Catherine O'Hara Reveals Why She Quit SNL After One Week
Catherine O'Hara says she left Saturday Night Live to return to her SCTV commitments.
Since its inception in 1975, Saturday Night Live has served as the launch pad for many of Hollywood's largest comedians. Though comparable shows have popped up throughout the years, nothing's come close to imitating the magic captured by Lorne Michaels and the crew at 30 Rock. At one point, Catherine O'Hara—the star of Home Alone and Schitt's Creek, amongst dozens of other films and shows—once found herself as a cast member on the live sketch comedy, only to leave after appearing in a single episode.
"There's been BS stories about I was supposedly scared by somebody," O'Hara recently told PEOPLE Magazine. Except she wasn't afraid of anyone at Studio 8H. Rather, she chose to show her loyalty to the Canadian sketch show SCTV.
"Our producer would get a deal with a network, and we'd have a show for a season or two, and then that deal would go away. There'd be a break, then we'd do the show again," she added, "I got asked to be on Saturday Night Live. And of course I said yes. Who doesn't want to do that?"
O'Hara then left Saturday Night Live to rejoin the cast of SCTV, which included the likes of John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Rick Moranis amongst other Canadian performers.
"Yeah, not cool to take a job and leave it. You know what I mean?" she concluded, "It all worked out the way it was supposed to," says O'Hara.
Who is in the Saturday Night Live cast?
Cast members for Saturday Night Live season 49 include almost the entire cast from season 48 of SNL. Returning stars include Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, James Austin Johnson, Punkie Johnson, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, and Bowen Yang. Featured players that are part of the cast include returning stars Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker, plus the show's only fully new cast member for the year, newcomer Chloe Troast. The comedy troupe Please Don't Destroy, made up of Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy, are also a recurring part of the series.
Saturday Night Live Season 49 is ongoing now with new episodes airing on both NBC and Peacock, starting Saturdays at 11:30 PM ET. All 48 seasons of Saturday Night Live are also now streaming on Peacock.