Longtime SNL director Don Roy King is retiring ahead of the 47th season premiere

Don Roy King, known for his work as a longtime director of Saturday Night Live, is officially retiring after 15 years with the show. During his time on SNL he won 11 Emmys for directing, and is considered the person who’s directed the most hours of live U.S. network television. His successor will be Liz Patrick, the current director of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Previously serving as the director of shows such as CBS Evening News With Dan Rather, CBS This Morning, and Good Morning America, Roy King was only the fourth director in the 46-year run of SNL starting in 2006. The 73-year-old also won an Emmy for his work on the Mike Douglas Show. Patrick has directed over 2,000 episodes of Ellen DeGeneres’ longtime talk show, which is coming to an end in 2022. In addition to her experience with DeGeneres, Patrick spent 15 years at MTV, working on series such as Wild N’ Out and The Real World.

The directing switch arrives ahead of the season 47 premiere this Saturday, which will be hosted by Owen Wilson with country pop star Kacey Musgraves on as the musical guest. Future hosts include, Kim Kardashian, Rami Malek, and former cast member Jason Sudeikis. Other changes coming to the late-night live sketch show include the addition of three new cast members (Aristotle Athari, James Austin Johnson, and Sarah Sherman), and the departure of Beck Bennett and Lauren Holt.

After months of rumors about leaving the show, Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong, Pete Davidson, Kenan Thompson, and Kate McKinnon are all returning along with the majority of the current cast members including Michael Che, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Ego Nwodim, Chris Redd, Kenan Thompson, Melissa Villaseñor, and Bowen Yang.