Why Longtime Saturday Night Live Cast Member Cecily Strong Wasn’t In Season 48’s Opening Credits

The 48th season of Saturday Night Live is formally in progress, and a lot has actually altered over at Studio 8H. Over the previous couple of months, NBC’s sketch funny series has actually bid farewell to a variety of veteran cast members, from Pete Davidson to Melissa Villaseñor. SNL fans are most likely still feeling some method about many precious stars leaving the fold. With that, some might have been stunned to see that long time cast member Cecily Strong wasn’t consisted of in the season’s opening credits. But wear’t concern, folks, since there’s a really particular factor for the omission.

Cecily Strong has actually not left Saturday Night Live however is merely dealing with another expert responsibility. Per a source for the Chicago Sun-Times, Strong is presently in Los Angeles, where she’s participating in a play. The starlet is starring in a production of The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, the well-known one-woman program that debuted in 1985. In taking the gig, she follows in the steps of the famous Lily Tomlin. The source likewise asserts that Strong will return at some time throughout Season 48, though a particular schedule was not offered. 

The 38-year-old starlet signed up with SNL as a highlighted gamer in 2012 ahead of the program’s 38th season, and it didn’t take wish for her to end up being a struck with audiences. During her stint on the program, she’s end up being understood for her repeating characters, such as The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation with at a Party. She’s likewise done a range of significant impressions, varying from Rachel Maddow and Kendall Jenner. At one point, she likewise co-anchored Weekend Update. Had she chose to leave the series this previous summer season, it would’ve been a considerable loss for the long-running program.

At this point, it’s basically an inevitable conclusion that this is a duration of shift for Saturday Night Live. It remained in May that it was reported that Pete Davidson would leave and, quickly after, Kate McKinnon was said to be exiting along with Aidy Bryant and Paul Mooney. In September, SNL lost three more stars in Melissa Villaseñor, Alex Moffat and Aristotle Athari. And that very same month, Chris Redd was confirmed to be leaving and marked his exit with an appreciative message.

Series EP Lorne Michaels has been open about the changes, formally calling Season 48 a “shift year.” Despite the program having actually lost 8 cast members, Michaels sees the changes as a good thing. This is obviously since the cast had actually ended up being too big which as an outcome, a variety of individuals weren’t getting adequate time to shine. Now, the series has actually generated 4 brand-new stars: Marcello Hernandez, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Molly Kearney, the very first non-binary cast member in SNL history. Michaels discussed seeing the new stars in action and particularly kept in mind the “enjoyment” that includes inviting fresh skill.

Thankfully however, there are still a lot of veterinarians still spending time, consisting of Cecily Strong. But while the Schmigadoon! star isn’t leaving right now, one needs to contemplate simply just how much longer she may remain. This is her tenth season, after all, and she plainly has other tasks on her work schedule. We’ll simply need to wait and see what she prepares to do long-lasting however, today, we can simply be pleased that she’s returning this year.

Saturday Night Live returns next week with host Brendan Gleeson and musical visitor Willow. The episode will air Saturday, October 8 at 13 p.m. ET as part of the 2022 TV schedule.