Kenan Thompson Says “Saturday Night Live” Season 50 Ending Feels “Bittersweet”

For Kenan Thompson, the end of Saturday Night Live’s 50th season feels like closing a chapter in a very long, very special book — and possibly the start of something different. In a recent interview with Page Six, Kenan, 47, revealed that this season’s wrap was “bittersweet,” especially with talk of changes hanging in the air. 

“Especially this year where it feels like there’s maybe, possibly, a lot of change next year,” he admitted. “You want everyone to stay forever, knowing that people may be making decisions over the summer… it’s always like you want your kids to stay young.”

Kenan knows a thing or two about staying. He joined SNL back in 2003, and has now been a cast member for a record-breaking 22 seasons — longer than anyone else in the show’s 50-year history.

But even he isn’t immune to the unknown. “You just never know what the future holds,” he said. “I don’t want to be in the way of someone else or I don’t want to be the stale old man riding the same thing.”

Still, it’s clear Kenan’s heart is in it. Earlier this year, he told Entertainment Weekly that the idea of being the “forever cast member” is something he wouldn’t mind at all. “It would be cool if I never left the show. That’d be crazy,” he joked.

In another conversation with PEOPLE, Kenan got real about why he keeps coming back year after year. For him, the show is the best job in television. 

He stated, “It’s crazy because most people do eight [seasons] max, you know what I mean? Or 12. But it’s a one-of-a-kind place.”

What keeps him hooked isn’t just the laughs or the sketches. It’s the people. “It’s the people in front and behind that embrace it, need it,” he explained. “So when they call me, what, am I not supposed to oblige the greatest job in the world? So it’s out of love.”

Plus, he added with a smile, “What a blessing it is to have steady employment.”

As SNL looks ahead to season 51, expected to return this fall on NBC, fans are left wondering who’ll be back and who might be saying goodbye.