The cast of Saturday Night Live is an ever-changing group, with some performers making themselves at home for many years, and others that seemingly stick around only as long as the most time-consuming sketches. Last year, it looked as if veteran cast member Kenan Thompson would be exiting stage left, but that was just a bad rumor, and he will indeed be back on stage for Season 41. Get your favorite sweaters ready for more Bill Cosby impressions!
Thompson recently appeared on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, and when the conversation wasn’t revolving around The Mighty Ducks, the former All That star confirmed that he would definitely be back, pointing out that last year’s reports before the season started were all wrong.
Well they said that at the beginning for some reason. People I guess thought they had some info and just threw that story out. And we denied it immediately, but the only thing people remember is that…
The report first came from TMZ, who said that Thompson was the one who wanted to leave, and that he had previously planned on departing after Season 39, but was talked into staying, given the massive staff changes. Immediately after that story came out, though, a Saturday Night Live representative claimed the story was wrong, and that no decisions about cast members are made until the end of the season. And even though it was seemingly an actor choice rather than a show one, all parties are on the same page now.
Thompson recalled being fairly nervous after catching wind of the report, wondering if there was something he hadn’t heard about. He compared the situation to Kennen Ivory Wayans’ failed talk show in the late 1990s, which reportedly got canceled without Wayans knowing about it, and he arrived on set one day only to be turned away by security. Even if that’s not true, it’s not like situations like that haven’t happened before.
For Season 41, Thompson will make it to his 13th year on SNL, which not continues his tenure as the longest-lasting current performer on the show, but also as the only black actor to make it that far with the cast. Pretty damned amazing for one-half of the leads in Good Burger who recently played Family Matters’ Reginald ValJohnson in a sketch that was seemingly ripped off from the Canadian sketch show This Hour Has 22 Minutes. That’s a distinction that literally no one else in the world has.
Tune into Saturday Night Live this weekend for the season finale, with Louis C.K. set to host and Rihanna as the musical guest. I really want to see Thompson do a Louis C.K. impression next season. Make it happen, SNL!
