Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang talk SNL and Season 50

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https://variety.com/2024/tv/features...is-1236025323/

Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang have had very different “Saturday Night Live” trajectories. And yet, they both have made history. Thompson, who joined the show in 2003, is the longest-tenured cast member in the show’s history. When Yang joined, first as a writer in 2018 then moving to the cast the following year, he became the first Chinese American “SNL” player.

Despite joining the show 15 years apart, they adapted in a similar way: by listening.

Thirty years ago, Thompson was on the premiere of “All That,” the kids’ version of “SNL” that aired on Nickelodeon in the 1990s. “To have Kenan be at the show now is only a sign that he has the foresight, fortitude and forbearance to just be a pure master at this,” says Yang. He turned to his co-star: “I don’t take it for granted that I sit next to you at read-through. I absorb so much just being in proximity.”

Thompson’s flattered, but he also understands. “That’s how I felt when I started. It was Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey. And then, go down the list: Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Will Forte, Fred Armisen. I used to just sit and watch. It was all about participating and learning timing,” he says. “I learned a lot by watching, especially Maya. Jesus Christ, I’ve never seen someone so versatile.”

Right now, everyone’s focused on “SNL’s” upcoming 50th season. But Yang and Thompson agree 49 is just as important — “if not more,” says Thompson. The season started off strong, with former cast member Pete Davidson returning to host.

Thompson can’t help but gush over how “proud” he is of Davidson, especially since his personal life is always in the media. “It’s not easy to be in all that scrutiny all the time. I feel like this is the most scrutinized time on the planet,” he says. “Everybody’s watching everything and commenting about everything.”

Of course, this is especially true in the world of comedy. With cancel culture at an all-time high, “you can’t just be a dumbass grabbing the mic,” says Thompson. “You actually need to read, and you need to be aware. You can’t just be stuck on stupid.”

Yang points out that comedy is already subjective, which makes it even more complicated. “Everybody is highly personal about what they find funny, so it’s everyone’s value systems meeting at the same time. That makes it completely ripe for conflict,” he says, then stops and reconsiders his choice of words. “Not conflict. I always boil it down to a healthy discussion about what’s going on in the world.”

This season of “SNL” included a few of those conversations. First, in Episode 10. At the end of the episode, Dave Chappelle, who has made headlines for transphobic and anti-LGBTQ+ jokes, jumped up on stage during the goodnights. Eagle-eyed viewers saw that Yang, who is gay, was standing on the opposite end of the stage with his arms crossed.

That night, Yang popped up in headlines for “distancing” himself from Chappelle, with one story claiming he “appeared unimpressed.”

For the first time, Yang clears the air. “I stand where I always stand on good nights. It was not a physical distance that anyone was creating,” he says. “It had to do with so many things that were completely internal.”

I press a little harder, asking whether or not he was unhappy with Chappelle’s appearance.

“It was about other people’s response in the show. I was just confused, that was it,” he says. Thompson chimes in, too, noting that the fact that people made it a story is a bit “jarring,” but that everyone was confused because Chappelle wasn’t part of that episode.

The next two weeks, choices made at “SNL” also raised eyebrows; in Episode 11, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley appeared. Then Episode 12 featured host Shane Gillis, the comedian who was cast in 2019 but fired for making racist, homophobic, Islamophobic and misogynistic jokes on his podcast.

“Controversy,” Thompson laughs when I bring up the three episodes. Yang adds, “I’m going to give Lorne Michaels some credit to that meta-narrative. There’s a story around the show now, and it’s his show. He gets to do whatever he wants.”