Wakim had only been with the show for a single season before his firing, and Gardner was finishing her eighth.
With more room on the cast, the show announced five new hires to fill out the roster for season 51, and it seems like they’re doubling down on a pivot to Gen Z audiences. The new additions include Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska.
As far as we could tell, Culhane will become the first SNL cast member with legitimate North Texas roots. He attended Texas Christian University (TCU) from 2010-14, where he was part of the student improv group, Senseless Acts of Comedy. After college, he appeared in shows like Netflix’s American Vandal and HBO Max's Sex Lives of College Girls, and amassed a modest following on social media. Today, he sits at 340,000 followers on TikTok, with over 13 million likes.@jazzy_jelly I guess we’re back?
♬ original sound - Jeremy Culhane
Culhane will join the cast alongside other comedians who smartly used the internet to their advantage. Slowikowska is a social media darling who has become known for her skits across various platforms. She has over one million followers on Instagram and an instantly recognizable brand of cringe comedy. We’d be surprised if she didn’t bring a good chunk of her hyper-online audience to SNL with her.
Additionally, Marshall’s full-time hiring essentially breaks up the Please Don’t Destroy comedy trio, which consists of Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy, both of whom have SNL roots in their families. The three comics were brought on in recent seasons for pre-recorded video sketches, in the vein of Lonely Island, but they were not brought back as a unit.
Patterson’s hiring is also unique. The 26-year-old comedian was discovered on the YouTube stand-up variety show Kill Tony, where he’s become one of the show’s standout recurring characters. He's slated to perform at the Arlington Improv this weekend, Sept. 5-7, if you want an early look at what you're in for this season.
The 51st season of SNL will premiere on Oct. 4 on NBC.
