Thanks David. I was kinda figuring that some of the characters the "featured" have pitched made it into major skits, with hopes that they get regular positions on SNL.
On Sun, Sep 23, 2018 at 1:21 AM 'David Bruggeman' via TVorNotTV < [email protected]> wrote: > Oddly enough (at least to me) the SNL page on the Wikipedia doesn't > explain what differences there are between featured and full cast members. > Like Doug, I'm assuming they are on different payscales/contracts. > > An SNL wiki hosted on Fandom claims that this distinction started in > season five (1980), with some differences over the years until season 23 > (1998). From then on, this claims that all cast members start as > featured. As this wiki isn't sourced, I'm skeptical. > > This Quora answer quotes an interview with Rachel Dratch (the link to > which has rotted). > > https://www.quora.com/On-Saturday-Night-Live-what-is-the-difference-between-the-cast-before-and-after-and-featuring > > It supports the notion that everyone starts as featured, as it was in > Dratch's contract that she would be 'featured' for two seasons before > becoming regular cast. She goes on to say that getting featured people > screen time is a lower priority. But, as seems to be common, if you write > something good enough to get on the show, you can cast yourself in it. I > would also guess if you do good enough work, you'd get bumped up to full > cast sooner. > > I am *not* sufficiently motivated to try and read the Tom Shales book on > SNL to see if this is explained therein. > > On Saturday, September 22, 2018, 11:10:15 PM EDT, Doug Fields < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > I have no first-hand knowledge, but I’ve always assumed the main > difference between the two (other than the obvious priority billing in the > credits for the cast members) is the paycheck, with official cast members > getting a higher salary than the featured players. As to the amount of > screen time, I don’t think it matters much…cast members and featured > players all seem to get varying number of appearances. For some reason, > (cast member) Pete Davidson often gets less air time than many of the > featured players…which they’ve turned into a running joke on the show. > > > > Doug Fields > > Tampa, FL > > > > *From:* [email protected] <[email protected]> *On > Behalf Of *Doug Eastick > *Sent:* Saturday, September 22, 2018 11:00 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [TV orNotTV] New SNL cast member, four new writers > > > > what's the official diff between 'featured' and 'cast members' ??? > > Mikey, Melissa, and Alex have been major people in my view of 2017-2018 > season. > > > > > > > > > > > > On Sat, Sep 22, 2018 at 9:30 PM Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Fri, Sep 21, 2018 at 9:45 PM Steve Timko <[email protected]> wrote: > > Ego Nwodim graduated with a biology degree from USC, but liked the UCB > better. > > > > LINK > <https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/ego-nwodim-joins-snl-cast-5-things-to-know-about-the-newcomer/> > > > > Also, they added four new writers. Any names ring a bell? > > Alan Linic, Alison Gates, Eli Mandel and Bowen Yang. > > Anyone else announced as not coming back this season? > > > > From eonline: > > > > Nwodim's casting news comes soon after it was announced that *Mikey Day*, > *Melissa > Villaseñor* and *Alex Moffat* have been made cast members, while* Chris > Redd* and *Heidi Gardner* will return as featured players. *Luke Null*, > who joined the show last year, is not returning. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
