# Is Kate Mckinnon actually on SNL this season? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [November 17, 2021, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536 "2021-11-17T23:06:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/1 "2021-11-17T23:06:51Z")
Ok, so I think I’ve seen three episodes this season, certainly the last two, and while Kate is listed in the titles (quite far away weirdly), she’s not been in any sketches or appears at the end. The rest of the cast which seemed to be rumoured to leave last season, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, are there and front and centre, but I can’t recall seeing her in any sketches anymore… Any explanations/theories? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/2 "2021-11-17T23:08:47Z")
I vaguely remember reading that she is making a movie. I think Lorne Michaels agreed to be flexible with scheduling the bigger cast members. ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/3 "2021-11-17T23:10:42Z")
Yes, Kate is filming a TV series based on _Tiger King_; she is playing Carol Baskin in it. It does seem a little crazy for her to still be on the show; she’s missed one-third of the entire season already. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/4 "2021-11-17T23:27:49Z")
My guess is that Lorne Michaels prefers to have her on the cast list, even if she’s only able to do a few shows. (And someone pointed out the cast is really huge this year, with I think over twenty members.) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/5 "2021-11-19T09:26:37Z")
There are 21 cast members. Darrell Hammond, a one-time cast member, is now the announcer. This is the largest cast ever: > **[Saturday Night Live - NBC.com](https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/credits/cast)** > > Saturdays at 11:30 p.m., live coast-to-coast. NBC's Emmy-winning late-night comedy showcase enters its 48th season. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/6 "2021-11-19T09:38:28Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > My guess is that Lorne Michaels prefers to have her on the cast list, even if she’s only able to do a few shows. (And someone pointed out the cast is really huge this year, with I think over twenty members.) I’d do the same. Kate is a talented and funny lady and it’s a shame (at least for SNL fans) that so much of her time is taken up outside SNL. But damn, how I miss the Golden Years – Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Jane Curtin … those days are gone forever. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/7 "2021-12-19T21:38:42Z")
So yesterday was supposed to be the big Christmas episode, the last one before the winter break. They even scheduled Paul Rudd as the guest host (and planned a ceremony to add him to the idiotic “five timers club”). So I tuned in, hoping for a fun hour. Instead I was disappointed that there was no audience, very few crew members and only Michael Che and Kenan Thompson from the regular cast (though some others were in segments filmed earlier). Tom Hanks and Tina Fey were there and everyone tried their best with what they had but it was kind of sad. Partly that was because all of these changes were because of the omicron surge. So I’m dreading another winter wave. I was thinking of traveling to see family later this winter but now am rethinking those plans. I hate covid. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/8 "2021-12-19T22:38:55Z")
Last night’s show reminded me of an election-night party an hour after the candidate conceded. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/9 "2021-12-19T22:53:07Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I’d do the same. Kate is a talented and funny lady and it’s a shame (at least for SNL fans) that so much of her time is taken up outside SNL. But damn, how I miss the Golden Years – Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Jane Curtin … those days are gone forever. But it’s good those people got out of the way for new blood. And the bunch after them, Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman and Mike Myers and Jan Hooks and on and on gout of the way for the next generation, and so on. I think the show in the 2010s, and the cast, was actually the best they’ve ever had, but it’s not good for the show for everyone to keep hanging around and new cast members need a clean shot. It’s time for Lorne Michaels to go, too. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/10 "2021-12-19T23:16:58Z")
It wasn’t till Weekend Update last night that I figured out this wasn’t some dredged up relic from last year. Geez, that was WEIRD. It’s like they went in search of the worst Christmas sketches in the last 30 years. Of course Tom Hanks was there. Isn’t he everywhere??? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/11 "2021-12-19T23:23:59Z")
Didn’t you watch from the beginning when they explained what happened? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/12 "2021-12-20T00:44:08Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > everyone tried their best with what they had but it was kind of sad. It was indeed disappointing and kind of sad, but so would a cancelled show have been; and I appreciated the show-must-go-on-ness of what they did offer. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/13 "2021-12-20T04:09:15Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > when they explained what happened I saw nothing of the sort. But I don’t pay much attention to anything anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/14 "2021-12-20T08:29:42Z")
Here’s the best explanation of what happened for the December 18, 2021 episode of SNL that I’ve been able to find. Colin Jost, Aristotle Athari, and Sarah Sherman apparently all tested positive on that day. Someone in charge decided that it would be too dangerous to allow most of the cast and crew to come to the studio to perform that day. Note that only two musicians are there on stage. It was also decided that with that very limited crew, it would be impossible for Charli XCX to do her two musical numbers live on stage. They further decided that it would be impossible to allow an audience with that limited crew. They decided to allow Tom Hanks (who apparently was already there for a part of the show where Paul Rudd would be given a five-timers robe) on the stage. It’s not clear if Tina Fey was also always scheduled to be part of the ceremony of giving Rudd the robe. She’s in the five-timers club. In any case, Fey lives so close to the SNL studio she can walk there from her house, so maybe it was a decision on that day to have her be part of the robe ceremony. They decided that they could do Weekend Update with Michael Che and Fey as the anchors. Kenan Thompson was also there on the stage. Everybody else was told to stay home. They had several sketches taped that week and they showed them. They added enough old Christmas-themed sketches to fill out the rest of the time. They made these decisions within a few hours before the show started: > **[December 18, 2021](https://snl.fandom.com/wiki/December_18,_2021)** > > The 918th episode and 9th episode of Saturday Night Live's 47th season premiered on December 18, 2021, hosted by actor Paul Rudd, star of the hit films This is 40, All is Bright, The Little Prince, The Fundamentals of Caring, and Ghostbusters:... ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/15 "2021-12-20T17:09:24Z")
Che was probably already at the office working on Weekend Update when everything came down, but why was Keenan stuck there? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/16 "2021-12-20T17:43:36Z")
Possibly the robe ceremony had already been worked out before they decided to send nearly everybody home. So maybe they had planned before sending everybody else home that Tom and Tina would be standing beside Paul, and then Kenan would be come onstage with the robe. It’s hard to tell. A lot of this is just a guess. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/17 "2021-12-20T18:13:00Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > but why was Keenan stuck there? Because back in Season 35, Tina Fey put a fatal flaw in the system: if you take out Kenan Thompson, the studio will explode. ([cite](https://youtu.be/RHbXLcFYmzI?t=227)) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/18 "2021-12-20T18:17:03Z")
I just assumed Keenan lived there. ¯\_(ツ)\_/¯ ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/19 "2021-12-20T20:40:29Z")
I was actually impressed they were able to pull off as much as they did instead of just airing a rerun at the last minute. Hopefully in the new year they’ll be able to do the show in studio (if need be, w/o a live audience) instead of reverting to the at home format. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536/20 "2021-12-21T15:08:10Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s time for Lorne Michaels to go, too. I don’t agree; but I just saw this, that says he’s thinking of retiring after the 50th anniversary season, which is coming up in 2024. > **[Lorne Michaels Considering ‘SNL’ Retirement: “A Really Good Time to Leave”](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/lorne-michaels-snl-retirement-1235065469/)** > > The 'Saturday Night Live' boss says the show's upcoming 50th anniversary could very well be the right time to exit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kate-mckinnon-actually-on-snl-this-season/954536.md?page=2)