They're really committed to rebooting their cast. They almost completely jettisoned every lingering longtime member of their great post-20th century cast from 2012-2014 (the first diaspora took place from 2006-2008).
These were two of the only remaining members who I thought were good. Killam is easily the best facial actor on staff, and the best male comedian. My best guess is that he couldn't hack a Trump impersonation. Pharaoh was the most versatile.
Taran Killam (2010-2016)
Jay Pharaoh (2010-2016)
The last man standing is Bobby Moynihan who joined in 2008 before Hall of Famers like Darrell Hammond, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Will Forte, and Andy Samberg dipped out in the first diaspora (maybe Samberg not so much for his SNL work...but he does have "Dick in a Box"). So at least there will still be some more "drunk racist uncle" as a silver lining.
Bobby Moynihan (2008-Present)
*Edit* Bullitt reminds me that Kenan Thompson is still an active, and the longest reigning cast member on the show.
Kenan Thompson (2003-Present)
Even the core of the "new" breed of female comics who are a bit more seasoned and overlapped with other cast greats are themselves only four in number: enough for a coven, I suppose. That would be Vanessa Bayer (2010-), and Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, and Aidy Bryant (all 2012-). So most only worked 1-2 years with heavy hitters like Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Seth Myers, and Nasim Pedrad.
IMO:
Moynihan,
Strong, and
McKinnon are all genuinely talented performers with some great characters and skits under their belts.
Bryant and
Bayer aren't star standouts, but they are really strong at filling out skits in supporting roles.
Thompson is a prolific writer. I'd opine that McKinnon is easily the best of their remaining cast. Killam was her only rival on the show. Strong is good, but they already ripped the Weekend Update away from her. I'm a little surprised she escaped the guillotine that took Killam and Pharaoh. Stab in the dark is her sex appeal. She's easily the most attractive cast member.
The other 8 newbie cast members are pretty much complete unknowns except for Leslie Jones, who is more famous for flare-ups on Twitter with Breitbart than anything she's ever done in terms of comedy (including
Ghostbusters itself) and Bill Beckett who you probably recognize from his famously deadpanned AT&T commercials:
Beck Bennett (2013-present)
Michael Che is modestly famous for being the most disappointing
Daily Show correspondent in history. Given, none of these eight have been there more than 3 seasons, tops, but I can't think of a single SNL skit from any of them that has trended or gone viral. I also can't think of a single skit with any of them I've caught late on a Saturday night that wasn't boring, unmemorable, or downright groan-worthy.
A few years ago I made a bleak thread when the second exodus of the great late-90's-to-early-00's cast was completed. That prophecy appears to me to have been fulfilled even more bleakly than it was forecast. Now Lorne seems to be prematurely chopping off two of their only surviving talented content creators in pursuit of....well, I'm not sure.
But whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be working.
