So, Amy Poehler finally left Saturday Night Live.  Admittedly it was weird seeing her perform while pregnant—at the back of my head, I go, “shouldn't you be resting or something?”—but it was weirder seeing nothing of her on her supposed last episode as a member of the SNL cast.  She had just given birth three weeks ago, and while I understand the need to give the mother and child a rest, I was expecting some sort of farewell to Poehler in the last episode.  Instead, we got Seth Meyers doing “Weekend Update” solo for a second straight week, and nothing more.

But the past is the past, and I'm sure Poehler is happy with her newborn son, her seven years on SNL and her reported upcoming project, courtesy of writers from The Office.  With her departure comes the entry of two new cast members, Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins, both of whom come from very different backgrounds.  As earlier reported, Elliott is new to the comedy field, although she's trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, which Poehler started.  She is also a second-generation SNL cast member—gasp, we can say that now?—being the daughter of Chris Elliott, who was part of the 1994-95 season.  Watkins, on the other hand, comes to the show with more experience, having trained at both the Brigade and the Groundlings, otherwise known as the home of many renowned SNL stars like Will Ferrell and Phil Hartman.  It also doesn't hurt that she's had a few television roles, like a recent turn on The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Tonight marks Elliott and Watkins' first outing as SNL cast members, although we shouldn't expect much, at least not at this point.  Both are just featured players at this point—you know, those names mentioned at the very end of the opening—and as you might have observed, their roles aren't going to be as big as the show's repertory players.  It will obviously take long for one to determine whether they'll be able to make the jump from featured to repertory player; for instance, I still don't have an opinion about the other featured players, Bobby Monyihan and Casey Wilson.

But we're in an interesting situation now: Kristen Wiig is the only remaining female repertory player this year, and this could mean more prominent roles for the women in the cast.  Wilson already got prominent roles in more recent sketches, and I wouldn't be surprised if Watkins and Elliott get a baptism of fire of sorts.  Maybe they'll feature in a potential post-election sketch?  Maybe something about George W. Bush and Barack Obama's meeting earlier in the week?  Maybe someone will do a Laura Bush and tour the Obamas around the White House?  We'll never know just yet.

After the buzz (and the ratings) that Saturday Night Live got over the election period, everything returns to normal, and Paul Rudd sits in as tonight's guest host.  Musical guest Beyoncé Knowles will be on hand, too, to perform songs off her new album I Am… Sasha Fierce.  If there's something else we should expect on tonight's episode, which airs at 11:30pm on NBC, it's that there will be no Sarah Palin sketch.  The election's over, and Tina Fey has expressed her intentions to retire the impression regardless of who wins the election.  Then again, you never know…


-Henrik Batallones, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: NBC
(Image courtesy of NBC)