victoria jackson was the longest cast member of snl.
who is the longest cast member of snl?
victoria jackson
bullet::::- in the early part of this season, the show came under fire by critics, other african-american sketch comedians, and cast members kenan thompson and jay pharoah for its lack of racial diversity, specifically, hiring all white people as new feature players (even though noël wells is the first female hispanic cast member) and no black female cast members. this was mentioned and satirized on the cold opening of the episode hosted by kerry washington in which washington is forced to play michelle obama, oprah winfrey, and beyoncé knowles because of this. in response to this, lorne michaels held auditions exclusively for a black female cast member (one of which included erica ash from former rival sketch show "madtv"). on january 6, 2014, it was announced that sasheer zamata from the upright citizens brigade sketch troupe (new york city division) has been chosen as "snl"'s newest cast member, making this season the first time since season 31 that "snl" has had more than two black cast members, and the first time since 2007 that a black female cast member has been featured. in addition, lakendra tookes and leslie jones, both of whom were part of the december casting call for a new black female cast member, were hired as writers. by the season's end, tookes left the show while leslie jones would stay and eventually become a cast member, following her memorable, yet controversial weekend update segment about how america's perception of african-american beauty has changed and how jones' love life would have been better if she were a breeding slave.
history of saturday night live (2010–2015)
the cast were often contracted from anywhere between five and six years to the show, but starting with the 1999–2000 season, new hires were tied to a rewritten contract that allowed nbc to take a cast member in at least their second year and put them in an nbc sitcom. cast are given the option of rejecting the first two sitcom offers but must accept the third offer, with the sitcom contract length dictated by nbc and potentially lasting up to six years. the move drew criticism from talent agents and managers who believed that a cast member could be locked into a contract with nbc for twelve years; six on "snl" and then six on a sitcom. the contract also optioned the cast member for three feature films produced by snl films, a company owned by nbc, paramount pictures, and michaels. the new contracts were reportedly developed after many previously unknown cast, such as myers and sandler, gained fame on "snl" only to leave and make money for other studios. in a 2010 interview, wiig was reported to be contracted to "snl" for a total of seven years. the contracts also contain a network option which allows nbc to remove a cast member at any time. in the first season of the show, cast were paid $750 per episode, rising to $2,000 by season two, and $4,000 by season four. by the late 1990s, new cast members received a salary between $5,000 and $5,500 per episode, increasing to $6,000 in the second year and up to $12,500 for a cast member in their fifth year. performers could earn an additional $1,500 per episode for writing a sketch which made it to air. in 2001, ferrell became the highest paid cast member, being paid $350,000 per season (approximately $17,500 per episode). in 2014, sasheer zamata was added as a cast member in mid-season after criticism of the show's lack of an african-american woman.
saturday night live