Saturday Night Live The season 48 premiere was all about change.
The show introduced a new logo, a retro vibe that marked its first new look in eight years, and a cast size more reminiscent of classic seasons than the recent bloated pandemic years.
The departures of Kate McKinnon, Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Chris Redd, Melissa Villaseñor, Alex Moffat and Aristotle Athari have resulted in one of the NBC series’ biggest moves in over 20 years.
But the move means there are now more opportunities for the newer members, which include fresh faces Marcello Hernández, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker.
James Austin Johnson, who joined last season and played Donald Trump again tonight, got plenty of screen time, as did Punkie Johnson. Punkie joined in Season 46 and was promoted from Featured Player to Repertory status this year along with Andrew Dismukes, who appeared alongside host Miles Teller at the Cold Open.
James Austin Johnson made his Weekend Update debut and Punkie Johnson has been in most of the big sketches tonight, including a parody of Nicole Kidman’s AMC commercial and Caribbean Queens starring Ego Nwodim and Heidi Gardner.
Johnson’s promotion also means it’s only the second time SNL Story that there were two black women in the main repertory cast after season 42 with Leslie Jones and Sasheer Zamata.
There was also more space as Cecily Strong was again absent for the opening episode, and probably a few more as she returns for her one-woman show The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, which runs through October 23. is in LA. However, Strong has committed to a return, making her the female cast member with the most consecutive full seasons on the show ever, as of 2012, according to Saturday Night Network.
The Meta Cold Open deftly addressed the changes, with Teller’s Peyton Manning saying the show is in a “year of remodeling” and commenting on the new faces and returnees such as Bowen Yang – who was expected to perform this season “ascends”.
There were big moments for the newbies, most notably Michael Longfellow, who was reminiscent of Pete Davidson when he starred alongside Colin Jost in Weekend Update and Devon Walker, who appeared in a number of skits.
It was also the first episode since season 45 in which the host, musical guest, in this case Kendrick Lamar, appeared in a blue box and bedroom, and the cast did not use face masks during the credits.
Change is clearly in the air.