NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 14: Lorne Michaels attends SNL50: The Homecoming Concert at Radio City Music Hall on February 14, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
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NBC’s Saturday Night Live returns on Oct. 4 with five new cast members joining producer Lorne Michaels and SNL’s “not ready for primetime players.” Click in to get a rundown of the new comedians joining the sketch comedy series.
NBC’s Saturday Night Live returns on Oct. 4 with five new cast members joining SNL’s “not ready for primetime players.”
SNL, of course, celebrated its 50th anniversary in February and featured several cast members from the legendary NBC late-night series dating back to 1975. Under the auspices of producer Lorne Michaels, the first episode of SNL premiered on NBC on Oct. 11, 1975.
Months after the big celebration, Michaels stunned viewers with a big cast shakeup, which included the departure of cast members Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim.
Another notable departure was John Higgins of the comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy, which produced SNL film shorts beginning in 2021. Two members of the trio remain with SNL: Martin Herlihy, who is joining the show’s writing staff, while Ben Marshall is becoming one of SNL’s five new featured players. Please Don’t Destroy member John Higgins will no longer be featured on SNL because the show is no longer airing the trio’s comedy shorts.
Several cast members from SNL Season 50 are returning for Season 51, including Kenan Thompson, Chloe Fineman, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Bowen Yang, Sarah Sherman, James Austin Johnson and Mikey Day. Andrew Dismukes and Marcello Hernández are back on SNL Season 51 as repertory players, while Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline are returning as featured players.
SNL will kick off its 51st Season Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET/10:30 p.m. CT/ 8:30 p.m. PT on NBC-TV and will be streaming on Peacock. Hosting the season premiere is singer, rapper and actor Bad Bunny (aka Benito Martinez Ocasio) and Doja Cat is the musical guest.
See new cast members — who are all joining SNL for Season 51 as featured players —below.
THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON — Episode 2148 — Pictured: Comedian Tommy Brennan during Goodnights & Credits on Thursday, June 12, 2025 — (Photo by: Rosalind O’Connor/NBC via Getty Images)
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Tommy Brennan
Before being hired by SNL, Tommy Brennan has worked as a stand-up comedian. In June, Brennan did a stand-up set on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on NBC.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 10: Jeremy Culhane attends the “The Sperm Bank” screening during the Shorts: Resilience – 2023 Tribeca Festival at AMC 19th Street on June 10, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)
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Jeremy Culhane
Jeremy Culhane has appeared in more than 30 screen roles in film shorts, feature films and television shows.
Among his TV appearances, Culhane starred as a regular in the Paramount dark comedy series Heathers in 2018 and played a recurring role in three episodes of the HBO Max comedy series The Sex Lives of College Girls in 2024 and 2025.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — “Emma Stone, Noah Kahan” Episode 1850 — Pictured: Ben Marshall during the “PDD: AI” sketch on Saturday, December 2, 2023 — (Photo by: Caro Scarimbolo/NBC via Getty Images)
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Ben Marshall
Ben Marshall previously appeared on SNL as a member of the comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy — which produced comedy film shorts for the series — before he was hired as a featured player for Season 51.
Before SNL, Marshall, Martin Herlihy and John Higgins produced several Please Don’t Destroy comedy shorts and starred in the movie Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain. Marshall also appeared in a guest role in one episode of the Peacock series Poker Face.
Kam Patterson at the Permission to Tonight at the Improv as part of SXSW 2024 Conference and Festivals held at the Esther’s Follies Center on March 10, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Samantha Burkardt/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images)
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Kam Patterson
Kam Patterson has worked as a stand-up comedian but is branching into acting as his SNL career gets underway.
Patterson is set to star in two upcoming movie comedies: Busboys, opposite David Spade, Bobby Lee, Tim Dillon and Theo Von, as well as 72 Hours, opposite Kevin Hart, Teyana Taylor and Zach Cherry.
AUSTIN, TEXAS – JUNE 04: Veronika Slowikowska attends the Netflix “Tires” Season 2 Premiere at The Paramount Theatre on June 04, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Saucedo/Getty Images)
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Veronika Slowikowska
Veronika Slowikowska has appeared in more than 30 screen roles in film shorts, feature films and TV shows since 2016.
Slowikowska’s TV credits include a recurring role in five episodes of FX’s What We Do in the Shadows in 2019 and 2020, and a recurring role in Netflix’s Tires, appearing in six episodes in 2025. Also, Slowikowska appeared in a guest role in an episode of Peacock’s Poker Face in 2025.
Saturday Night Live Season 51 begins on Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET/10:30 p.m. CT/ 8:30 p.m. PT on NBC-TV and will be streaming on Peacock.
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