Ego Nwodim Departs ‘SNL’ After Seven Seasons

Who?

I’ll bet… thar’s a story thar!

Maybe she wanted a raise and didn’t get it?

Lorne is so sloppy. This shouldn’t be happening three weeks before the season premiere.

I like her. She’s been one of the better performers of recent years.

Ah, damn. I really like her and hate to see her go. But oh, well, best of luck to her!

Lorne Michaels is a shitty manager. He always waits to the last minute. He’s a dick, because he knows he can do this, because SNL is still a huge get for a performer. That said, these people let him do it-and he intentionally selects people he can treat like shit.

Chris Parnell mentioned how he was left in limbo for months in “Live from New York:”

“CHRIS PARNELL:We find out each summer around the first of July if we’re coming back or not. So in the summer of 2001, when July first rolled around, SNL asked the actors waiting for news about their contracts if they could hold out for a couple more weeks because Lorne’s mom had passed away, and they asked for time for him to deal with that. And we’re all like, okay, fine, whatever.

So two weeks go by and then they ask for another extension of another week. Meanwhile, I find out they’re auditioning new people for the cast, so I got in touch with the other people who were on the chopping block — Horatio, Maya, and Rachel — and then I heard Maya got brought back and Rachel and Horatio also. And then finally I talked to my manager, and he said, “Lorne’s not bringing you back.” So it was a pretty big shock. I thought I was doing all right there. I really thought we’d all come back, but it was me that didn’t.

I gave up my apartment in New York and moved back to L.A. I kept hearing that I might be coming back, and finally “ I just told my manager to quit telling me these tales, because he would talk to Lorne and he’d say to me, “Lorne says he might be bringing you back,” and I’d get my hopes up and nothing would happen and I’d be disappointed and depressed again. So I said, “Don’t tell me anything else unless they want to bring me back for real.”

Finally, around the end of February 2002, I was about to test for this pilot and found out that day that SNL wanted me to come back for the rest of the season. We were hoping to get a guarantee for the next season too, but we couldn’t get that. So I just finally decided that I love the job and I didn’t feel ready to go when I was let go. Lorne apologized for putting me through this waiting thing and this sort of limbo situation. He said he wasn’t trying to cause me any more pain. The only reference he made was to the budget, that it was a budget issue, and that they’d hired four new cast members. He just blamed it on the budget.”

Is she going back to Temecula maybe?

No! Not Cookie!

I love Ego, one of the best cast members in recent history.

She was the only reason I still tuned in to watch SNL.

I was fine with her but the show won’t be any different without her. She never left a lasting impression

There’s at least half a dozen more that should go.

Uh oh, Lorne better get cracking and cast a black woman before the premiere. Kenan can only play old fat black women and the new black guy is MAGA so probably wouldn’t do drag.

Back in the day when they didn’t have any black women in the cast, Chris Rock had to play Whoopi and Tracy Jordan had to play Star Jones (which was hilarious).

I’m sort of kidding, the women on the cast play men all the time, but this is the first time there hasn’t been a black woman in the cast in a while now.

Lorne is losing his shit.

Lorne is a shit. EGO KICKED OFF AND KEEPING BOWEN WANG! ( I know it’s Yang )

R12: Maya Rudolph comes to mind fondly.

The insufferably obnoxious Leslie Jones is best forgotten.

Losing Ego Nwodim is huge. She's one of the very best.

She was really coming into her own on that show. I wonder if she got a tv show offer.

R17 she was on the show for 7 years. If she wasn’t “into her own” yet they made the right choice.

She wasn't absolute top-tier like Gilda, Jan Hooks, or Molly Shannon, but she was far better than most of the others in the cast.

Losing Ego but keeping the execrable Jane Wickline. Jesus.

[quote] I love Ego, one of the best cast members in recent history.

Like being the biggest turd in the toilet.

Aw, I was looking forward to more "Mid-Day News" sketches; I know she was the one coming up with those.

Also, what the hell does Keenan have on Lorne? He's been a castmember nearly half the show's run -- it's gotten embarrassing.

I thought she was one of the standout cast members in a sea of mediocrity. She's obviously quick witted as evidenced by her standup routine in front of the Weekend Update desk when the audience threw her a curveball.

"Oh, because we're Black?"

She’s quitting, not getting cut. She may have a better offer. I just hope they don’t try to turn Lisa from Temecula into a movie.

Keenan has been so boring and one note anymore. He probably kisses Lorne’s butt a lot.

She has talent.

She'll make bank on a sitcom.

Seven seasons is really enough for anyone.

Yeah, much happier that this was her own decision. With Ego and Heidi both gone, we're going to be seeing a lot more of Sarah Sherman and the nepo girl, who will have to learn how not to fade into the background. Assuming women still appear in sketches moving forward.

I haven't watched SNL since the original cast left. And I'm proud of it. And, frankly, it wasn't always great back then.

But the killer bees and the land shark were very funny. Samurai delicatessen probably wouldn’t fly today.

Seven seasons used to be a looooong time to be a cast member on SNL. The original cast left after five (or less) seasons, even as recent as Kristen Wiig and Amy Poehler stayed for seven seasons. It used to be considered more of a springboard to better things than an end in and of itself.

I find Keenan's presence somehow comforting through the years; there's something to be said for harmless familiarity.

‘SNL’: Every One-Season Wonder, From Martin Short to Robert Downey Jr.:

Can't wait for: 1) the game show sketch; 2) the high school sketch; 2) the other game show sketch; 4) the faux-rebel snarky news; 5) the latest celeb host with a project to shill; 6) the racist sketch (black, Puerto Rican, etc.) with cringe-y stereotypes; 7) the vaguely homophobic sketch...

Leggo my Ego!

R34 That's what her agent said.

Not Ms. Eggie! She was great!

R30 I was thinking the very same thing. Back in the day, SNL could turn cast members into popular comedic film stars or at least B list comedy actors. Today, the film industry is on its last leg and not checking for SNL members like that because nobody watches the shit anymore. I still love SNL personally though.

[quote] I find Keenan's presence somehow comforting through the years; there's something to be said for harmless familiarity.

And talentless.

I demended that hussy get canned

Kenan Thompson has less than one speed — he has one expression.

Amused character = pop-eyed half-smile.

Confused character = pop-eyed half-smile.

Threatening character = pop-eyed half-smile.

No idea how someone with so little talent got 22+ years of employment as a sketch comic, but hey, nice work if you can get it, I guess.

I liked and will miss her and her recurring sketch characters a lot.

NOT MY LISA!!!!!

She only did Lisa from Temecula twice, and it bombed the second time.

Because — typical of the current writing staff — they had her do the exact same thing with the rocking table, instead of putting her in new situations or a courtroom (she was supposed to be a lawyer).

So kids like John Mulaney have the fast track to these SNL writing jobs.

But I have cousins who are infinitely funnier than these shitheads. Yet, they could never get a job at SNL.

Sorry - but what kind of name is "Ego Nwodim"? Looks like someone got their fingers mixed up on the keyboard.

We have DLers here who are wittier and more entertaining than the SNL writers.

Her name is Nigerian, r45.

Does Melania Knauss challenge you as well? Thought not.

I’ve already made up my mind to stop watching SNL. I used to enjoy Update, but even a funny take on the news harshes my Sunday morning mellow. However, Ego has been one of my favorite performers and I hope to see more of her elsewhere.

And I rarely know who the music acts are these days.

I don’t know her.

Mulaney played Sondheim in Co-op, Documentary Now’s hilarious spoof of the making of the Company cast album.

Totally agree R19.

She was great, but not quite Tier One.

I really, really like her and will definitely watch her sitcom or romcom or whatever she does next.

R28: So, you're proudly posting that you haven't watched the show in 50 years. Why do you even care enough to respond?

I love these people who post on social media about how unfunny SNL has become since the show went 'political' when Chevy Chase made a career out of tripping over everything as Gerald Ford from episode one.