Of the announced departing cast, only Heidi Gardner can be considered a long time member of Saturday Night Live. The other three, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, and Emil Wakim, were there for much less time — Walker and Longfellow for three years, and Wakim for just one. This has some of the (hopefully younger) fans of the cast worried about what’s next for the comedians. There’s been so much fanfare around the departures, including a funeral-style video montage on TikTok, that it feels like some people haven’t lived through any sudden cast departures before.
But this has all happened before. Back when Walker, Longfellow and Wakim couldn’t legally rent a car, Jenny Slate was getting fired from SNL for saying “fuck” on air. And before that, Michaela Watkins was let go after just one season in 2009. Both actually discussed their brief period of time on SNL on WTF with Marc Maron, as one bright person on Reddit posted.
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“With all the exit announcements going on, I wanted to recommend two episodes of WTF with Marc Maron featuring one-season SNL alums — Jenny Slate (12/10/14) and Michaela Watkins (9/30/15),” the Redditor recommended. “Both had their dreams of getting SNL come true, but neither got the time to succeed there.”
For those wanting to listen to the episodes, you can stream Slate’s here and Watkins’ here. Both are incredibly honest about their personal dynamic on the show, which can also add insight into Walker saying the show is “toxic as hell.” That’s not new. I guess my main point is to remind everyone that even SNL alums who never became famous because of the show still went on to have very successful careers.
Slate has been the star of several major films (she’s even tertiary in the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal battle), while Watkins was the lead in the series Casual and has been featured in numerous other movies and TV shows. Plus, they aren’t having their jokes yay’d and nay’d by a nearly 81-year-old man during 90-hour workweeks!
“Marc, who has his own history with SNL, is emotionally moved in his conversations with Jenny and Michaela — so much so that he actually tears up in both episodes,” the Reddit post continues. “While it’s a bummer to hear who’s not coming back for (Season) 51, it’s nice to remember you don’t need to be on SNL for 10 years to have a great career.”
Maybe even a better example of that: Shane Gillis got fired before he appeared on the show for making racist and sexist jokes, and now he’s hosted SNL (twice), got a few comedy specials under his belt, did a Super Bowl commercial with Post Malone and has his own TV show on Netflix. Other short-lived SNL careers that undoubtedly flourished in other ways? Damon Wayans was only on the show for 12 episodes. Ben Stiller was only on for four. And Laurie Metcalf was only on for one.
In other words, these guys will be fine!