SNL axes three members

Saturday Night Live looks as it has lightened its load, both figuratively and literally.

Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz, and Finesse Mitchell have been dropped from the long-running, late-night comedy sketch show, according to E! Online. There was no announcement about the changes, but their names were not on the cast list in a press release previewing the show's upcoming season.

"I believe there were mutual choices made," NBC rep Marc Liepis told E! Online. "When you're on the show for eight years, I don't think you look at it as a firing."

The three exiting cast members have not made comments about the decision, but from past comments it looks as those they may have been surprised by the decision.

"I haven't been approached with anything that's led me to believe I won't be back," Sanz told the Chicago Sun-Times less than a month ago. "I definitely enjoy the job and would like to stick with it."