Just because I’m done reviewing the show doesn’t mean I’m not done talking about it, and just as well, because they just revealed some cast departures for Season 51.
First off, Heidi is out. This wasn’t a surprise, to be honest. I’ve been hearing those rumors all year.
A bigger shock to me is the departure of Michael Longfellow. If you know me, I’ve been complaining forever that they never give him any screentime. But then, I started hearing rumors a few weeks ago that he was being tried out for a potential run as an Update anchor. Wow, that sounds great! I’ve always wanted to see him anchor Update! But nope! Just a few days ago, he suddenly announced that he wouldn’t be coming back. I don’t know if he was fired or if this is a decision he made for himself, but it still sucks.
Devon Walker is also not returning to the show. I was actually expecting this to happen given how little they used him, but it turns out he actually decided to leave on his own. In his Instagram post where he broke the news, he implies that things were a little “toxic” for him backstage. I don’t know what he’s implying, but there might have been some personal reason for him deciding to go.
Lastly, Emil Wakim is also not coming back. This one makes me angry the most. Just when it seemed like things were finally turning around for him after his great performance in the Shane Gillis episode, they quickly went back to underusing him. And this wasn’t a personal decision, either. He implies in his farewell statement that he got a call from somebody telling him he was off the show. If that’s the case, that really sucks. He seemed like a really likable guy.
Of course, none of the people who left were people that I wanted to see gone. As far as I know, Bowen and Chloe are staying. I was hoping Jane Wickline would be going too, but she’s a nepo baby, so that’s not gonna happen.
UPDATE: As soon as I posted this, I saw an article talking about this year’s new cast members. I haven’t heard of any of them, except for one: Ben Marshall, from Please Don’t Destroy, has graduated from the writing staff to a featured player. Unfortunately, this means that the trio has effectively broken up. Martin Herlihy is still a writer, while John Higgins has left entirely.
UPDATE 2: Like clockwork, I’ve already started to see people claim that the show is sexist because only one of the new hires is a woman. I saw one particularly autistic tweet call them a “whole lot of dudes”, as if their gender somehow makes them inferior. But at least they actually hired a new black guy to replace Devon, or else we’d get another one of those Kerry Washington as Michelle Obama situations.
No comments:
Post a Comment