Saturday Night Live is currently on its summer hiatus, preparing to return for Season 52 on the 2026 TV schedule this fall. With a new season means possible cast exits or additions following the mass exodus ahead of Season 51 last year. After having to say goodbye to five cast members in fall 2025, fans had to say goodbye to one more when Bowen Yang departed after the Christmas show. His absence, like other former cast members, is definitely still felt, and I love Sarah Sherman’s take on what she’s been missing since he left.
Many cast members paid tribute to Yang after his final episode aired, and it’s still hard to watch the show without him. He was in his feels cleaning up the last of his stuff from 30 Rock, but luckily, he’s remained close to his former colleagues. As for Sherman, she took some vicious shrapnel from a writer about his exit, but it mostly just shows how big an impact Yang made on SNL. Sherman revealed on Deadline’s Comedy Means Business podcast what the environment was like during those first few shows post-Yang:
