Scot Bertram

Kristen Wiig’s Swan Song, and Hello Kate McKinnon

It hasn’t been that often that Lorne Michaels brings back an identical cast from the year before, but that’s exactly what happened after Season 36 and into Season 37. Everyone returns, even the cast members struggling for screen time – it is only in the 18th episode of the latter season that Michaels introduces a new cast member named Kate McKinnon.

Yet despite the continuity before seasons 36 and 37, big changes are in store, given both mainstays Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig are on the move after the 2011-12 season. Samberg, whose Lonely Island writing partners left the SNL staff after the previous season, feels like he has one foot out the door for much of the season. Gone are the huge musical pieces that anchored the prior season, and gone is the delightful weirdness that characterized Samberg’s work during his tenure.

The back half of Season 37, however, becomes the Kristen Wiig Show, as she is in everything. Perhaps knowing her tenure was coming to an end near the end of the season, she goes all-out, bringing back virtually all of her recurring characters and inventing some new ones. The season ends with a tearful goodbye in which current and past cast members show up to say goodbye to Wiig, genuflecting in her greatness.

We discuss all these things, plus a lot more in this episode of Wasn’t That Special. Please subscribe and join us for a trip through every year of SNL. And consider joining at the Executive Producer level, where you get a whole load of extra commentary and clips that will help you become an SNL expert.