Brooks Wheelan getting the pink slip was only the beginning of Saturday Night Live’s fire sale. Noel Wells and John Milhiser are also leaving the long-running NBC sketch comedy show and even more departures are likely.
Wheelan made headlines last night when he announced on Twitter that he was fired by the producers after just one season. Now, Deadline has confirmed that Noel Wells and John Milhiser are also joining SNL’s one-and-done club.
Michael Patrick O’Brien might also be on the way out, but his status is unknown. He was a writer on the show before transitioning to featured performer. He could just be going back to the writer’s room.
One performer who is also leaving is Nasim Pedrad. She has been on the show for five seasons, but she is a member of Fox’s Mulaney cast. Fox is excited about that show and picked it up to series.
Wells was the only woman to join the cast at the beginning of the show’s 39th season, but Lorne Michaels did cast Sasheer Zamata about halfway through. Wells probably got the most screentime of those leaving, as she starred in the Girls parody and did impressions of Emma Stone and Nancy Grace. Milhiser got lost during the second half of the season.
image of Lorne Michaels courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com