SNL Adds 5 New Featured Players — Including A Member Of Please Don't Destroy

Saturday Night Live has hired five new featured players — though only four of them are technically new.

While the fates of more than a dozen repertory players remain in limbo, NBC has announced that Please Don't Destroy's Ben Marshall has been added as a featured player, along with fellow comedians Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska. (Following Marshall's promotion, PDD will disband. Variety reports that Martin Herlihy will remain on SNL's writing staff, while John Higgins will depart the series altogether to pursue other opportunities.)

Their hires follow recent news that Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, Michael Longfellow and Heidi Gardner will not return to SNL for Season 51, which premieres Oct. 4 on NBC.

Brennan, a Just for Laughs New Face of Comedy in 2023, has previously performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon; Culhane, who performs with the Upright Citizens Brigade, is a regular on Dropout TV; Marshall, best known as one-third of Please Don't Destroy, has written for SNL since 2021; Patterson, a stand-up comedian, is a regular on the Kill Tony podcast; and Slowikowska has appeared on Tires and What We Do in the Shadows. (For photos of each featured player, go here.)

As of press time, the late-night sketch series has not yet revealed the statuses of Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernandez, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang, Ashley Padilla or Jane Wickline. TVLine will keep you posted as we learn more.

In the meantime, leave a comment with your thoughts on the new hires.