Who Is the Most Likely 'SNL' Cast Member to Be Fired After Season 51?

Over the course of SNL’s 50-and-a-half seasons, there have been a number of cast members who racked up precious few minutes during their time on the show. In 1981, for instance, Emily Prager appeared in a few dress rehearsal sketches but never made it to air as a cast member. Laurie Metcalf, likewise, has a one-episode tenure on the long-running series. A couple of people were hired but never appeared at all — Catherine O’Hara, who quit, and Shane Gillis, who was fired — and several high-profile folks had short stints (Ben Stiller lasted four episodes, while Damon Wayans made it a full 12).

In recent years, folks have become more granular about screen time. In 2017-18, for instance, Luke Null only appeared in a handful of episodes. Lately, however, LateNighter has been tracking the actual minutes of screen time, and in that era of SNL, it appears that Aristotle Athari holds the record for least screen time in the “modern era” (i.e., the era in which minutes have been counted), at less than 16 minutes. That’s a record that may not be beaten by a full-time featured player anytime soon. In season 46, Lauren Holt clocked only 25 minutes before being let go. In season 49, Molly Kearney hit just 24 minutes before the same fate.

I was curious whether there might be a magic number that more or less predicts whether a cast member is unlikely to return the following season — and to be honest, there’s no guaranteed line. Emil Wakim, for instance, was fired after a single season with 52 minutes, but Jane Wickline returned despite logging only 48. She’s on track for another season with only 40-50 minutes, too.

For the purposes of this piece, however, I’m going to single out poor, extraordinarily talented Chloe Troast, unexpectedly fired after one season in which she accumulated 44 minutes. That’s the Troast Line. Unless a cast member shows tremendous promise (like Jane Wickline, apparently), it’s hard to overcome fewer than 44 minutes of screen time and make it back. Devon Walker, in his final season, didn’t (40 minutes), nor did Punkie Johnson (37 minutes).

So who does that leave in danger heading into the back half of season 51? Through the first nine episodes, all cast members — save one — have banked at least half of 44 minutes (or 22 minutes), though Jane Wickline is cutting it close at 23. Even newcomers Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, and Tommy Brennan are on pace for 50 minutes or so.

But there’s one cast member who, after 13 episodes, is still sitting at only 22 minutes and will need a rapid turnaround over the final five episodes if he expects to cross the Troast Line. That man is Kam Patterson, who apparently never watched SNL before appearing on it. He seemed like a one-and-done guy to me when he was hired, and that prediction may be coming to fruition.

Patterson is currently on track for fewer than 31 minutes — which is double Aristotle Athari’s record low, to be fair. However, no one from the modern era has returned after a season with so few minutes of screen time. I’m not rooting against him — but having seen him a few times on Kill Tony, I’m not not rooting against him, either.