Cecily Strong leaves 'Saturday Night Live' in her 11th season
This past weekend, Cecily Strong made her farewell performance on "Saturday Night Live"—at least as a member of the main cast—continuing a pattern of departures from the well-known sketch comedy programme.
Strong, 38, debuted on "SNLcast "'s in 2012 and over the following 10 years, she rose to become one of its female cast members with the longest stay. She was nominated for two Critics' Choice Television Awards for "best supporting actress" and two Emmy nominations for "excellent supporting actress in a comedy series" for her efforts in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Fans of the show were shocked when Strong left "Saturday Night Live" after 11 seasons. NBC made the announcement in a subdued tweet hours before its most recent show, which included "Elvis" actor Austin Butler and Lizzo as the musical guest, aired on Saturday night.
The show's official account tweeted, "Tonight we send off one of the best ever to do it." "Cecily, we'll miss you!"
Along with a selfie photo of Strong and her former co-star Michael Che at the "Weekend Update" desk, the tweet also featured a GIF of one of Strong's greatest stage performances.
Although Strong has not made a social media announcement about leaving "SNL," she did perform a few skits on Saturday that made references to her real-life farewell. She made an appearance on "Weekend Update" as the recurrent character Cathy Anne, who said some poignant goodbyes before entering "jail."
Strong uttered the same words as Cathy Anne, "Everybody has to go to jail at some point, and it's just my time now." However, I consider myself extremely fortunate to have shared so many of my life's most memorable experiences with these folks.
The show's handling of former stalwart Kate McKinnon's departure in the spring, when she delivered a surprisingly touching closing monologue before boarding an alien space ship, was similar to the heartfelt—and silly—nod to Strong's leaving. McKinnon left before the current season of "SNL," along with other former "SNL" actors Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Pete Davidson, Alex Moffat, Chris Redd, and Melissa Villaseor.
In the very last sketch of the evening, Strong costarred with Kenan Thompson as a worker who was working her last shift at Radio Shack. When Strong started to sing, Butler's solo performance of Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas" turned into a duet. Finally, the whole "SNL" ensemble joined in, encircling Strong on stage as she gave out embraces all through the song.
Alongside fellow comedian Keegan-Michael Key, Strong produces and appears in the scripted musical comedy series "Schmigadoon!" outside of "Saturday Night Live." On Apple TV+, a second season has been ordered.
