Kenan Thompson says ending Saturday Night Live at 50 seasons “might not be a bad idea”
With Lorne Michaels hinting at retirement, Thompson doesn't think the show could go on without him
Aux News Kenan Thompson
Could the end of an era be in sight? Saturday Night Live is approaching a staggering half-century on the air, and Lorne Michaels has already suggested that he may finally step down from the venerated comedy program. But as to whether the ship could go on without its captain, Kenan Thompson has his doubts.
In an interview on Charlamagne tha God’s recently revamped Comedy Central show, Hell Week, the host brought up “rumors” that Michaels would step down after the 50th season (taking place in 2024-25) and the show would subsequently end. The series’ longest-running cast member joked, “Is that the rumor? …Alright, well, I need to start planning.”
Seriously, though: “There could be a lot of validity to that rumor, because 50 is a good number to stop at, you know what I’m saying,” he admitted. “That’s an incredible package. He will be, probably, close to 80 years old at that point, and you know, he’s the one who’s had his touch on the whole thing.”
Thompson has some shrewd insights on the matter given his position on the inside. “So, if somebody tries to come into his shoes… you know it’s a good opportunity for NBC to save money, as well, you know what I’m saying? So they might slash the budget and then at that point, you can’t really do the same kind of show,” he reasoned. “So that’s unfair to watch it just really go down kind of in flames, like, for real for real, because of those restrictions. So capping it at 50 might not be a bad idea, I don’t know.”
For the record, when discussing his potential retirement with Gayle King, Michaels said he’d like to see the show carry on and even hinted that he already has his replacement in mind. He wouldn’t tell King who, and perhaps he hasn’t told Thompson, either, because the sketch comedy legend sounds just as much in the dark as the rest of us. Or maybe he’s just putting his performance skills to use. Either way, it doesn’t sound like we’ll know for sure for a while yet.
89 Comments
Why dont they give Keenan Lourne’s job? The man has been doing sketch comedy since he was a kid.
Kenan as Lorne’s replacement?
definitely the best use of a GIF as a comment I’ve seen in some time LOL
Yellowfoot Johnson’s right! And I’m glad the commentariat was here to see it delivered in authentic internet commentary gifferish!
….
I’ve been saying this since Lorne announced his (eventual) retirement. Keenan is more than qualified for the job–problem is I doubt he’d want that work schedule for the rest of his working life!
He could shape it in his image. De-Lorne-ify it enough to make the working schedule more tenable for the writers/performers, improve the work environment, etc. Even if that takes a change like having the show regularly air biweekly or triweekly.
I thought the shortlist for a replacement was basically Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Seth Meyers.
Seth and Tina both seem like good fits. Tina especially seems like a workhorse who doesn’t mind not necessarily being visible all the time. Before his relapse, I thought Mulaney might work too, but he clearly needs to have his hands busy in five pies at once just to keep regular. I’m not really sure how much work Lorne’s job actually is though. It has to be harder than it looks, right?
Also not on the shortlist, but why not, could be Conan. I would just like to know the mechanics of how to make that deal happen.
Seth Meyers is the likely choice. He’s been mentioning the possibility an endgame point for his Late Night gig, so he might be ready for a new challenge. Tina would probably be the biggest choice from a popularity standpoint, but I think she’s maybe grown beyond the job, and it would almost look like a step back for her.Conan would be a good idea, but does he want to trade coasts again, or work with NBC again, for that matter? He’d probably be afraid Leno would just steal another gig from him.
I think Conan would be great, but I also get the distinct impression that taking over for Lorne would be too much off an off-camera gig for his liking.
Mulaney has a great touch, but seems to lack the personal stability needed to helm the show for any length of time.I would love to be proven wrong. Hoya Saxa!
Yeah, that’s the big thing. I actually think Mulaney in the abstract has everything necessary to not only helm the show, but maybe also to remake it into something far better. But I also think the biggest thing Lorne brings to the show is stability, and Mulaney lacking that is a huge liability.
Then again, if SNL flames out in three to five years under Mulaney’s direction, it’ll probably still be fascinating to watch. Sort of a win-win there.
I dunno, they’re all doing fairly well and seem busy in their careers. At this point I think they’re comfortable enough with where they’re at that taking on the grind of running SNL would not be worth it.
I think at this point the moment for Fey and Poehler has passed. (As has Conan O’Brian, my longtime post-Michaels pick.) Meyers maybe, since he’s still part of Lorne’s late-night empire. I would guess they’d go with a Dick Ebersol type, someone with background in tv rather than comedy.
Tina Fey has a thriving production company that cranks out movies, one hit Broadway musical (so far), and TV shows. She writes piles of them, and it makes her millions of dollars a year. She’s not about to stop all that – given that she’s in just as powerful a position as Lorne Michaels at this point – to produce “Saturday Night Live.” That’s not the kind of job where you just pop your head in an office to see how everybody’s doing. There’s intense pressure all week long, and you have to be incredibly focused to simply get the episode on the air. She’d be a fool to do it, and she doesn’t strike me as a fool.
If Bob Odenkirk was 10 years younger, I think he would be the #1 choice.
Kenan barely writes his *own* material, hasn’t ever directed or produced, hasn’t created, developed or played any recurring characters of note in 20 seasons (referring to “What’s Up With That” or another of his generic tv-show-hosts-with-only-a-wacky-name-as-a-persona supports my point,) and every single character he does features the same ‘gut-busting’ quirks of loudly spitting out a few phrases, jerking his head, and/or bugging out his eyes (the latter two of which are Amos’n’Andy-era ‘caricatures’ Eddie Murphy eviscerated 40 fucking years ago on the same show. He’s never managed a production at all, nor worked a budget, nor had to hire, manage, and fire a staff. But, yeah – he seems like the PERFECT choice of major talent to take on the showrunning duties of SNL. Excellent head for showbiz ya got there.
Anything to stop those dreaded Dennis Perkins reviews, wherever they may be.
“A game MwFuller can’t save a tepid AV Club comment section”
Perkins is gone tho
I don’t watch or particularly like SNL these days but I think it should just go on forever.
What? Like what else am I going to do on a Saturday night?
Watch Toonami?
“Coming up on Toonami: They can’t find intelligent life anywhere. It’s the Coneheads, up next. And after that: He’s good enough, he’s smart enough, and doggone it, people like him. He’s Stuart Smalley. Followed by Naruto.”
Live?
There’s so much in the world that’s impermanent, and I like a bit of consistency.
as i’ve gotten older it’s just become a really nice, consistent thing to do on sunday morning in bed.
I haven’t seen it since the mid 80s (I always worked Sat nights), but it would be weird if it wasn’t there.
I feel the same way about The Simpsons.
🤣🤣🤣“I don’t watch it, but I know I don’t like it…”
Yeah, I’ve seen clips, it’s in the zeitgeist. I’m familiar with the current product even if I don’t sit down and watch all 1.5 hours every week.
Fair. Same. Except I don’t watch the clips.
I just thought the way you said it was funny.
Yeah, there’s no reason for it to ever stop. It’s our country’s flagship satirical television show. There’s always going to be a need to satire the government and current events in the world. The cast can (and should) change, the writers can (and should) change. It’s sort of comparable to saying, like, “After 75 years, it’s probably time for The Today Show to pack it in.” It’s always going to have a purpose.
On the last show in 2025- Paul McCartney and Ringo Star appear onstage,
holding a check for $3000, offering it to Lorne to return for another
year. “You can bring Dick Ebersol. You can divide it any way you want.
If you want to give Dick less, that’s up to you, we’re not involved.”
My heart is with what you say but my brain agrees with Keenan. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen most every episode since 1980, what a change that would be.
Many of the skits already feel like they go on forever.
Is there a fork big enough to stick in this thing?
I remember a time when being a guest host on SNL was considered an honor. For the better part of 20 years, it’s been more like doing community service.
Maybe it gets you out of a few minutes in Hollywood Purgatory.
Agreed. Cancel SNL, bring back MadTV!
I love this because it takes a fairly hacky stand-up comedy premise (“What if (X celebrity) was (Y celebrity) in (Celebrity thing)? I think it would sound something like this…”) and goes all in on the idea of Steven Seagal as Sally Albright in the diner scene. That’s commitment.
This makes SNL look like a consistent comedy masterpiece.
Debra Wilson deserves five redo Emmy nominations and at least one win.
See also Alex Borstein, Stephnie Weir, Michael McDonald…and Mo Collins
You know, Mo Collins was their Phil Hartman, imho. Does she even have a career today?
She’s a steadily working actress: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0172558/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
not bad, but his Seagull is halfway between De Niro and Puddy.
But I would miss the AVClub’s stock headlines for each episode: “[Insert celebrity name] Isn’t Enough to Save a Middling SNL.”
On an otherwise erstwhile entry…
Heh, AV Club still existing after 2025… Oh no, what if it still exists after 2025? Jesus, what would it even be at that point?
The whole site will be a slideshow with a slide for each new article
I mean seriously AV Club’s page views would drop precipitously if SNL were canceled. It would be the final nail in its coffin.
Great point, lol… 😀
What’s Jean Doumanian up to these days?
It’s so meta now, anyway, they’re just explaining the sketch premises during the sketches. They’re practically already talking like the show is in the past. “Let me get this straight. You’re a LOBSTER…”“Yup”“Selling me LOBSTER ROLLS”“Uh huh”
Poor Mikey Day has such a thankless job.
I’m thinking spinoff time, baby. *cracks knuckles* Let the Pitch Doctor, ahhhh, do his work. Sunday Night Live. Done and done, that’s 50 more years taken care of, good as new. If I’m still alive, get back to me, I got another one for ya that’s just boffo.
Jonathan, bring me my green light!
Lorne’s replacement should be Tina Fey but only if NBC hires Alec Baldwin as her boss.
Say what you will about the show under Lorne Michaels, we’ve seen how out-of-control it wss under anybody else.
Yeah but that was 40 years ago…
And Dick Ebersol managed to right the ship after the Doumanian disaster, despite not being a comedy guy.
Ebersol saved the show and reasserted it’s relevance–yeah he had a lot of fortune and help from Eddie Murphy, but he kept it going post-Murphy as well. Michaels almost completely tanked it again when he returned. I think someone else can handle the reins.
“So, if somebody tries to come into his shoes… you know it’s a good
opportunity for NBC to save money, as well, you know what I’m saying? So
they might slash the budget and then at that point, you can’t really do
the same kind of show,” he reasoned.
Yeah, I think the show could be hugely improved by paring back its ambitions. An hour instead of an hour and a half. Maybe fewer episodes a season. More filmed segments like Please Don’t Destroy and Lonely Island, smaller cast where they bring in outside comedians for the occasional sketch. Not so many fancy sets: David Cross correctly noted that expensive backdrops don’t really add much to the funny.No musical guests, instead have bands premiere their videos on the show: they’re all lip-synced these days anyhow. Animated shorts (that might actually be more expensive, so maybe not).What to spend the money on? If you can make another “Farewell Mr. Bunting”, it’s worth the cost. Stuff like that.
On one hand, Thompson has a point that half a century is a good run and maybe the show in it’s current form could be given a rest. On the other hand, there’s nothing inherently wrong with the show that a little trimming the fat in some places and tweaking it in other places couldn’t fix.
Just sounds like he’s spouting nonsense. he won’t reveal what he really thinks for something like this. Even when SNL people try to sound casual there’s usually layers of calculation.
Kel > Keenan
Just let it go on forever. Why not? What’s going to replace it?
Ninety minutes of literally anything
It’s way past time for other networks to come out with their own versions and at least attempt to keep them on the air as a talent incubator. Mad TV lasted the longest. In Living Color had a respectable run but could have lasted much longer.
Anyone listen to Dana Carvey and David Spade podcast? A great concept ruined by the host and their showboating. Past and present cast members all talk about Michael’s like they are part of a cult and fear being excommunicated if they say anything negative about him.
When I read Live from New York a few years ago, I came to the conclusion that pretty much everyone who was ever on SNL must have daddy issues that caused them to grovel to Lorne Michaels because a lot of the comments about him sounded like kids talking about their distant divorced father who bribes them with awesome toys and a nod of approval occasionally. It was a very weird vibe because it wasn’t just one or two of them–it was multiple people.
It’s funny. Jane Curtin, if you look at her career, one can say she’s one of the top SNL alumni yet she seems distant from the alumni circuit/cult they all seem to be tied into. She’s been consistent with her complaints of the writing room and the “boys culture” in general on set.
Yeah she easily came across as the most sane person in the book, and she was pretty outspoken in it about the toxic environment. I’m trying to think of anyone else who was. I can’t remember if it was that book or a Farley bio I read, but Bob Odenkirk also seemed more grounded than a lot of the other people, and I remember him criticizing the atmosphere that enabled Chris Farley.
I took the time to read Colin Jost’s book, and he absolutely describes an abusive work environment. But the weird part is that Jost himself didn’t seem to realize it. He acts like it all made him a better writer and performer. I’m like “No Colin, that was abuse and you didn’t deserve it.”
That was the vibe of a lot of people quoted in Live from New York. What they were describing sounded absolutely awful, but they kept talking about how wonderful the experience was.
Conan O’Brien and Tina Fey have never outright bashed Lorne, but I feel like they’re amongst the most honest as to what it’s actually like to work on SNL. And I think that’s because they have more power than most. Lorne isn’t going to tank their careers by suddenly turning on them.
Fey talked about her frustration at how it’s frowned upon to write sketches ahead of time, and how this would make people throw out BS ideas during initial pitches with the guest host. Conan talked about how he eventually couldn’t take the pressure anymore and quit because his mental health was in the gutter.
Conan described writing for SNL as “a lot of not sleeping.” Fey described it as “a schedule built around cocaine.” Drugs? Sleep deprivation? Those are textbook cult tactics.
That’s how I always saw athletic coaches from the outside. Every time I was interested in a sport as a kid, I’d see the coach from afar and think “if my dad talked to me like that I’d throw my entire dinner into his face”. Maybe I’m just not coachable. Maybe that’s what’s required to get superhuman performance from somebody. Both things could be true.
Same! I only discovered late in life that I’m fairly athletic and actually like sports. It’s just that I don’t have a competitive bone in my body. Most professional athletes say the “fun” of the sport died for them in high school. So when the money doesn’t satisfy them anymore, they turn to drugs or Jesus, because the love of the game sure ain’t doin’ it for them anymore.
That makes sense. Gilda Radner, whom I adore but definitely didn’t seem like the most emotionally stable person, also talked about the sleep deprivation. She said she couldn’t sleep on Tuesdays for 5 years after leaving the show because of the writing schedule that required them to pull all-nighters that day.
Apparently, at the end of the fifth season, they were negotiating a reduced sixth season with Michaels and most of the original cast still onboard (they were aiming for six episodes), and they’d fill the rest of the slot with a variety show hosted by Radner. Radner gave a hard refusal because she knew working on two versions of SNL simultaneously would kill her. I dunno how Kenan Thompson finds time to sleep.
I have no sympathy for someone who gets to bang Scarlett Johansson.
Yes! I do listen to that podcast! I hate when they recycle jokes & bits, and honestly Dana is a clumsy interviewer. The Tom Hanks episode was terrible. Dana can not go with the flow of an interview. He would cut things off dead cold just so he could ask Tom Hanks whether he liked Slinkys. WTF. I swear they didn’t let Tim Meadows talk more than a dozen times. However, the Rob Lowe episode was my favorite. I’m not eager to hear the rest. The Adam Sandler one was OK.
no fucking shit it would
I’d be shocked if Tina Fey didn’t take over when Michaels retires.
I thought this originally as well. The problem is that Lorne Michaels never seemed like he was so high above the cast that it squelched the idea of a cast revolt in that “you are replaceable, test me, I’ve fired greater talent” sense. I’m not sure she has that hole in her soul. We’d get better writing but it’d be a lot of drama.
“He will be, probably, close to 80 years old at that point, and you know, he’s the one who’s had his touch on the whole thing.”
I’ve long suspected that this is exactly the problem with the show (“the problem” being a host of problems, culminating in the virtually unbroken, multi-season stretches of dead air). As far as I can tell, Lorne Michaels, without actually writing sketches or doing anything else at that level of detail, has consistently shaped the show to fit his particular set of instincts and inclinations. The frequently unfortunate results have been plain to see.
Okay, this is gonna sound out of left field, but if the show goes on, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if Jon Stewart took it over. I know, it sounds insane because Tina Fey and Seth Meyers but the thing is that Lorne wasn’t one of the cast, he was the god of the cast. His position needs to be filled by someone who understands the talent end of it but can be ruthless when he needs to be. I don’t see Tina Fey or Seth Meyers being able to instill the fear of god in the cast. They seem like the types who would engender a cooperative working environment which would improve the writing a great bit but the reason Lorne has been in charge this long isn’t because he was chummy with the cast, but because he ruled that show with an iron fist, made lots of decisions that no one in their right mind would have, and didn’t give a shit who liked it or not. I don’t see Tina or Seth or Amy missing the parts of their souls that allows them to be indifferent or even scary when it comes to the idea of crossing the boss.
Jon Stewart, on the other hand? Ummm, yeah, some of his writer’s room stories are down right scary and he’s gotten just jaded enough after TDS that he could slide into that spot with the credentials to identify talent, the ruthlessness to show people the door, and enough IDGAF to make sure they know he’s in charge. Plus, he used to be funny and knows how to executive produce.