Since SNL has been around for many years, it has been a part of American Culture in many aspects. Since many of the shows veterans are movie/Hollywood Stars. Here is a news article that does affect people’s look at SNL and how SNL will affect the culture of America.
(http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-channel23aug23,0,7973211.story?coll=cl-tvent)
Shuffling the cast at ‘Saturday Night’: The NBC comedy institution may be losing veterans Parnell, Sanz and Thompson on top of other defections.
By Scott Collins, Times Staff Writer
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” will return for its 32nd season next month minus several familiar faces. Longtime cast members Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz and Kenan Thompson will likely exit the late-night comedy staple, according to a source close to the show. Still inconclusive are talks to bring back Darrell Hammond, famed for his impersonations of Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and other celebrities. Hammond joined the cast in 1995 and has had the longest tenure of any performer in the show’s history.
Meanwhile, “SNL” executive producer Lorne Michaels is expected to hand the reins of the signature fake-news segment “Weekend Update” — recently co-hosted by writer-performer Tina Fey and Amy Poehler — to a newer cast member, Jason Sudeikis.An NBC spokesman declined to comment Tuesday.
The cast shuffle comes in the wake of some previously announced departures. Fey is leaving along with cast member Rachel Dratch; the pair will work on Fey’s NBC comedy “30 Rock,” a parody of an “SNL”-style show.
“SNL” could be headed for one of its biggest makeovers in years — and not by choice. During a press conference last month in Pasadena, Michaels told reporters that the late-night fixture is facing massive budget cuts from NBC. Cast members are typically signed to multiyear deals that pay about $8,000 per episode, agents say. Many former cast members, such as Eddie Murphy and Will Ferrell, have gone on to movie stardom.
I watched the show off and on since the 1990s. There have been good and funny people and episodes of it. I do wish them well. 32 years! Dang! Hope all goes well for them in the future.