As an outsider looking in, it seems like the only way to start on Saturday Night Live is to be thrown into the deep end and flounder until you figure it out. Putting on a new and funny show every week that’s live is no joke, and SNL cast members have always been open about how hard it is. Now, as the iconic sketch show nears its Season 50 premiere on the 2024 TV schedule, Chloe Fineman shared her advice for the new cast members. While it’s not super sweet and very short, it also makes perfect sense.
There’s a lot of hype surrounding the upcoming season of SNL, and three comedians are joining the fray for it. Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline were announced as the latest additions to the series, per Deadline. And I imagine they’re feeling all sorts of ways about joining the tentpole sketch comedy show.
So, during an interview with People, Chloe Fineman, who has been on the NBC mainstay since 2019, was asked if she had any advice for them. In response, she said:
Have fun. Yeah. You kind of are, like, thrown into the fire.
Season 50 will mark Fineman’s fifth season on SNL, so at this point, she’s a seasoned pro. While her advice was quite blunt, it’s warranted and logical.
Over the years, comedians who came up on Saturday Night Live have been open and honest about just how hard it is to work on the show. For example, Andy Samberg got real about the toll SNL took on him physically and mentally, saying he “hadn’t slept in seven years basically.” Also, Bill Hader explained it was hard to perform every week because of how nervous he’d get.
Adding to all of that, Bowen Yang called SNL the “cringiest thing in show business” on his podcast Las Culturistas, because so many people talk about “how much it sucks, how bad it is, how it’s not as good as it used to be.”
The pressure is real for everyone on SNL, but especially new additions because you also never know how long you’ll be able to stay on the show. After Season 49, for example, Chloe Troast wasn’t asked back, and she was only there for one season. She joined Molly Kearney and Punkie Johnson, who both left ahead of Season 50, which shows how quickly the cast turns over.
Along with the challenges of doing live TV and turning around quality comedy in a very short amount of time, the show’s history also likely adds both excitement and pressure to the job.
So, it’s a lot to take in, and as Fineman said, there’s no easy way to wade into it. You just have to jump in and try to have fun.
These new additions will be hopping onto this wild roller coaster at a thrilling moment, considering that SNL is entering its 50th season. So, hopefully, they can hang on for dear life, get some meaningful screentime, and have a good time doing it.
To see Chloe Fineman back in Studio 8H and to witness the newbies' first episode of SNL, you can watch Season 50’s premiere on NBC or with a Peacock subscription on Saturday, September 28 at 11:30 p.m. ET.
