Overview

• NBC added Ben Marshall, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska as featured players for Season 51.
• Marshall transitions from Please Don’t Destroy and the writing staff to an on‑air role as a featured performer.
• Please Don’t Destroy member John Higgins is leaving the writers’ room, while Martin Herlihy continues as a writer.
• Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim are departing, producing the show’s biggest cast turnover since 2022.
• The incoming group reflects SNL’s pull from social and alternative comedy, with backgrounds in Dropout TV, Just for Laughs, Kill Tony and viral sketch platforms.