While people usually focus on the cast changes, there have been a lot of behind-the-scenes changes going on at SNL. They've demoted the two headwriters they hired in 2014, when the show started to get really bad, and have hired two new headwriters, a gay man and a woman.
The article talks about how SNL notoriously makes homophobic jokes and given some comments from the new headwriter who is a gay man, it seems unlikely he would approve those sorts of sketches. Also, two of the castmembers that are leaving, Taran and Jon, were often the ones who played stereotypically flamboyant gay characters.
The headwriters are responsible for everything from the cold open to the monologues, so they really shape the whole feel of the show. They've also said that they really like to write for women and given that there are so many strong female castmembers on SNL right now, there could be even more sketches that primarily feature the ladies of SNL.
The new headwriters were the ones who came up with sketches like "Back Home Ballers", "First Got Horny 2 U", and "The Dudleys"
The article also mentioned how there will be 30% less commercials now, with more integrated marketing, and that Lorne is trying to appeal to millenials instead of using bro-humor.
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