Saturday Night Live premiered its thirty-ninth season on NBC on September 28, 2013.
On May 12, 2013, NBC announced that Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers will be the new host of Late Night in 2014 succeeding Jimmy Fallon as Fallon will take over as the new host of The Tonight Show. Sources say that Meyers will stay on as a cast member for the first half of season 39, then leave in 2014 to prepare for becoming the new host of Late Night,[1] Meyers has stated that he will remain Weekend Update anchor up until his departure,[2] although Lorne Michaels has stated his desire for Meyers to remain Weekend Update anchor until the end of the season.[3]
Prior to the start of the season, a large number of cast changes occurred. Long-time veteran cast members Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis all left the show. In addition, first-year featured player Tim Robinson left the cast to focus on his new duties on the show's writing staff, becoming the first performer to join the writing staff after being a cast member without initially being hired as a writer.
In their places, Michaels upgraded writer Michael Patrick O'Brien to the cast as a featured player, and hired Upright Citizens Brigade, Los Angeles performers Beck Bennett, John Milhiser, Kyle Mooney, Noël Wells, and stand-up comedian Brooks Wheelan. O'Brien has been a writer since 2009 and is the first writer to be promoted to cast member status since Jason Sudeikis in 2005, while Mooney and Bennett are members of the sketch group, Good Neighbor; Good Neighbor member Dave McCary has been hired as a director. This season marks the largest hiring of cast members since 1995, when the show hired eight cast members as a result of the massive cast overhaul following season 20.
Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong were all upgraded to repertory status. Also starting with this season, Strong will co-anchor Weekend Update with Seth Meyers up until his departure.
