Kenan Thompson and Chris Redd have got a new show premiering on NBC, but there are no plans to leave Saturday Night Live just yet.
They both star in the new comedy Kenan, which follows a widowed morning news anchor (Thompson) as he tries to parent his two daughters after losing his wife. The show has been in development for years and has gone through several iterations, but it’s finally premiering on Feb. 16 and will require both Thompson and Redd to pull double duty between Kenan and SNL.
Many fans have wondered how much longer Thompson, the longest-tenured SNL cast member ever at nearly 18 years, will stick around, and while Redd has only been on SNL since 2017, his presence on Kenan has raised questions about him too. Fortunately, neither is looking to leave as of now.
“I think we’re living in a different time,” Thompson said on a virtual panel during NBC’s winter TCA press day. “There used to be a time when people would leave [SNL] and go into their careers, but…I think you can kind of do both as long as you can and then the departure comes in a natural sort of way, and then so be it or whatever.”
