Punkie Johnson Announces Departure From 'Saturday Night Live' After 4 Seasons

She is easily replaceable

R1: Lorne Michaels

I didn't know she was still working

PUNKIE GONE??!!

(This should have been Bearking News, OP)

Nit surprised she was fired. She barely registered for four years.

I hated her at first but she really grew into the role. SNL usually burns off cast members around this time of year. Don't expect her to be the only one. Devon Walker is lousy. Andrew Dismukes is kind of one note...

Marcello is one hot tamale.

WHO?

was she a DEI hire?

Please please please dump Sarah Sherman.

Marchello is adorable. So fun......Michael Longfellow is a waste of space.

They need to dump half the cast. Having more than 10 SNL players is just fucking annoying especially when you consider from the time the show first started through the 80s they just had maybe seven or eight regular cast members. The show back then was a lot more funnier than it is now.

I actually like Punkie but you don’t need so many players that the opening credits are damn near 2 minutes long introducing everyone.

I'm surprised she got the chop before the 50th season, because, well ... black lez.

She's never been essential to the show but ultimately found her spot.

Yet four seasons is a long run. Belushi and Aykroyd were only on the original SNL for four seasons.

Who?

She never broke out. Or they never gave her much to do. SNL audiences won’t miss her.

I repeat -- WHO? Good for her "announcing" her departure. If she hadn't, we would never have known she was on SNL.

Though she never had that much to do on the show, I liked her and wish her well in the future.

This would be upsetting if I’d ever heard of her.

The show is not in a good state. She didn't carry any sketches, so the effect is minimal. We need some bigger changes.

[quote] We need some bigger changes.

1. Cut the cast in half. 2. Fire both Lorne Michaels and Head Writer(?) Michael Che. 3. NBC BEG and offer a lot of money to Tina Fey to replace them both.

That would be a great start.

Lorne has been grooming Tina Fey for the top spot. It's been the subject of gossip for ages. I think he'll announce his retirement around or after the 50th.

She wasn’t that funny.

I watch the show consistently and can’t remember a single memorable Punkie moment.

I think her most memorable moments have been playing the straight man sister in the “Lisa from Temecula” sketches, which is a pretty meagre return after four seasons.

Realistically, she’s much more of a standup comic than a sketch actor - and if you aren’t able to get sketches produced around your standup persona like Leslie Jones and Pete Davidson were (or end up as Weekend Update anchor), you’re probably not destined for much on SNL.

Now get rid of screeching Sarah Sherman and unfunny Bowen Yang.

Oh, and that other black guy who's so unmemorable I can't even think of his name.

It’s the 50th season coming up, and probably Lorne’s last. There aren’t going to be any major changes until Liz Lemon takes over next season.

This is just like when Li'l Sebastian died, except no one remembers her.

You could replace the entire cast and no one would notice or care.

R27 Who?

SNL should be cancelled. It hasn’t been funny for years.

Sarah Sherman and Marcello Herandez are both standup comedians who have managed to seize a good amount of air-time that centres their standup persona (Nickelodeon 90s baby surrealist weirdo for her, Gen Z Latino “baby girl” for him).

Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Molly Kearney (who might be spared so they can have a big fat genderqueer person play JD Vance) haven’t managed that and probably should leave as well.

Whether or not you or I think it’s funny is not what determines whether it gets cancelled, r30. It’s a for-profit business.

It should determine whether or not we watch it, but in my case, at least, it doesn’t. The rare classic sketch is enough to keep me watching. On DVR.

Molly out:

They didn’t last long.

It’s an LGBT massacre!

Celia Rubenstein was a friend to all mankind….

WHO??!!!!

Good. That other chick is hilarious. I believe her family is from Nigeria.

I meant to add she’s not funny^^

Punkie Johnson’s comedic timing sucks but this chick is hilarious.

On her Twitter she would retweet people who were pulling for her to play Kamala on the show but obviously that didn’t happen. It would have immediately given her the spotlight she never got so I’m sure that’s one reason she left.

I think Punkie’s best moments were the times she appeared on Weekend Update saying how terrible she is with celebrity names. Those bits were pretty funny.

There are too many SNL players thus not allowing many of them to shine.

SNL has become bigger than itself. Nowadays some A list star or former cast member calls Lorne to play the hot people of the moment. So wack.

Keenan Thompson has been on SNL for over 20 years. He simply won’t age.

[Quote] —bring back Kate McKinnon and Bill Hader

WHO?

Molly Kearney added zero to the show. I was surprised they got a second season.

Was Punkie a Black Lesbian or a gender fluid negro?

R47.???????? What would make you randomly use the word negro. And yes she was a lesbian.

Gender fluid Black?

R46 Was she the one who tried to promote herself as a Mama Cass soundalike?

No, R50, that is Chloe Troast, who should be on thin ice as well.

I’ve been enjoying the 70s and 80s shows on Peacock, even though they’re mutilated.

I think I’ve outgrown the new SNL. That Beavis and Butthead sketch that was supposed to be SO FUNNY didn’t make me laugh at all. I did like Lisa from Temecula.

[quote]Andrew Dismukes is kind of one note

We are NOT going to say mean things about my Andrew Dismukes. You got that!!

R51 So she's the one who promoted herself as the nonbinary cast member?

‘SNL’ Adds Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim & Jane Wickline To Cast For Season 50, Promotes Trio As Chloe Troast Departs:

Bitch made Maya Rudolph seem like a comedic genius.

Surprised Chloe Troast left. She seemed to be hitting a stride

These people are too young and haven't the experience or the chops. It'll just be high school-level skits with stereotypical clowns.

Have they ever tested the demographics to see who actually still watches the show? Lorne seems to think it's Gen Z, chilling before they go out and cruise last call at the bar.

R57, according to her post, she was let go.

R58 You hit the nail on the head. I’ve always enjoyed the show when cast members are a little older and have knocked around showbiz a bit. You can guarantee any venom they spew toward Hollywood is real.

R55 They're promoting Devon Walker to featured player?

Why? The guy isn't remotely funny or talented.

How the hell is this godawful show still on??

I never heard of her

The nonbinary one needs to go too.

R64 Your wish has been granted.