Mike O'Brien

SNL buzz of late has trended positively, between Tracy Morgan’s Emmy return ahead of an October hosting gig, or confirmation of a regularly-featured Donald Trump, but it seems a bit of turnover lies in store as well. Mike O’Brien will no longer write for SNL, nor four others, while six more have joined the staff.

Mike O’Brien is one of SNL’s greatest secret weapons, a writer and performer whose truly unique voice shines through the show’s usual template. When he’s given total control of a digital short, it’s a genuine cause for celebration. His work feels less like just another sketch or parody, but more like an actual, full-fledged short film escaped into the show’s line-up.

‘Saturday Night Live’ started 2014 as a show that was rebuilding; it ended the year in a noticeable groove that foreshadows, hopefully, many more great things to come. The following 10 sketches represent the calendar year of 2014—which includes the last half of the 39th season and the first half of this current 40th season. So, with that explanation out of the way, here are the 10 best ‘SNL’ sketches of 2014. Like all lists, you will like some choices and not like others.

Last week 'SNL' season 40 saw one of its highest-profile re-toolings yet, as Weekend Update host Cecily Strong was replaced by writer Michael Che, the first instance of two men running the desk. Now, with three season 39 cast members already let go, 'SNL' has added comedian Pete Davidson to its ranks, in the process confirming yet another departure from the long-running NBC sketch comedy show's roster.

Yesterday saw 'SNL' fans caught off guard by the news that season 39 freshman Brooks Wheelan was let go from the cast in advance of season 40, and now a few more names have been cast into the fire. Fellow season 39 additions Noël Wells and John Milhiser have also been confirmed to be let go from the long-running NBC sketch comedy series, with a "murky" future for Michael Patrick O'Brien as well.

The 39th season of 'Saturday Night Live' is over. From the beginning, it was a strange season -- gone were so many of the show's powerful voices: Hader, Samberg, Wiig, Sudeikis, Armisen -- yet this allowed new voices to be heard. And that's the thing about being new on 'SNL': not everything is going to hit. But, in compiling this list of the ten best sketches from the 2013-2014 season, there were

Last summer, ‘Saturday Night Live’ hired five new cast members to replace the large shoes left by the departures of veterans Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis and Fred Armisen – plus Tim Robinson, whose quirky style was, after just one season, reassigned to the writing staff. Those five new hires were Beck Bennett, Noël Wells, Brooks Wheelan, Kyle Mooney and John Milhiser. In January, the show added Sash