Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl

SNL: Bowen Yang Pushes Back on Those Claiming Show Used to Be Better

SNL star Bowen Yang pushes back on those claiming past eras were better, noting that they base that on "highlights" and not entire seasons.

Beauty might be in the mind of the beholder, but it doesn't stop Saturday Night Live cast member Bowen Yang from taking on anyone critical of the show who believes the quality of the NBC weekly late-night variety series has diminished. Currently in his sixth season, the writer and repertory player spoke at the Emmys FYC panel about his thoughts on the discourse offering, "When people say 'SNL' was better or was especially good at a certain era, they're thinking of the best of this cast member, they're thinking of the hits, and the highlight reels," the Wicked (2024) star, who was joined by cast members Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Sarah Sherman, James Austin Johnson, Chloe Fineman, and alum Fred Armisen, said. "But you don't get a highlight reel unless you do the full season of the show."

SNL: Bowen Yang Dismisses Series Criticisms as Era-Specific Preferences and Highlights

As per the rotational nature of SNL, Punkie Johnson, Molly Kearney, and Chloe Troast left the show, while adding Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline to the cast. Marcello Hernández, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker, who joined in 2022, were promoted to repertory status. The season 50 cast also included Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Colin Jost, and Kenan Thompson. "They were playing the reel for us backstage, and I'm like, God, this show fucking rocks, especially in the highlight reel," Wang said of what happened before the panel. "Obviously it's this beautiful topography of different things and different incidents and different factors, but every second of that reel, I'm like, God, that was a great sketch, and that person scored in that way, and I love that shit so much."

For more on the panel, including Wang's comments on his own performance this season along with ones from Armisen and Gardiner, you can check out the segment on Entertainment Weekly.

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