Saturday Night Live's writers' room adds fresh faces for 50th season

More news from the world of Saturday Night Live ahead of the landmark 50th season. The longtime NBC flagship series, which premieres on September 28, has added three new writers to its roster: Allie Levitan, Moss Perricone, and Carl Tart, per Vulture. They join the recently announced new cast members Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline. 

Levitan (daughter of Modern Family creator Steve Levitan) is an actor, writer, and comedian who previously wrote for Showtime’s Our Cartoon President and co-wrote Small Parts, the upcoming directorial debut of Molly Gordon (The Bear). Perricone is a stand-up comic whose previous writing credits include Velma, The Other Two, and Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj. Tart is known for co-starring in the short-lived NBC sitcom Grand Crew and co-hosting the podcasts The Flagrant Ones and XOXO, Gossip Kings; behind the scenes, he’s written for shows like Kenan and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

With the addition of these new writers, Vulture reports that three of the series’ scribes have exited: Vanessa Jackson, who worked on season 49; Alex English, a writer for the past three seasons; and Gary Richardson, a staff writer from 2017 to 2021 and writing supervisor for seasons 48 and 49. It was previously reported that cast members Chloe Troast, Punkie Johnson, and Molly Kearney have also left (or were let go from) the show. 

Saturday Night Live‘s “add a few, lose a few” strategy for writers and cast is key to its success, at least according to boss Lorne Michaels. Speaking to The New York Times in 2022, he said, “If I don’t add new people every year, then the show isn’t the show. There have to be new people, for both our sake and also for the audience.” He added, “The way the series has survived is by that level of renewal.” Of course, that was after he’d reportedly tried to lock in stars (like Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Pete Davidson, and Aidy Bryant) to stay through the 50th. As we know now, that plan didn’t quite work out, but the show is heading into its big celebration with a mix of veterans and fresh talent.