History of Saturday Night Live (2010–2015)

Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created and produced by Lorne Michaels for most of the show's run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.

This period saw the departures of longtime cast members such as Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, and Kristen Wiig. Vanessa Bayer, Taran Killam, Jay Pharoah, and Kate McKinnon were among the new additions to the cast. They would later be joined by Cecily Strong, Aidy Bryant, Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, Leslie Jones, and Pete Davidson.

In season 39, Weekend Update anchor and head writer Seth Meyers left SNL to host his late night talk show. Cecily Strong, Meyers' co-anchor, was paired with veteran writer Colin Jost for the remainder of the season. The following year, writer Michael Che replaced Strong, making Che and Jost the current Weekend Update anchors.

2010–2011 season
The 2010–11 season of Saturday Night Live began September 25, 2010 with host Amy Poehler and musical guest Katy Perry. Before the start of the new season, four new cast members were added to fill the gap left behind by Will Forte (who quit the show after eight years) and Jenny Slate (who was fired after her first season on the show). The new hires were improv comedians Paul Brittain and Vanessa Bayer, former MADtv and Groundlings member Taran Killam, and stand-up comic and impressionist Jay Pharoah. Killam became the second actor to have been a cast member on both MADtv and SNL, the first being Jeff Richards who joined SNL in 2001 and left in early 2004. Abby Elliott and Bobby Moynihan were promoted to repertory players. Second-year cast member Nasim Pedrad stayed a featured player for this season.

Former cast member Poehler became the fourth female former cast member of SNL to return as a host, the third to have worked under Lorne Michaels, and the second one to have been a Weekend Update anchor.

Cast
Repertory players
 * Fred Armisen
 * Abby Elliott
 * Bill Hader
 * Seth Meyers
 * Bobby Moynihan
 * Andy Samberg
 * Jason Sudeikis

Featured players
 * Kenan Thompson
 * Kristen Wiig
 * Vanessa Bayer
 * Paul Brittain
 * Taran Killam
 * Nasim Pedrad
 * Jay Pharoah

bold denotes Weekend Update anchor

2011–2012 season
The 2011–12 season of Saturday Night Live premiered on September 24, 2011, with host Alec Baldwin and musical guest Radiohead. Featured player Kate McKinnon, a former cast member on Logo's The Big Gay Sketch Show, joined the cast midseason as a feature player, making her first appearance in the April episode hosted by Sofia Vergara. McKinnon is SNL's first openly gay female cast member, the third lesbian cast member hired (after Denny Dillon in 1980, though she wasn't open when she was on the show, and Danitra Vance in 1985, though Vance's sexual orientation was not known until she died in 1994), the second cast member hired to be openly gay (after Terry Sweeney, who like Danitra Vance, was also from the 1985–86 season), and the second white lesbian cast member hired (after Denny Dillon).

This was the final season for Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, and Abby Elliott.

Cast
Repertory players
 * Fred Armisen
 * Abby Elliott
 * Bill Hader
 * Seth Meyers
 * Bobby Moynihan
 * Nasim Pedrad
 * Andy Samberg
 * Jason Sudeikis
 * Kenan Thompson

Featured players bold denotes Weekend Update anchor
 * Kristen Wiig
 * Vanessa Bayer
 * Paul Brittain (final episode: January 14, 2012)
 * Taran Killam
 * Kate McKinnon (first episode: April 7, 2012)
 * Jay Pharoah

2012–2013 season
The 2012–13 season of Saturday Night Live premiered on September 15, 2012, with host Seth MacFarlane and musical guest Frank Ocean. New cast members were Chicago improvisers Aidy Bryant, Tim Robinson, and Cecily Strong. Vanessa Bayer, Taran Killam, and Jay Pharaoh were promoted to repertory.

On May 12, 2013, NBC announced that Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers (who had been a cast member since 2001, and Weekend Update anchor since 2006), would be the new host of Late Night in 2014, succeeding Jimmy Fallon as he takes over as the new host of The Tonight Show. Meyers remained as Update anchor until February 2014 to host his incarnation of Late Night.

This would be the final season for longtime cast members Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Jason Sudeikis.

Jay Pharoah debuted his Barack Obama impersonation this season, taking over the role from Armisen.

Cast
Repertory players
 * Fred Armisen
 * Vanessa Bayer
 * Bill Hader
 * Taran Killam
 * Seth Meyers
 * Bobby Moynihan
 * Nasim Pedrad
 * Jay Pharoah

Featured players
 * Jason Sudeikis
 * Kenan Thompson
 * Aidy Bryant
 * Kate McKinnon
 * Tim Robinson
 * Cecily Strong

bold indicates Weekend Update anchor

2013–2014 season
The 2013–14 season of Saturday Night Live premiered on September 28, 2013, with host Tina Fey and musical guest Arcade Fire. Six new cast members were hired, including Upright Citizens Brigade performers Beck Bennett, John Milhiser, Kyle Mooney, and Noël Wells, stand-up comedian Brooks Wheelan, and four-year writer Michael Patrick O'Brien (credited as "Mike O'Brien"). This was the highest number of cast members hired since season 21 (1995–96) and, with the addition of Sasheer Zamata, this season has the most female cast members with seven, surpassing the number of six in the 1991–92 (season 17) cast.

On September 15, 2013, it was announced that Cecily Strong would co-anchor Weekend Update with Seth Meyers for his final season. Before Meyers left SNL on February 1, 2014 to work on his new late night talk show, Colin Jost, a writer on SNL for the past seven seasons and a writing supervisor for three of those seasons, was announced as the new Update anchor. Strong and Jost finished out the season as co-anchors.

Nasim Pedrad announced her departure from the show in June 2014 in order to work on the Lorne Michaels-produced sitcom Mulaney. Milhiser, Wells, and Wheelan were all let go after this season, and O'Brien returned to the writers' room for the next season.

Diversity concerns
The show came under criticism when the six new cast members—all of whom are white—were announced. Jay Pharaoh voiced SNL needed to improve its hiring practices and cited several African-American comics he felt would be a great addition to the cast. Kenan Thompson also gave an interview in which he said he would no longer be impersonating Black female characters and was asked about the cast's lack of Black women. Thompson suggested the absence of Black female cast members was due to producers not finding such comedians who were "ready". His comments sparked backlash from critics who had long felt the show was lacking in diversity, particularly with regard to Black women. SNL addressed the controversy in the fifth episode hosted by Kerry Washington. That December, the show held auditions for a Black female cast member, with Amber Ruffin, Nicole Byer, and Tiffany Haddish being among those to audition. Some journalists expressed skepticism about the show's commitment to diversify, opining that the move was a publicity stunt. In January 2014, Sasheer Zamata of the Upright Citizens Brigade was hired as a featured player. Comedians Leslie Jones and LaKendra Tookes, who were discovered in the auditions, joined the writing staff that January. Jones would become a featured player the following season.

Cast
Repertory players
 * Vanessa Bayer
 * Aidy Bryant
 * Taran Killam
 * Kate McKinnon
 * Seth Meyers (final episode: February 1, 2014)
 * Bobby Moynihan
 * Nasim Pedrad
 * Jay Pharoah
 * Cecily Strong
 * Kenan Thompson

Featured players
 * Beck Bennett
 * Colin Jost (first episode: March 1, 2014)
 * John Milhiser
 * Kyle Mooney
 * Mike O'Brien
 * Noël Wells
 * Brooks Wheelan
 * Sasheer Zamata (first episode: January 18, 2014)

bold denotes Weekend Update anchors

2014–2015 season
The 2014–15 season of Saturday Night Live premiered on September 27, 2014, with host Chris Pratt and musical guest Ariana Grande. New featured players included Leslie Jones, who had been on the previous season's writing staff, and stand-up comedian Pete Davidson.

Former writer Michael Che returned to SNL to co-anchor Weekend Update alongside Colin Jost, replacing Cecily Strong. Che had initially left the show at the end of last season to be a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Cast
Repertory players
 * Vanessa Bayer
 * Aidy Bryant
 * Taran Killam
 * Kate McKinnon
 * Bobby Moynihan
 * Jay Pharoah
 * Cecily Strong
 * Kenan Thompson

Featured players
 * Beck Bennett
 * Michael Che
 * Pete Davidson
 * Leslie Jones (first episode: October 25, 2014)
 * Colin Jost
 * Kyle Mooney
 * Sasheer Zamata

bold indicates Weekend Update anchor