“SNL” seems eternal; so does Kenan

As “Saturday Night Live” enters its golden years, it keeps reloading.
Consider the current cast: When Sarah Sherman was born, the show was already in its 18th season; Marcello Hernandez was born in the 22nd season, Jane Wickline in the 24th.
None of the regulars has lived in a world without “SNL,” but Kenan Thompson (shown here) came close. He’s 46 and has spent almost half his life as an “SNL” star.
And even before that, he was on a show that was a lot like it. “We would say, like, ‘We’re in the “Saturday Night Live” for kids,’” Thompson recalled in 2007.
Now “SNL” is busy with its 50th-season celebration. The Peacock streamer already has a documentary movie about the show’s music and a four-parter about the show’s history; at 8 p.m. ET Friday (Feb. 14), it will have a live music concert from Madison Square Garden.
Then NBC takes over. On Saturday, it airs that music documentary at 8 p.m.and reruns the first “SNL” episode at 11:30. The next day, it has a red-carpet at 7 p.m. ET and a three-hour reunion special at 8.
There’s been a constant churn of people and approaches. And there’s been Thompson, seemingly forever.
By one count, he’s done 435 episodes. Only Darrell Hammond has done more, and that’s only if you count his current work as the announcer. Only a few others have topped 200 – news anchors Seth Meyers, Colin Jost, Michael Che and Cecily Strong, plus Fred Armisen, Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant.
Thompson had arrived on the show as a 25-year-old with a pile of experience. For Nickelodeon, he and Kel Mitchell had done six seasons of “All That” and (concurrently) four of “Kenan & Kel,” plus the “Good Burger” movie. It was “All That” that got him ready for “SNL,” he told the Television Critics Association in that 2007 session.
“It was good training,” he said. “We’d be able to go from playing around to actually working, within a split second.”
On either show, he said, the group dynamic worked out:
“You’re kind of stuck together. Everybody’s excited and nervous and thinking about their lines or whatever. And then, somebody says something funny and then we’re into the sketch.”
A quick-turnaround approach seems to fit “SNL.” Yes, it could work in the normal way, spending the summer writing sketches, then carefully honing them. That might be better for the show … and, especially, for the health and sanity of the people.
But it also might bring a sameness and staleness. Instead, producer Lorne Michaels prefers to adjust to each host. “It’s a different writing problem each week,” he said. “That’s why I think the show can stay fresh.”
Often, he said, blurry-eyed people hatch the freshest ideas. “In our world, fatigue is your friend …. Out of boredom — of having done something already and not being able to face the others with the same idea — you’re forced into new characters, new ideas.”
Then those ideas, good and bad, are read for everyone. Some make it to the dress rehearsal Saturday evening, with Michaels seeing the audience reaction.
“You go into the dress rehearsal 25 to 30 minues long,” he said. “And you don’t know what’s going to play until you see it. And then you scramble between dress rehearsal and air, to try to put the best 90 minutes on.”
It’s a wobbly method that’s been working since 1975. As the 50th season continues, we can be sure of a few things: There will be great moments … there will be duds … and some of the fun will center around Kenan Thompson.