Season 48 of Saturday Night Live is currently being expanded by Lorne Michaels.
Michaels discussed the “year of transformation” at the venerable NBC series after taking up the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series.
He predicted that there would be at least four new cast members.
According to Deadline, Michaels is in the middle of negotiations, and deals are anticipated to be finalised over the coming few days.
“This year will be one of transition. Years of change are often challenging but thrilling. There are new individuals. At least temporarily, there are four new people,” he added backstage at the performance.
Primetime Emmy Awards: Full Coverage by Deadline
It follows the May Deadline report that Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, and Kyle Mooney will all be leaving the show at the conclusion of season 47. Later it was revealed that Aristotle Athari, Melissa Villaseor, and Alex Moffat would also not be coming back.
On October 1, SNL will return with three straight episodes.
According to Michaels, the epidemic kept the big cast together for longer than would have been anticipated.
The national order of things was somewhat disrupted by the pandemic. I believe a link formed and people became quite close. You got to see everyone’s residence and how they lived when we conducted those at-home broadcasts. The audience and group shared a closeness and connection. We continued because I didn’t think we could function without that entire crew, he continued.
