Season 44 of Saturday Night Live is now less than two weeks away, and three cast members from last season will return to the show this year with fancy new job titles. A source has confirmed to Vulture that Mikey Day, Melissa Villaseñor, and Alex Moffat have been promoted from featured to repertory players, while Chris Redd and Heidi Gardner are also set to return as featured players.
Day, Villaseñor, and Moffat joined the cast as featured players prior to the start of season 42 in 2016. Before becoming a cast member, Day worked as a writer at the show since season 39 in 2013. Redd and Gardner, meanwhile, were hired as featured players for season 43 last year alongside Luke Null, who will not return for season 44. Aside from these promotions and a slight change to the head writers, it’s likely we will see at least one addition to the cast prior to the premiere on September 29, although no more departures from last year’s lineup are expected. And with Day and Moffat both returning, we can expect plenty more sketch and Weekend Update appearances by Eric and Donald Trump Jr.