New York (AP) – Five new cast members will join the upcoming season of “Saturday Night Live,” NBC announced Tuesday on the heels of several high-profile departures.

Ben Marshall, already an “SNL” writer, will become a featured player, along with newcomers Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska.

The additions follow a string of cast departures in the past month as the storied program prepares for its 51st season. Devon Walker, Emil Wakim and Michael Longfellow confirmed last week on their social media accounts that they are leaving the show. Multiple news outlets reported that cast mainstay Heidi Gardner was also departing the show, but neither Gardner nor NBC have publicly confirmed.

“SNL” creator Lorne Michaels previously said he anticipated changes following the show’s historic 50th season. No cast members had announced their departure following the season’s conclusion. In an interview with Puck that ran last month, Michaels answered “yes” when asked if he expected to “shake things up.”

“It’ll be announced in a week or so,” he said then.

Michaels told Puck at least one cast member was certain to be back: James Austin Johnson, who plays President Donald Trump.

Since its debut in 1975, the NBC program has reinvented itself often, with performers over the past 50 years ranging from John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd to Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson. The 51st season will premiere Oct. 4.

Here’s a look at the “SNL” members confirmed to be leaving and joining the show so far.

ADDITIONS

All new cast members will be joining the show as featured players.

Marshall first joined the “SNL” writing staff in 2021, along with the other members of his comedy trio, Please Don’t Destroy. Digital shorts from Please Don’t Destroy, which includes John Higgins and Martin Herlihy, have been featured on “SNL” for the past four seasons. The group is currently on tour together. (Higgins confirmed Tuesday he is departing the “SNL” writing staff.)

Brennan has performed on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and was selected as a Just for Laughs New Face of Comedy in 2023. Culhane, a regular on Dropout TV, is known for his viral videos and also performs with the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles.

Patterson is a regular on the live comedy podcast “Kill Tony,” hosted by Tony Hinchcliffe. The stand-up comedian also appears in Netflix’s “72 Hours.”

Slowikowska, known for her viral online comedy sketches, has appeared in “Tires” and “What We Do in the Shadows.”

DEPARTURES

Departures include Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim, Devon Walker.

Writers

“SNL” writer Celeste Yim announced they were leaving after five seasons, while Rosebud Baker is leaving after four seasons on the show.

Yim, the show’s first openly nonbinary writer, posted on Instagram that the job was a dream come true “BUT was also grueling and I slept in my office every week BUT my friends helped me with everything BUT I got yelled at by random famous men BUT some famous girls too BUT I loved it and I laughed every day and it’s where I grew up.”

Baker, who wrote for “Weekend Update,” confirmed her departure to LateNighter.

Higgins, son of “SNL” writer and producer Steve Higgins, announced his departure Tuesday, saying he is looking forward to pursuing acting opportunities.

“It was my dream and I got to live it. And to do it with my two best friends and my dad was an unbelievable experience,” he wrote. “Thank you to everyone who made my time there so special, it made this decision that much harder.”