Cecily Strong fired mid-season from SNL

Tonight will be the career funny woman’s last show. No reason was given for the firing. Her departure makes her the ninth cast member to leave in a year, joining Kate McKinnon, Aids Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Pete Davidson, Chris Red, Aristotle Atari, Melissa Vinegarsenor, and Alex Moffat.

I'm sure she was not fired - more likely it was voluntary and she resigned.

The new cast needs help, she will be missed.

My guess is she was planning on leaving at year's end. Then a scheduling conflict occurred with a new project she's attached to. So, she had to bump up her departure.

She is one of my all time favs.

Her Drunk Girl At A Party... is so damn funny in large part because we ALL know someone just like that.

She is the best part of SNL; she’s really talented. Now what?

Mid-season finale seems like a planned departure point, to be honest.

[quote] No reason was given for the firing

She's not funny.

AIDS Bryant was my favorite! She always did the most PreP!

Perhaps she’ll set herself on fire at the end of the show in protest?

This all can’t be for that god awful Apple+ show that thinks it’s a musical can it?

Seems suspicious they only announce it today hours before the live show begins. If it was planned, it would have been announced weeks ago with a big send off planned.

R7, of course it's a planned departure. Lorne loves Cecily. She was seated next to him at the recent museum charity gala dinner in NYC that he chairs every year. I also remember listening to a podcast that covers SNL and the two hosts described being at the rehearsal before the live show and noting that Cecily was the only cast member that Lorne hugged.

I think he wanted to make sure she got a big sendoff. The Christmas show always gets a lot of attention.

[quote] My guess is she was planning on leaving at year's end.

Or she was going to leave last year but didn’t want to share the spotlight with Kate and AIDS. She would have gotten lost in all the articles written about the ten cast members leaving. This way, all the media attention is on her instead of being just one of ten.

Why say she was fired, OP?

She should sing this in a very over wrought manner….

I thought the Judge Wine skit was her goodbye last year.

The Under-40s didn't grow-up learning from the old Jewish actors and writers on TV and stage. They have no characters because they block + delete unpleasant things. Their idea of 'humor' is saying, "Um, yeah..." with a vocal fry.

They can't improv or do physical humor. They just want to look cool.

I was one of the few people who didn't love most of her impressions but this is very surprising. She's extremely popular.

I do market research surveys for NBC Universal. There was one just this past week about SNL with a lot of questions about Cecily. I gave her high marks because I love her characters but I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s expensive now and didn’t get enough attention on there. SNL did their last big purge after a similar survey came out. They’ve been doing them a lot for SNL this year, which has rarely happened before.

Something is going on where they’re listening heavily to feedback. Are the ratings low and costs running higher?

As if we needed more proof that SNL is run by incompetents. She's been the only good thing about that show for several years running.

R19 isn't funny because he just repeats "kids these days" rants that he heard on Fox News. Probably blocks and deletes anything bad he hears about Trump

Things are just going back to normal at SNL.. Historically, most cast members only stayed for a few years and then it was expected they would leave. In the early 2000s the standard contract was 6 years. I think now it is up to 8 years. That's enough time to be on the show.

It's purging of all the OGs because of their agents trying to "negotiate" ("demand") major pay raises. Lorne isn't having it and cuts them loose.

Clearly, the guys who produce the "Do Not Destroy" films are the future of SNL. (And why aren't they credited as Cast Members during the opening credits?}

Personally, I think LORNE NEEDS TO GO! He's old, clueless and doesn't understand that comedy tastes have changed. How many Game Show sketches are we going to be subjected to?

Hard to believe that the show is still running. I was 25 when the first season started. I will be 73 in a month. Can't believe it is still on. I think the first few seasons were the funniest but it could also be that I was still young then. And life seemed less serious.

Ugh. Who is "strong" enough to replace all the good ones who are leaving?

R26, Lorne isn't doing the bulk of the writing if any at all. It's younger people writing those game show skits.

I only worship at the feet of elderly Jewish comedians. No other person can teach comedy.

She had good reviews for her theatre sting performing Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner's The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. I bet she has offers lined up.

Lorne Michaels doesn't write anything and never did! He's the Executive Producer. But the staff writers write what he wants to win favor ( and appease him) to get their sketches on air!

He's stuck in the 90s. "Mock commercial" sketch, "Talkshow" sketch, "Gameshow" sketch, "Dinner Party" sketch. Ugh. I'm exhausted.

Will she expose and #metoo Colin?

R33 he did write for SNL and if you look at the closing credits I think he is still listed as one of the writers. Lorne started his career as a writer for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show.

Watching SNL it sounds like she was let go—not quit—the way she worded her skit on Weekend Update.

She was the last competent actor left. RIP SNL.

r35 He is credited as a writer, because he "polishes" sketches. He doesn't "write" them. It's a Writers Guild "technicality" so he can be nominated for Emmys. It's bullshit.

R38, that may be the case but whether he writes original stuff or just polishes it up that means he writes.

I hope it is not to facilitate her disappearance before key testimony in front of the January 6th committee next week.

Technically, he doesn't do jack shit. The "Head Writers" do the polishing. He just sits there while they are performed for him during a "table read" presentation for him to give a "thumbs up" or a "thumbs down".

Other writers get credit for "polishing" too so why shouldn't Lorne?

She just got a loving send off at the end of the show.

She wasn’t “fired.”

Even fired people get a lovely send off, like Vanessa Bayer, Zamata Zapata, and too many to name.

Bottom line. He's old. Either retire him or suicide him. Whichever they choose, the show will be better with fresh new leadership.

I admire her work in ‘Sounder’ and ‘The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman’.

She went to my high school (about thirty five years after I did).

NBC Royalty! NBC Royalty! Aidy - bring me the axe!

I really enjoyed her singing with Austin last night. I had no idea she had such a great voice. I always thought they didn't give her enough to do. When Kate McKinnon was around she played second fiddle. Of course everyone did because Kate was so awesome. But I'm sorry to see Cecily go. I liked her a lot. I hope she does well.

How long is Keenan going to milk this cow?

I adore Keenan and he can stay as long as he likes.

Kate was insanely overrated and did not need to be in as many sketches as she was. It was a one note routine and she played that quirky weirdo in every single sketch.

Watch “Schmigadoon” R49 - you can enjoy her voice (and lots of even better ones)

R4, yes yo. Truly brilliant.

SNL nailed its own coffin shut when this cow pulled out that fawning, earnest rendition of "To Sir, With Love"

[quote] AIDS Bryant was my favorite!

She needs some AYDS, not AIDS.

She was the last adult in the room, just turn the show over to the Can Do! Kids, or whatever the hell they are called, and let’s be done with the hot mess.

They say that good-looking people don't need to be funny, but she was anyway.

R58, it isn’t until I see Jim Carrey in photographs that I realize how handsome he was. Sometimes being funny hides that too.

Yes. And Jerry Lewis, whom Carrey resembles stylistically, was also not bad-looking but played the clown, so it was hidden.

There are some other attractive funny women like Julia Louis Dreyfus and -sticking with SNL- I think Jan Hooks too. But as a generalization it mostly holds up.

Her Julia Sugarbaker is amazing.

Look. THis fucking show has lasted 48 years. Lorne has lasted that long. So what if it's fucking uneven sometimes. I think it is a marvel. I've enjoyed it for decades. I am grateful for YOu Tube, though because I can avoid the segments I don't like and just watch the ones I do like.

R62 Don’t call it a marvel or Disney will buy it up and it’s demise will be truly cemented.

R64

No she was not.

“ The move, while a gut-punch to the show's lineup, comes as no surprise, as Strong has already set the stage for her post-“SNL” pursuits. She leads the comedy ensemble on Apple TV's musical parody series “Schmigadoon,” which is executive produced by “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels and is set to return for a second season.”

Maybe if Lorne actually focused on the show in front of him rather than all the alum side projects he executives produces, SNL would be a flaming bag of dog shit.

[quote] It was a one note routine and she [McKinnon] played that quirky weirdo in every single sketch.

She was acting?

Does Lorne actually work on those shows, R66? I’ve always thought it was an in-name-only deal to get a green light for his protégés. I doubt he even watches rough cuts.

She left amicably and Lorne is working on her new (horrible) show.

My wife is an actress and she'd be interested in joining the show. Iron clad contract for five years. Top billing. $20 million the first year with a 25% increase in salary for each year following. A guarantee of one sketch per show showing my family being racists.

I'll have my people call your people.

I think Enty pulled a Blind Item from this thread:

[quote] This late night sketch show is in trouble. The costs are higher and the ratings lower and the network is doing marketing surveys to try and run the show. That is why the one cast member was forced out. "Saturday Night Live"/"NBC"/Cecily Strong

My good friend works at SNL on the crew. She was not fired. It was a planned departure.

Cecily is very adamant for many reasons that all her W2 correspond completely with the calendar year and always ends jobs in December.

Andrew Desmukes is a little hottie, only reason to watch.

They should skip a sketch next episode and just have Andrew Dismukes and Michael Longfellow make out for four minutes.

Is Longfellow the lesbian?

I hate to say this because I really abhorred Kyle, but I’m starting to believe that he wrote all the best skits showing off Andrew’s sexy boyishness, because it has be inevident this season.

I have a friend at NBC. He says it costs an absolute fortune to do SNL from 30 Rock because the Teamsters crew has the network over a barrel.

He's heard that when Lorne Michaels goes, the network is going to move the show to reduce those costs.

It’s one of two things, either Cecily sees it as a sinking ship and she jumping ahead of the full implosion, or Lorne was a prick and required her to comeback for these few months as “payment” for time off he gave her for other projects, which went above and beyond the time he gave Kate and Aidy.

When did Mrs. Desmukes join Datalounge to yammer endlessly about her "sexy" and "gorgeous" son. Yeah... sexy, all right.

Cecily is a good friend and she was not fired. She was going to leave in the spring but with so many departures at that time Lorne convinced her stay until the end of year. He loves her and was actually hoping to change her mind. She was a mess on show night. The show was a big part of her life the last decade. She barely held it together. But she and Lorne are good. God I sound like a press agent. LOL

OP is a dumb lieing bitch. Coal for XMAS.

[quote] dumb lieing bitch

Uhm...

Thanks, R84. Do you know why Cecily’s time as a Weekend Update host was so short? She only did it for half a season before they replaced her with Che, which I always found sort of odd.

R87, here is one explanation.

Why Cecily Strong Quit SNL Weekend Update Finally Explained

I was in a comedy ensemble for years. Great job. Fun. Then it wasn’t. The writing was on the wall. I didn’t want to be the ass muttering about the good old days, so I quit just before things really slipped. Best choice ever. The show still had a great reputation. It really helped create momentum for the next phase of my career. There’s no anchor on SNL right now. Not sure I see one emerging. CS timed this well.

Everyone thought the show was screwed when Kristen Wiig left, but then Kate McKinnon filled the void. My guess is we'll now be seeing a lot more of Chloe Fineman. The show really needs to work on finding better male talent, though. The women have been outshining them for years.

The women have indeed dominated for a while now, though I’ve enjoyed them all! I miss Will Forte so much, they need someone with his intellect and insanity again.

SNL? What century is this?

[quote] There’s no anchor on SNL right now.

Yes, we do. Punkie Johnson.

She's almost 40 and not married with kids. Is she lesbian?

No, but she has a fabulous drawer full of sextoys.

She speaks beautiful French.

There was a tme SNL was must see TV.

Now they struggle to break two million viewers.

The one I wish they would get rid of is Michael Che. Deadly unfunny.

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