SNL Cast To Shrink

Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels said the veteran late-night show will have a smaller cast this year due to “massive budget cuts” at NBC.

“The budget is significantly less than it was last year,” Michaels said Saturday at the Television Critics Association press tour.  “It will be a smaller cast.”

Michaels declined to outline specifics on the budgets cuts, but said the show chose to pare the cast as opposed to cutting back the number of original episodes (20) it will air this season.

“I’ve gone through it three or four times, so it’s not an unfamiliar thing, but it is an unpleasant thing,” Michaels said.