SNL Loses One PLEASE DON’T DESTROY Member, Adds One to Cast_1 NBC

SNL Loses One PLEASE DON’T DESTROY Member, Adds One to Cast

Originally posted on Nerdist | By Kyle Anderson | Last updated Sep 2, 2025 5:21 PM ET

NBC’s comedy staple Saturday Night Live is about to go into its 51st season. That means roughly 400 billion cast members have come and gone through the hallowed halls of Studio 8H. The show is a star-maker, even if the given season or era isn’t all that well regarded. That generally, however, means that when the show announces new cast members—unless they’re Kenan Thompson 100 years ago—most of the viewers won’t know them until they first appear on SNL. The one exception in the batch ahead of season 51 is a member of comedy troupe Please Don’t Destroy, who will join the main cast just as another PDD member leaves.

In recent weeks, several cast members either chose not to renew their contracts or did not receive an extension. The highest profile of these is veteran Heidi Gardner who ended her eight season run on the show. The second highest profile is probably John Higgins. Higgins, along with Ben Marshall and Martin Herlihy, are part of the comedy troupe Please Don’t Destroy, all of whom joined SNL in 2021 as writers to make shorts for the show. This was an attempt to repeat the success of The Lonely Island’s wildly popular Digital Shorts from a decade prior.

But with Higgins leaving SNL, what of the other two members? Well it turns out Herlihy is sticking around as writer while Marshall is getting a bump-up to full cast member. This comes according to Variety. Higgins is off to pursue other acting opportunities. The trio is currently on tour performing sketches on stages ‘cross the naysh. So it definitely doesn’t seem like Please Don’t Destroy is breaking up, but it seems as though their brand of humor is assimilating into the main SNL. Though we can’t imagine the digital shorts will stop.

Saturday Night Live will return October 4.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.

This article first appeared on Nerdist and was syndicated with permission.

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