Saturday Night Live’s 50th Anniversary celebration has come and gone, and still at the helm is Lorne Michaels. The legendary late night sketch show creator has stuck with SNL through thick and thin, and he continues to find success with the show. Seth Meyers and others series alums have opined that no one could ever fill Michaels’ shoes. However, that hasn’t stopped people from discussing who could inevitably take over and, now, former cast member Molly Shannon is weighing in with a pick.
Colin Jost, Tina Fey, and Seth Meyers have all had their hats thrown in the ring by the rumor mill as potential successors for Lorne Michaels. However, Molly Shannon cited none of those options when discussing the matter with People. It was during the chat that she was asked whether Kenan Thompson could do it, and I have to say I was both surprised, and not so surprised, to hear her agree with that assertion:
I love this idea. He’s the greatest — I adore Kenan. [Kenan is] so talented. That’s an excellent idea.
not interested in talking about retirement anytime soon. Michaels has become so synonymous with the popular NBC late night program that his biographer doesn’t anticipate ever writing his exit from the show, saying that the powerful EP will continue to be in Studio 8H on Saturday nights as long as physically possible.
longest tenured Saturday Night Live cast member by far. The Kenan and Kel actor made his SNL debut in 2003, and he’s since become a beloved part of the show. The staple repertory player has expressed his undying love for the sketch series and his goal of being a lifelong cast member. So Shannon selecting him as her candidate doesn’t surprise me. After all, few know the show’s process better than someone who has lived it for 22 years.
Still what did surprise me was the fact that Shannon named Thompson as her answer. Thompson’s SNL stripes have been earned, through beloved characters such as Steve Harvey and Willie, and that is by no means up for debate. However, the comedic actor is a safe answer to a loaded question.
I will bring up the fact that the Nickelodeon alum has never been a head writer. Someone who’s served in that position, like Colin Jost or Tina Fey — who worked closely with Michaels everyday for years behind the scenes — might be more apt for running the entire operation that is Saturday Night Live. There’s also the fact that Thompson considers himself an actor over a comedian, to the point where sketch scripts are written differently for him. Those attributes could make him more of a wild card pick.
Things are shifting at SNL, though, with Thompson saying there’s “possibly a lot of change next year” following the 50th Anniversary season. Bowen Yang gave exit vibes following his goodbye at the end of the past season, and other cast members like Heidi Gardner and Mikey Day are rumored to be leaving. Ultimately, though, nothing has been confirmed just yet.
Something I don’t expect to change when Saturday Night Live returns to the 2025 TV schedule in the fall is the inclusion of Lorne Michaels’ name at the end of the credits. While it’s likely that people won’t stop searching for a solid answer on his successor, that mystery could very well persist a lot longer than the Season 51 cast reveal. In the meantime, stream SNL episodes now using a Peacock subscription.