Overview

• At an Oct. 3 farewell in New York hosted by Punkie Johnson, Chloe Troast said the show “fundamentally changed” her life but “you don’t get a cushion when you fall.”
• Punkie Johnson described SNL as “a different monster” that “throws you in the water” without a “life jacket,” while adding the experience ultimately made her tougher.
• Departures ahead of the Oct. 4 premiere included Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker, Emil Wakim and Please Don’t Destroy’s John Higgins.
• NBC installed five newcomers — Veronika Slowikowska, Kam Patterson, Ben Marshall, Tommy Brennan and Jeremy Culhane — who made their debuts in the Season 51 opener.
• Devon Walker called parts of the environment “toxic as hell,” while Lorne Michaels defended the overhaul as necessary reinvention, saying “change is good.”