The cast of “Saturday Night Live” will be undergoing additional transitions in the near future. According to a person familiar with the matter, Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseor, and Aristotle Athari are not expected to return for the venerable NBC late-night program’s 48th season.
This will add to the exodus that began in May when Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, and Pete Davidson announced their intentions to leave the show.
After years of successfully managing talent relations, senior producer Lindsay Shookus is also leaving the show after many years of service. The latest departures follow in her footsteps.
“Saturday Night Live” has taken on a new role of significance for NBC as a result of the growing trend among television viewers to watch their favorite scripted comedies and dramas on demand via streaming platforms.
Formerly relegated to broadcasting after the late local news in a time period that network management did not consider paramount, “Saturday Night Live” now runs live across the United States all at once, which means that it airs in primetime in certain regions of the country. This was not always the case.
During the 2020-2021 season, “Saturday Night Live” was the television entertainment program that was seen the most by people between the ages of 18 and 49. This age range is the one that advertisers value the most.
The overwhelming number of departures puts to mind the shift that “Saturday Night Live” began in 2012, when Andy Samberg, Abby Elliott, and Kristen Wiig left at the end of the season. Jason Sudeikis left a few months later, and Fred Armisen and Bill Hader left a year later. The show’s original cast members, along with some new additions, had to put in extra effort to become more cohesive with one another.
Moffat and Villasenor have been a part of the show for a longer period of time compared to Athari, who only appeared on “Saturday Night Live” for one season as a featured player. Both actors made their debuts in the series in 2016 as featured players.
In recent years, Moffat has become more well-known for his version of Eric Trump as well as his portrayal of an annoying playboy character on “Weekend Update.” Villasenor is well-known for her impersonations and musical replications of a wide range of celebrities, including Christina Aguilera, Owen Wilson, Britney Spears, and Kirsten Wiig, among others.
On the show “Update,” Athari played the role of a peculiar robot called the “Laughingtosh 3000,” which gave him a moment in the spotlight.
As a result of the cast alterations, it is likely that a select few of the present members will be expected to take on additional responsibilities each week.
Heidi Gardner, Chloe Fineman, Ego Nwodim, Mikey Day, Chris Redd, and Bowen Yang are among the cast members who have been given more screen time as a result of “Saturday Night Live’s” recent success in using a larger-than-usual cast pool than it often does.
NBC has not yet made an official announcement regarding the future participation of returning cast members like Colin Jost, Michel Che, Kenan Thompson, and Cecily Strong in the show’s subsequent season.
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Melissa Villaseor Net Worth
American actress and comedian Melissa Villaseor has a net worth of $1.5 million. In October 1987, Melissa Villaseor was born in Whittier, California. Since 2016, she has been a cast member of Saturday Night Live, for which she is most known.
She has performed impressions of Barbara Walters, Natalia Portman, Owen Wilson, Jennifer Lopez, Hillary Clinton, Gwen Stefani, Sia, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes, Lady Gaga, Kathy Griffin, Ariana Grande, Celine Dion, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and others on Saturday Night Live, America’s Got Talent, and First Impressions, as well as on her YouTube channel.
Melissa Villaseor has also featured in or given voice work for various films and episodes of television programs, such as The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Had an Affair with Sarah Marshall and Felt Horrible About It, Family Guy, Adventure Time, TripTank, F Is for Family, and OK K.O.!
The films Let’s Be Heroes, Crashing, Barry, and Ralph Breaks the Internet are included. She was nominated for the Breakthrough Voice Actress of the Year and Best Vocal Ensemble in a New Television Series Behind the Voice Actors Award in 2018.
Saturday Night Live Compensation
There are twenty-one episodes per season. Cast members in their first year get $7,000 per episode or $147,000 per season. Cast members in their second year get $8,000 per episode or $168,000 per season. A cast member who has reached their fifth season earns $15,000 every episode, or $315,000 per season.
The highest possible wage at SNL is reserved for those who have been there the longest or are the most vital to the show. They earn $25,000 per episode, totaling $525,000 annually. Melissa Villasenor’s pay presumably falls on the lower end of that range.