Honestly, walking into Studio 8H in the fall of 2014 felt a bit like walking into a house after a massive renovation where the paint hadn't quite dried yet. The SNL season 40 cast was stepping into a monumental year. It wasn't just any season; it was the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live. The pressure was immense. Lorne Michaels had just come off a "transition year" in season 39 that many critics called a bloodbath.
You had legendary departures like Seth Meyers leaving for Late Night, and the show was still reeling from losing Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, and Jason Sudeikis all at once the year before.
Basically, season 40 was where the "new guard" finally had to prove they could actually carry the torch without the 2000s-era titans holding their hands.
The Massive Shakeup Before the Premiere
Before the first episode even aired, the roster saw a serious trimming of the fat. Remember the "freshman class" of season 39? Most of them didn't make the cut.
- Brooks Wheelan, Noël Wells, and John Milhiser were all let go after just one season.
- Nasim Pedrad, a veteran of five years, opted to leave to star in the (short-lived) sitcom Mulaney.
- Mike O’Brien was moved back to the writers' room, though he’d still pop up in those weirdly brilliant filmed sketches like "Grow a Guy."
This left a lot of oxygen in the room. To fill it, the show made two of its most consequential hires in the modern era: Pete Davidson and Michael Che.
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Pete was only 20 years old at the time. Think about that. He was the first cast member born in the 1990s. He was basically a kid who had been doing stand-up in Staten Island and suddenly found himself on the most famous stage in the world. Meanwhile, Michael Che was brought back from a very brief stint at The Daily Show to take over the Weekend Update desk.
The Weekend Update Controversy
One of the biggest talking points of the SNL season 40 cast was the demotion of Cecily Strong from the Update desk. Fans were kind of shocked. Cecily had been doing a great job, but Lorne Michaels wanted a different chemistry for the 40th anniversary. He paired Che with Colin Jost, marking the first time in the show's history that two men anchored the segment together.
Cecily stayed in the cast, obviously—which turned out to be a blessing because it freed her up to do characters like "The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party" more often. But the move was risky. It took Che and Jost a long time to find their rhythm. In those early episodes of season 40, you could almost feel the awkwardness through the screen.
Meet the SNL Season 40 Cast Members
By the time the season hit its stride, the roster was a mix of established heavy hitters and "featured players" who were desperately trying to become household names.
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The Repertory Players (The Veterans)
- Kenan Thompson: The undisputed anchor. By season 40, he was already the guy who could save any failing sketch with a single facial expression.
- Kate McKinnon: She was arguably the biggest star on the show at this point. Her Justin Bieber and Hillary Clinton impressions were becoming the show’s bread and butter.
- Taran Killam: The utility player. He did the heavy lifting in almost every high-concept sketch.
- Bobby Moynihan: Providing the heart (and the Drunk Uncle rants).
- Aidy Bryant & Vanessa Bayer: The duo that gave the show its most specific, "weird-girl" comedic voice.
- Jay Pharoah: The impressionist king, though he often struggled to find original characters that stuck.
The Featured Players (The New Blood)
The "featured" tier was where the real experimentation happened. Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney were bringing their "Good Neighbor" digital short energy to the show, which was a huge departure from the polished Andy Samberg Lonely Island era. It was more awkward, more lo-fi, and totally unique.
Then there was Sasheer Zamata, who had joined mid-way through the previous season. And we can't forget Leslie Jones. Leslie was actually a writer who kept stealing the show during Weekend Update segments. By October 2014, the show realized they had to make her a full-time cast member. She was 47 at the time—a rare and awesome "late" start for an SNL performer.
The 40th Anniversary Special: A Cast Overload
You can't talk about the SNL season 40 cast without mentioning the February 15, 2015, special. It was a three-and-a-half-hour marathon. It was basically a high school reunion where the popular kids from every decade showed up at once.
The current season 40 cast had to share the stage with icons like Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler. It was a weird dynamic. On one hand, it celebrated the show's legacy. On the other, it occasionally made the current cast look like background actors in their own house.
But there were standout moments where the eras collided. Seeing Kate McKinnon's Bieber next to Darrell Hammond's Sean Connery in "Celebrity Jeopardy" was a passing of the torch.
Why Season 40 Still Matters
Looking back, this season was the "Great Reset." It's the year the show leaned into political satire harder than it had in a decade. It’s the year Weekend Update became a platform for social commentary rather than just "fake news."
If you look at the names in that season—McKinnon, Davidson, Che, Jost, Bryant—you’re looking at the people who would define SNL for the next eight to ten years. It was the birth of the modern era.
Nuance and Growing Pains
It wasn't all perfect. A lot of people felt the show was too crowded. With 16 cast members, getting screen time was a literal war. If you were a featured player like Sasheer Zamata, you might go three episodes without a single lead role.
The diversity debate was also still very much at the forefront. While adding Sasheer and Leslie was a step forward, the show was still under intense scrutiny for how it handled race and gender in the writers' room. Critics from outlets like The A.V. Club and Vulture often pointed out that the show’s "political" sketches sometimes felt a bit toothless compared to what The Daily Show or Last Week Tonight were doing at the time.
Actionable Takeaways for SNL Fans
If you're looking to revisit this era or understand how the show works, here’s what you should do:
- Watch the Digital Shorts: Compare the Beck and Kyle sketches (like "Inside SoCal") to the earlier Samberg years. You’ll see a massive shift in how SNL handles "cool" vs. "awkward" humor.
- Track the "Update" Evolution: Watch the first episode of season 40 and the last. The growth in Jost and Che’s chemistry is a masterclass in how performers learn to trust each other on live TV.
- Spot the Future Stars: Watch the background of sketches. You’ll often see writers who later became famous (like Mikey Day) appearing as extras before they were officially cast.
- Revisit the 40th Special: It’s currently available on various streaming platforms. It serves as a perfect encyclopedia of the show’s "DNA" and explains why Lorne Michaels keeps the same format after four decades.
The SNL season 40 cast didn't just survive a landmark year; they managed to redefine what the show looked like for a new generation of viewers who grew up on YouTube clips rather than live broadcasts. It was the year SNL finally figured out how to be "online" while staying "live."