‘SNL’ loses 4 cast members as season ends
NEW YORK — 30 Rock is getting a new look.
The season finale of “Saturday Night Live” this week was more somber than expected as the late-night sketch show bid farewell to Kate Mckinnon, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson and Kyle Mooney after all four announced that they will not be returning next season.
Mckinnon peaced out first in the cold open as her “Close Encounters” character, the foul-mouthed Ms. Rafferty, left Earth for good on an alien spaceship after her third abduction.
“Well, Earth, I love you. Thanks for letting me stay awhile,” the teary actress said in character.
Davidson and Bryant both made their last showings on the Weekend Update, as Bryant reprised her role as a flamboyant trend forecaster, alongside Bowen Yang, during which Yang and Update co-anchor Michael Che kissed her goodbye and sent her on her way with a bouquet of flowers.
Davidson struck a more serious tone behind the anchor desk where he first made a name for himself.
“I never imagined this would be my life,” the Staten Island native said. “Back then, I was just a skinny kid that no one knew which race I was. And now everyone knows I’m white because I became hugely successful while barely showing up to work. Look at me now, I’m aging like an old banana.”
Looking back on his first audition, Davidson revealed that “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels didn’t think he was right for the show but decided to “screw this up together.”
“And that’s exactly what we did. And that’s why people who don’t think I deserve this job shouldn’t hate me since we have so much in common. Like, if anything I should inspire hope that literally anyone could be on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ ” he said.
Mooney did not get a proper chance to say goodbye, but ended his tenure in a sketch with surprise guest Fred Armisen as the pair jumped out of a window in a “9 to 5” parody.