It's become increasingly clear that the last Trump-centric season of Saturday Night Live, despite being a ratings bonanza and must-tweet-TV, was not easy on the cast and crew. Bobby Moynihan, one of the best glue guys in the cast since he started in 2008, announced he was leaving just before the end of the season. Yesterday at a panel about his new CBS sitcom Me, Myself and I for the Television Critics Association press tour, he reflected on why the last season was the hardest one he had been through.
"I felt like I was on one show for eight years and another for one year. It was a completely different machine last year, took on a whole different level," he said, according to Deadline. This echoes things other cast members, such as Kyle Mooney, have said about the intense pace of the season and keeping up with the Trump news cycle.
"You get so used to never sleeping and writing all night long, and I made it through eight years of this, thinking this can’t get any worse," Moynihan continued. "And then, all of a sudden Trump happens…With Trump you would come in on Friday and he did something nuts, and we’d have to re-do everything. At times we were doing a brand new cold open on Saturday morning...It was a whole new ballgame."
Moynihan added that he had especially good timing for big SNL moments: "But I’m so thankful I was there for that year," he said. "My first episode was the first time Tina [Fey] did Sarah Palin. And I was in the audience for Sean Spicer, when Melissa [McCarthy] did that.” Nevertheless, he called it "the hardest year easily" of his SNL career, but also, "weirdly, maybe deep down one of my favorites. I was glad I got to be there for it."
You can now enter the lottery to win tickets to the 43rd season of the comedy institution (find out more details here). In the meantime, check out our lists of our favorite pre-taped segments and commercials; live sketches and monologues; and Trump sketches from last season. And check out a promo for the upcoming Weekend Update specials, starring Colin Jost and Michael Che, which begin premiering on August 10th at 9 p.m.
