TRANSITION: Saturday Night Live introduces six new cast members for its 39th season.
By Ruthie Farrell, Staff Writer
Saturday Night Live (SNL) fans might find themselves slightly confused, or maybe a little uneasy, when tuning into the show this season. During the premiere last Saturday, Tina Fey revealed the six rookies who will be joining the infamous SNL cast.
Beck Bennett, John Milhiser, Kyle Mooney, Mike O’ Brien, Noel Wills and Brooks Wheelan were all warmly welcomed onto the team with forced singing and dancing in glittery spandex behind “Miss Tina” in her opening monologue. “It’s humiliating but it’s part of the job,” Tina Fey mused. Of course we’re all skeptics at heart, so it’ll be tough to stifle the urge to mope, or better yet, demand for the return of Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and Jason Sudeikis, who all (distastefully) left the show last year. The newbies seem fit for the job, however, so it shouldn’t hurt to give them a chance.
At least we can take comfort in one familiar face. As long as you are not blessed with the ability to fast-forward television commercials, you know that Beck Bennett is the hilarious man from the “it’s not complicated” AT&T commercials. His “serious” mannerisms glowing with a faint but noticeable touch of sarcasm are perfect for Saturday’s late-night humor. John Milhiser and Mike O’ Brien both appear on Above Average Productions, a YouTube channel dedicated to humor. The former got his name out by producing and starring in a Step Up parody, while O’ Brien—who has a more subtle, dorky sense of humor—appears on YouTube as an interviewer. He has talked to every big name out there, including Tina Fey herself. Instead of boring viewers to death, he adds a generous helping of zest to his enjoyable interviews. Kyle Mooney had his big T.V. appearance on Parks and Recreation, and represents the awkward side of comedy. He’s unique—the hidden gem of the bunch. Noel Wells does brilliant impersonations (we will most likely see some of them on the show), and Brooks Wheelan is a full-time stand-up comedian, so he is obviously well trained to be a funny guy.
No matter how ready these new cast members are to take on their new jobs, it is still a tricky transition. SNL hasn’t transformed this drastically since 1990, when Adam Sandler and six others nervously made their debuts on the show. Yes, a shift was made, but it went smoothly and exposed some great talent. Perhaps the SNL experience will be all the exposure one of these six hopefuls needs to become the next comedic superstar, or maybe the legacy of the show will end up falling flat; only time will tell.
Saturday Night Live is not up and coming; it upped and came a long time ago, so this type of change will leave many people questioning whether the classic show will retain its historic success.
Photo courtesy of www.ibtimes.com