Saturday nights might not feel the same this fall, besties, because the question on everyone’s lips is: Will Bowen Yang return for Saturday Night Live Season 51? After 50 years of sketch comedy chaos, Studio 8H is shaking things up for its next season, as confirmed by SNL head Lorne Michaels. Cast members are leaving, some writers are packing up their cue cards, and Yang? Well, he’s being mysterious in a way that only he can — equal parts dramatic, meme-able, and maybe a little heartbreaking.
ICYMI, Yang has been serving laughs since 2018 (first as a writer, then as a cast member), basically manifesting his high school superlative: “Most Likely to Be on SNL.” Fast forward, he’s now the moment — the guy who can play the iceberg that sank the Titanic and simultaneously roast Weekend Update hosts with one eyebrow raise. But after the tearful Season 50 finale last spring, fans are spiraling: was that his soft launch goodbye… or just “For Good” energy, where he’s not gone yet but leaving us changed for the better?
Meanwhile, Yang is keeping busy with his podcast Las Culturistas (co-hosted with Matt Rogers) and a growing slate of hosting gigs — enough to make Bravo execs eager for a queer Gen Z power duo takeover. So, is he ready to defy gravity and fly into a new era — or will he stick around 30 Rock, beloved by the masses?
Who’s leaving SNL?
It’s not just Yang keeping fans on edge — it looks like we have some other goodbyes happening at SNL. After three seasons, Devon Walker is officially out — and he announced it in the most Devon way possible. Instead of a big press release, he just hopped on IG and wrote, “me and baby broke up.” On the third slide of the post, he even joked, “wait… did he quit or did he get fired?” before brushing it off like, who cares? He compared jobs in comedy to little mini-marriages: fun while they last, but not always forever. Honestly, kind of relatable.
But Walker’s not the only one moving on. Behind the screen, two of SNL’s writers are saying their goodbyes, too. Rosebud Baker is also heading out after four seasons, but don’t worry — she’s hitting the road with a fall comedy tour. Then there’s Celeste Yim, who worked super closely with Yang, wrapped up after five seasons, thanking him for “changing my life and making me feel normal.”
ICYMI, Yang is booked & busy
At this point, he’s not just “the SNL guy”: Yang is building a whole universe. Beyond sketch comedy, he’s stepped into major projects like Wicked and continues to thrive with Las Culturistas, the cult-favorite podcast he co-hosts with Matt Rogers. The pod’s annual Culture Awards also just went down this year, and unlike other Hollywood ceremonies, this one is fully about joy, chaos, and making “fun” feel like high art.
And the momentum isn’t slowing down. With Wicked: For Good hitting theaters this Thanksgiving, Yang is making the jump from live sketch to blockbuster musicals. And sources say his and Rogers’ glittering Culture Awards hosting gig may have been more than a night of campy celebration — it might have been a quiet screen test. One insider even called them Bravo’s new “golden boys,” bringing unapologetically queer energy that feels exactly like the kind of bold vibe Gen Z craves from the next generation of TV stars.
Still, Yang remains tight-lipped about his SNL future. At the opening of Universal’s Epic Universe, he dodged questions about Season 51. His only hint? “I need to savor these moments before I don’t have them anymore,” he told Entertainment Weekly. Whether he struts back onto 30 Rock for Season 51 or takes his sparkle elsewhere, Yang’s trajectory is unmistakably upward. But fingers crossed, we get to see him light up the Studio 8H stage again this October.