TV Casting Call: Two Cast Members Exit 'SNL,' 'Yellowstone,' and 'Battlestar Galactica'

By Dustin Rowles | TV | August 2, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | August 2, 2024 |

Two cast members have exited SNL this week, and while I like them both very much, neither is a surprise. Punkie Johnson announced on Instagram yesterday that she’d be leaving the series ahead of its 50th season (and got some very nice comments from a couple of SNL castmates). Today, Molly Kearney — the show’s first non-binary cast member — announced that they would be leaving, as well. The two had the least amount of screen time in season 49. Neither expressed any hard feelings, and we wish the best of luck to them both.

Speaking of SNL, Jeopardy! will be getting a spin-off on Prime Video, Pop Culture Jeopardy!, which will be hosted by “Weekend Update” anchor Colin Jost. I have nothing against Colin Jost, except that it’s a fairly boring hire. I’d have honestly preferred Michael Che, even if he’d be fired for saying something dumb in the first season.

Did you know that Sam Esmail was developing a Battlestar Galactica reboot for Peacock? That would have been great. It’s dead now (though, they are shopping it elsewhere).

Season two of Squid Game will premiere this year on December 26th. Netflix also announced that it would end after three seasons.

Former American Idol winner Carrie Underwood will replace Katy Perry as a judge on American Idol.

We’ve received a few more details about Venu, the stand-alone sports streaming service from Warner Bros., Disney/ESPN, and Fox. Namely, they have set a price at $43 a month. It will include the following networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN+, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, Fox, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, and truTV. That is an insane price for what is essentially Sling TV, especially since TNT will be losing NBA rights. Basically, it’s $43 a month for Monday Night Football and a lot of college football games, many of which are already on network television. It’s a seriously lousy value.

Finally, Paramount+ is pulling the cast together for another Yellowstone spin-off set in the modern day — at one point, it was apparently called 2024, but now it’s apparently called Madison. It’s a good cast, too: Patrick J. Adams (Suits), Michelle Pfeiffer, and Kurt Russell. The spin-off will “follow wealthy matriarch Stacy Clyborn and her family as they leave New York City and head to Montana in the wake of her husband and brother-in-law’s tragic deaths in a plane crash.” It will be set in a new location but include crossover characters from the original Yellowstone. This is also evidently the same spin-off Matthew McConaughey was supposed to be in, but he’s reportedly been replaced by Kurt Russell, according to Puck.