With Saturday Night Live‘s 41st season just around the corner, the show has made major changes to its writing staff.
As reported by Entertainment Weekly, SNL will bring on six new writers. Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, and Will Stephen come via the improv sketch comedy group Upright Citizens Brigade. Paul Masella and Chris Belair join from the Late Show with David Letterman. Standup and YouTube star Dave Sirus has also been added to the staff. Of the newcomers, I’m familiar only with Gillespie, who’s had some hilarious appearances on the Comedy Bang Bang podcast.
While there’s plenty of new blood joining the writing room, some big names are also leaving the show. Most notable among them is former cast member and writer Mike O’Brien, along with Nick Rutherford, Natasha Rothwell, Alison Rich, and Claire Mulaney.
O’Brien leaving is somewhat surprising. After flopping during his one-year tenure as a repertory player, when he was one of the boatload of new cast members in 2013, he really founded a niche doing digital shorts for the show. Despite moving to the writers room in 2014, he still had a visible presence on SNL with his films.
Highlights include the James Franco starring “Monster Pals,” “Grow a Guy,” and a starring turn as Jay-Z in a mock biopic — with most of his films featuring a title card displaying it was “A Mike O’Brien Picture.” O’Brien’s short films were funny, had a ton of heart, and were almost always enjoyable.
As for his status, he said on Twitter that he will still be making short films for the show. That’s strange, but good news. Lorne Michaels must have really enjoyed O’Brien’s work, because those type of arrangements are very rare.
.@mr_utterback Still some short films!
— Mike O'Brien (@MikeOBrienXOXO) September 22, 2015
The other departure that comes as a bit of a surprise is Rutherford. He came to the show from the YouTube comedy group Good Neighbor, which included cast members Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett, in addition to segment director Dave McCary. While the other three all remain with SNL, Rutherford leaves the show after just one season. I thought Rutherford may join the show’s cast eventually, since he was such an integral part of Good Neighbor, but like many before him, he lasted just one season.
A toast to you, good sir.
So the biggest question with these moves, aside from breathing new life into the writing staff, is what exactly happens with the pre-taped segments, specifically towards the end of the show. Since The Lonely Island left SNL, the digital shorts have changed hands a couple times, but the Good Neighbor guys have been most prominent, given a chance to do their weird thing.
I’m not sure how much involvement Rutherford had with the shorts last season, but they were almost identical to what Good Neighbor had done on YouTube. So his departure should have some impact, but I’m just speculating. Hopefully, this doesn’t mean Bennett and Mooney are put on a tighter leash.
It’s hard to gauge how these moves will truly affect the show, but we’ll find out when SNL comes back Oct. 3.
