You’re not ready for just how weird Season 51 of Saturday Night Live is going to be.

The gap left by the 50th anniversary and significant staff changes will eventually be filled, one way or another, potentially by new talents or teams. This “unusual” season could lead to various outcomes, ranging from the emergence of a new comedic icon to unexpected creative failures. Alternatively, this transitional period may simply be mundane or uninspiring. However, one certainty remains: this October’s SNL isn’t what you anticipated.

Certainly, fans may have anticipated a come-down from the emotional, big-name, award-winning highs of SNL50.

Just not like this.

Predicting when Lorne Michaels might depart has become futile, as he didn’t choose to conclude his legacy with a grand farewell at the golden anniversary. Forty years after returning in Season 11 to lead the show he initiated half a century ago, Lorne, who will be 81 in November, shows no signs of relinquishing control. Yet, both casual viewers and devoted fans hoped for changes at the Weekend Update desk, where Colin Jost and Michael Che have surpassed all previous SNL tenure records. Despite expectations of a younger face like Michael Longfellow taking over, Lorne opted to part ways with him instead.

Similarly, veteran male cast members such as Kenan Thompson (part of the show since 2003), Mikey Day (a writer since 2013, cast since 2016), and Andrew Dismukes (since 2017) continue to remain. But when it comes to the women? Surprisingly, both Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim exited without the proper send-off during the SNL50 finale.

After three decades of strong female leads, from Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer, to Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler, to Kristin Wiig, to Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong, who’s going to take up that mantle now? Chloe Fineman specializes in celebrity impersonations, and Sarah Sherman has carved out a niche for her bizarre bravado, but will any of the three newer funny women in the cast take this opportunity to shine?

The four new hires as featured players may yet spawn a new star, but as I’ve noted previously, SNL hasn’t been in the business of minting comedy superstars for a while now. Which makes 2025-2026 either the perfect atmosphere or the worst for one of these four (Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska) to change all of that.

A look back at the other seasons following decennial anniversaries offers some possible predictors:

• Season 11 (1985-86): Lorne returned after a five-year hiatus, and overhauled everything with a brand new cast that included young whippersnappers such as Robert Downey Jr. and Damon Wayans, and resulted in a season so “weird” they gave it that title in the official SNL50 documentary episode looking back on it last year. It was saw the rebirth of Weekend Update with Dennis Miller making the segment the must-stay-up-to-watch part of each episode.
• Season 21 (1995-96): The last time NBC seriously considered outright cancelling SNL, and the year FOX debuted new competition in MADtv, Lorne’s hand was forced, and stars including Adam Sandler, Chris Farley and Kevin Nealon hit the bricks while he brought in new blood such as Molly Shannon, Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, and Darrell Hammond. In the spring of this season, he also introduced both Chris Kattan and Colin Quinn to the cast.
• Season 31 (2005-2006): A sea-change year in many ways (thank you, YouTube) with the hiring of The Lonely Island trio, as well as the introductions of Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. Wiig and newly promoted Jason Sudeikis had to make the most of their first impressions on viewers as Two A-Holes. Amazing to see how far these new hires have made it, isn’t it?!

And then there was Season 41, a decade ago, which found Tim Robinson relegated in what would be his final season as a writer before finding his comedic voice and then some outside of 30 Rock. ‘Twas also the surprising end for both Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah.

Back here in 2025, we’re facing a new reality, with Ben Marshall joining the actual cast ending the Please Don’t Destroy era, which also marks the end of a two-decade run of awkward white boy trios making digital shorts for the show. Of course, SNL still retains a dedicated staff who, year-in, year-out, produce pre-taped vidoes that often outshine the live sketches.

And it’s not as though SNL doesn’t continue to grab a piece of the pop-culture zeitgeist, with Marcello Hernandez and Bowen Yang popping up all over the place, and Sarah Sherman earning her first solo HBO special this December for her Sarah Squirm persona.

So SNL 51 will have plenty to offer.

But how will it pay off? Will it, even? That’s the biggest unknown of this latest major transitional year for Emmy’s all-time biggest winner.