Saturday Night Live said goodbye to a number of its cast members last week at the end of its 47th season. The emotional season finale — hosted by Natasha Lyonne with musical guest Japanese Breakfast — featured the last regular appearances of Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney, who all contributed to some of the season’s best sketches. The announcement of their impending exits came just before the season’s final episode, and now a week later, Mooney posted an official goodbye to the NBC sketch comedy.
Kyle Mooney made his first appearance on SNL as a featured player in 2013 and was promoted to a repertory player two years later in Season 41. The YouTuber and Upright Citizens Brigade member shared an Instagram photo of himself standing on the empty stage at 30 Rockefeller Center, thanking NBC and sharing one of his favorite memories. Check out his post:
Along with the short-and-sweet message to close out his nine-year stint with Saturday Night Live, Kyle Mooney shared a video of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, recalling a “great memory” with his friends. Mooney was one of the writers on a memorable animated sketch on the show, “Middle-Aged Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
The star of Netflix’s Saturday Morning All Star Hits! hasn’t given an official reason for leaving SNL, but fellow alumnus David Spade spoke to the incredible tenures that all of the departing cast members served. Spade said working on the show is “such a fucking beating,” and can take a toll mentally and physically on its cast. It’s undoubtedly worth the sacrifice for many of its young stars, but still a pretty wild feat for those who stay with it for the better part of a decade.
There are reasons other than the workload that lead the actors to exit the show, obviously, including the opportunity to work on other projects. Pete Davidson has a number of upcoming movies, including Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, which is a “must see” dark comedy due out in August; Meet Cute, co-starring Kaley Cuoco; and The Home, which caused the actor to miss some of the latter portion of this season of SNL.
Meanwhile, rumors of Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon’s departures have been spreading for a while. Bryant addressed her future on SNL in March, saying she would see how she felt at the end of the current season, but she had already started branching out on other projects, including the Hulu series Shrill and voicing Emmy on Netflix’s animated comedy Human Resources. McKinnon has also made a name for herself outside the show, starring in the critically panned Joe vs. Carole series, available to Peacock Premium subscribers. She also appeared in the Netflix comedy The Bubble and voiced Fiona Frizzle in the Netflix reboot The Magic School Bus Rides Again.
We’re excited to see what Kyle Mooney and his former colleagues do next, but until then you can relive episodes of past seasons of Saturday Night Live with a Hulu subscription or on Peacock. Also be sure to check out our 2022 TV schedule to see what premieres are coming soon.
