As Saturday Night Live approaches season 51, we’ve begun to see the exit of several cast members, but the latest is easily the most high-profile. It was announced today that Heidi Gardner, who has been on SNL for eight years, will leave the show.
While speaking with Craig Ferguson earlier this year, Gardner admitted to sketch fatigue after being on the show for so long. “I will say the only thing that I’ve started to feel a little bit is just sketch fatigue, or idea fatigue,” she said. “At this point, after doing Groundlings and SNL for so long, I’m like, ‘I’ve written a lot of sketches.’ It does happen some weeks where I’m like ‘I do not have an idea for a sketch, a game, or a character.’ Luckily we have amazing writers at the show that will be like, ‘But I have an idea for you.’ That’s the only thing that has gotten a little tough.“
In the same interview, Gardner commented on what her post-SNL career might look like. “I know whatever I do next… I’d love to have a show that I co-star in and co-write, and it’s a character and it’s a world,” she said. “And it’s a character I get to live in for a while and explore more.“
Gardner went viral last year after struggling to hold in her laughter during the Beavis & Butthead sketch, which featured Ryan Gosling as Beavis and Mikey Day as Butthead.
Other SNL cast members who have recently departed include Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, and Michael Longfellow. In a statement on Instagram, Walker said, “Me and the show did three years together, and sometimes it was really cool. Sometimes it was toxic as hell. But we did what we made the most of what it was, even amidst all of the dysfunction. We made a f***ed up lil family.“
In his own announcement, Wakim said, “I won’t be returning to SNL next year. It was a gut punch of a call to get but I’m so grateful for my time there. Every time I scanned into the building I would think how insane it is to get to work there. It was the most terrifying, thrilling, and rewarding experience of my life and I will miss it dearly and all the brilliant people that work there that made it feel like a home.“
And Longfellow said, “Will not be returning for a 4th season at SNL. Wish I was but, so it goes. It was the best three years of my life so far. I feel nothing but gratitude for the experience and everyone there. Lorne, you gave me the greatest job in the world and changed my life. You even put my mom on TV. Thank you doesnt begin to cover it, but thank you. I’ll miss it all, but I’ll miss the friends I made and seeing them everyday the most.“
