Splitsider: Five Reasons We’re Looking Forward To ‘SNL’ This Season

In advance of this weekend’s SNL Season 38 premiere, I wrote this preview for Splitsider about some of the great things we can look forward to this year.

Excerpt:

“Another effect of Wiig and co. leaving the show is a more open playing field for less-proven cast members who have spent most of their time at SNL on the sidelines. While it would appear that female performers Nasim Pedrad, Vanessa Bayer, and Kate McKinnon would have the most to gain from the departure of the cast’s alpha female, I predict Taran Killam and Bobby Moynihan will emerge as the show’s new stars, thanks to their aggressive character work and ability to make the most out of every precious second of screen time. And of course, let’s not forget newly appointed Castmember in Chief Jay Pharoah. He finally got his big break as Barack Obama, whose victory in November would more or less secure Pharoah’s job on the show for the next four years. While his impersonation of the president will likely be an improvement on Fred Armisen’s, the question remains of whether he will be able to find something other than Obama’s reasonableness… and ears, I suppose… to make fun of him for.”

Read the full post on Splitsider.com.