Will This Season's Departures Finally Terminate "Saturday Night Live"?

Saturday Night Live has been a stalwart sketch comedy series that has aired on NBC for 37 seasons since 1975. Though some say the quality of the show has gone down significantly since its debut 37 years ago, the show still holds strong as a symbol of comedy. However, a few of the most talented and critically acclaimed members of the cast will most likely not be returning after this season: Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, and Jason Sudeikis. 

Wiig, Samberg, and Sudeikis all joined the SNL cast in 2005, and they have been involved in some of the drop-dead funniest skits over the last seven years. SNL fans will be extremely dissapointed to say the least. This mass departure will remind them of 2006, the year when Tina Fey, Chris Parnell, Rachel Dratch, and Horatio Sanz all left the show. Like the four stars I named, Wiig, Samberg, and Sudeikis are all amongst the best of the cast and seem irreplacable in the minds of many fans. 

However, SNL fans must realize that after awhile, the sketch actors will move on to bigger and better things. Wiig was just in the highly successful film Bridesmaids, Samberg has been highly successful with comedy music group, The Lonely Island, and Sudeikis is also finding his way towards movies. All actors move on; it is a part of television production. Nonetheless, the producers of Saturday Night Live will find cast members to replace these valuable assets. And it is not as though all of the tenured members are leaving. Seth Meyers, Fred Armisen, Kenan Thompson, and Bill Hader have all been around for over five seasons and there is a great chance they will return. 

Keep your heads up, SNL fans. Saturday Night Live is not exiting stage left quite yet. I feel there is still high hopes that new cast members will be able to fill the shoes of tenured members like Wiig, Samberg, and Sudeikis. A fresh new cast, actually, could be the answer to improving the show. All fans just need to be optimistic and not let cast departures get to them.