season 51, which saw Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, John Higgins of Please Don’t Destroy, and Michael Longfellow announce their departures from the long-running sketch series.
After the SNL shakeup last September, Yang told People that he thought of the show as a “transitional place” intended to hone one’s craft. “What I’ve always thought, what I think everybody knows, is that SNL is this boot camp, and that implies that there is a next phase you train for something else,” he said. “It’s always a transitional place, and I think it is always a launching pad.”
Yang currently cohosts the popular podcast Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers. According to Variety, the duo is writing and starring in a new untitled comedy for Searchlight Pictures, inspired by the Search Engine podcast episode “Why Didn’t Chris and Dan Get Into Berghain?”
Saturday Night Live, Saturdays, 11:30/10:30c, NBC
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W
Other than the cold open and Weekend Update, the show isnt funny anymore.
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D
Weekend update is always good as well.
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A
Don't forget Weekend Update too.
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C
The entire episode with Amy Poehler was epic!!!
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M
I will really miss him. He is a highlight of the show.
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S
He is right and has a healthy attitude as regards SNL being a training ground for bigger things; that is evident from the many people who went on to bigger things after SNL (the exception being Keenan, lol, who I think is great but seems to be an absolute fixture now).
All that said, having watched it from the first episode -- I feel like the show has lost its "edge". The cold open is usually good, weekend update is great, but the other skits are really hit or miss with some shows being more misses than hits. The comedians are good, so I don't understand why so many of the skits have become so horrible. Has to be the producers.
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No real reason to do a live show with phony audience laughter every 30 seconds.
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