SNL Emmy FYC Marks Bowen Yang's Final Cast Appearance
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- SNL held its Emmy FYC event Monday at the Television Academy's Wolf Theatre in LA, with a 12-member cast panel moderated by Variety in partnership with NBCUniversal.
- Bowen Yang, departing mid-season, reminded the crowd he's FYC-eligible; his farewell episode featured host Ariana Grande and musical guest Cher, and he earned his fourth acting Emmy nomination in 2025 — the most for any Asian male performer in Emmy history.
- Kenan Thompson, SNL's longest-tenured cast member at 23 years, won an Emmy in 2018 for co-writing the song "Come Back, Barack" and called his run "surreal."
- Marcello Hernández debuted the character Mr. Fronzi, a male teacher based on a real-life female teacher who coached him, "Marcello, don't forget the limp."
- Ashley Padilla stood out this season with the viral "Mom Confession" sketch featuring guest host Alexander Skarsgård, alongside castmates Brennan, Dismukes, Sherman and Wickline.
- SNL is competing in the newly merged outstanding variety series category, which guarantees a scripted variety slot; the show has not missed a programming nomination since 2007.
Why it matters: Yang exits as the most-nominated Asian male performer in Emmy history with four acting nods, closing a major chapter for SNL's Emmy pipeline. The show enters a newly merged variety category that guarantees a scripted variety slot — preserving SNL's unbroken programming nomination streak since 2007, but putting the sketch institution on less familiar competitive ground against talk shows.
