--- title: Who Will Succeed Lorne Michaels at SNL? Tina Fey and Steve Higgins Lead the Odds description: Ahead of Saturday Night Live's season 51 finale, speculation is growing over Lorne Michaels' future—and who could possibly replace him as showrunner. canonical: https://time.com/partner-content/prediction-markets/the-role-saturday-night-live-cant-cast/ author: Annie Nader article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-05-19T07:40:38.020Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-19T07:40:37.381Z article:section: Prediction Markets og:title: Who Will Succeed Lorne Michaels at SNL? Tina Fey and Steve Higgins Lead the Odds og:description: Ahead of Saturday Night Live's season 51 finale, speculation is growing over Lorne Michaels' future—and who could possibly replace him as showrunner. og:url: https://time.com/partner-content/prediction-markets/the-role-saturday-night-live-cant-cast/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37f14c3e678f3e77/6a062ed4b3f3d97e17d16f98/GettyImages-2199489543.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: GettyImages-2199489543.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Who Will Succeed Lorne Michaels at SNL? Tina Fey and Steve Higgins Lead the Odds twitter:description: Ahead of Saturday Night Live's season 51 finale, speculation is growing over Lorne Michaels' future—and who could possibly replace him as showrunner. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37f14c3e678f3e77/6a062ed4b3f3d97e17d16f98/GettyImages-2199489543.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- The information presented here is created independently from the TIME editorial staff.  * [Prediction Market](/partner-content/prediction-markets/) # The Role Saturday Night Live Can't Cast > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=99332a8d-ee9f-427f-97f1-0fd50d68e319&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=99332a8d-ee9f-427f-97f1-0fd50d68e319&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) by [Annie Nader](https://time.com/author/annie-nader/) Prediction Markets Analyst May 19, 2026 7:40 AM UTC  Lorne Michaels and guests during "Goodnights & Credits" on February 16, 2025. Lorne Michaels and guests during "Goodnights & Credits" on February 16, 2025. Theo Wargo—Getty Images by [Annie Nader](https://time.com/author/annie-nader/) Prediction Markets Analyst May 19, 2026 7:40 AM UTC For 50 years, _Saturday Night Live_ has weathered every cast turnover, on-air blunder, election-year frenzy, and relevance scare with one constant: Lorne Michaels. The show's creator and executive producer is no mere figurehead. Aside from a five-year, burnout-induced absence in the 1980s—a turbulent period in the show's history that somehow turned Julia Louis-Dreyfus' tenure into a footnote rather than a breakout—Michaels has remained _SNL_'s final authority since its inception in 1975\. Beyond shaping the cast and deciding which sketches make it to air, the known-by-his-first-name television giant remains wired into the show's weekly rituals, from reading stage directions at the table read to taking each celebrity host to dinner at his [favorite Italian spot](https://ny.eater.com/2025/2/14/24364982/snl-new-york-restaurant-lattanzi-saturday-night-live-michael-lorne). But with every _Saturday Night Live_ milestone comes the same question: when will Lorne Michaels retire? [_SNL_'s 50th Anniversary Special](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS%5FgQd8UB-hIa5h1xViTe%5FgslNuVOAJVQ) seemed tailor-made for a curtain call: a primetime tribute to the institution Michaels built, surrounded by the comedians whose careers he helped launch. Michaels cut that storyline at dress, [saying](https://deadline.com/2025/02/snl-lorne-michaels-future-1236289828/) days before the milestone, "I may be wrong, but I don't feel I'm done." Just like Michaels, though, the retirement rumors endure. Will Ferrell, joined by musical guest Paul McCartney, will host this weekend's _SNL_ season finale—a legitimate comedy heavyweight billing that has renewed speculation of a final goodnight for Michaels. Ferrell is among Michaels' most beloved alumni, with the producer [stating](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/feature/will-ferrell-shrink-next-door-christmas-carol-spirited-1235037010/), "I never rank, but Will's definitely in the top two or three that have ever done the show." McCartney could be a telling get, too. In a 1976 episode, [Michaels famously offered The Beatles](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/story-behind-lorne-michaels-offering-091140704.html) a $3,000 check to reunite on his show, joking, "If you want to give Ringo less, that's up to you." Add in last month's release of [_Lorne_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt39847629/), a documentary that plays like a lifetime achievement tribute to the _SNL_ creator's legacy, and the succession question comes crashing into view like [Matt Foley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2VIEY9-A8) through a coffee table: who will replace Michaels when he departs Studio 8H? ## Who Will Succeed Lorne Michaels at SNL? Here's a look at the odds for who will succeed Lorne Michaels as _SNL_'s showrunner, per [Kalshi](https://kalshi.com/markets/kxsnl/snl-successor/kxsnl-28).  This market comes with a caveat: with only about $52,000 in trading volume, it is thin enough that the odds may reflect a few concentrated wagers rather than an overarching view of public opinion. Still, the market is pinpointing two succession candidates that line up with [industry expectations](https://screenrant.com/saturday-night-live-lorne-michaels-replacements/): Steve Higgins and Tina Fey. Higgins, perhaps best known as the announcer for _The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon_, has been a writer and producer at _SNL_ since 1995\. As the show's longest-tenured writer, he offers a strong continuity case, having remained inside 30 Rock's hallowed walls through eight presidential elections, hundreds of cast members, and three decades of late-night, last-minute chaos. Higgins is currently priced as a 42% implied favorite to inherit the producer's chair, though recent speculation suggests Tina Fey's _SNL_ era may not be over after all. Fey knows _SNL_ from both sides of the cue cards: six seasons as a cast member and Weekend Update anchor, and seven as head writer. The 10-time Emmy Award winner departed the show in 2006 to create and star in the meta sitcom _30 Rock_—a former head writer making a show about a head writer, produced by Michaels, with Alec Baldwin playing a network boss partly inspired by Michaels—before returning during the 2008 presidential election cycle with her defining take on Sarah Palin, the one who could [see Russia from her house](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSOLz1YBFG0&t=1s). Since Fey's official goodnight, she's hosted _SNL_ six times and has made 34 [cameos](https://snl.fandom.com/wiki/Tina%5FFey). More telling than Fey's standing invitation back to Studio 8H, though, was her[ involvement in launching _SNL UK_](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj40xxj4v5po) earlier this year. She hosted the inaugural episode of the show's first international spinoff and advised its new cast and writers' room, a role that could signal she is closer to the franchise's future than its past. When asked about Michaels' admission that she could "easily" take over the show, Fey, like so many other [_SNL_ alumni](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQS5VuiqQAw), deflected, [calling](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/tina-fey-interview-netflix-the-four-seasons-snl-1236191358/) the show's creator "irreplaceable." For a show that has said goodbye to hundreds of not-ready-for-primetime players and survived every version of America it has been asked to satirize, the hardest transition may be the one it has never had to make. ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## --- ## Read more from Prediction Markets [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/prediction-markets/) [Open article: Josh Allen Is Daring Us to Overreact](https://time.com/partner-content/prediction-markets/josh-allen-is-daring-us-to-overreact/)  ### Josh Allen Is Daring Us to Overreact [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/prediction-markets/josh-allen-is-daring-us-to-overreact/) [Open article: Prediction Markets Doubt Anthropic's November IPO](https://time.com/partner-content/prediction-markets/prediction-markets-doubt-anthropic-s-ipo-timing/)  ### Prediction Markets Doubt Anthropic's November IPO [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/prediction-markets/prediction-markets-doubt-anthropic-s-ipo-timing/) [Open article: Trinidad Chambliss Won More Than a Revenge Game](https://time.com/partner-content/prediction-markets/from-division-backup-to-heisman-favorite/)  ### Trinidad Chambliss Won More Than a Revenge Game [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/prediction-markets/from-division-backup-to-heisman-favorite/) --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/partner-content/prediction-markets/the-role-saturday-night-live-cant-cast/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/partner-content/prediction-markets/the-role-saturday-night-live-cant-cast/"},"headline":"The Role Saturday Night Live Can't Cast","datePublished":"2026-05-19T07:40:38.020Z","dateModified":"2026-05-19T07:40:37.381Z","description":"This week’s SNL season finale pairs Will Ferrell with Paul McCartney, a legacy-heavy lineup that has sent the old question back into circulation: when Lorne Michaels finally leaves Studio 8H, who could possibly replace him?","url":"https://time.com/partner-content/prediction-markets/the-role-saturday-night-live-cant-cast/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37f14c3e678f3e77/6a062ed4b3f3d97e17d16f98/GettyImages-2199489543.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Annie Nader","jobTitle":"Prediction Markets Analyst","url":"https://time.com/author/annie-nader/"}],"articleSection":"Prediction Markets","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37f14c3e678f3e77/6a062ed4b3f3d97e17d16f98/GettyImages-2199489543.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-2199489543.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Theo Wargo—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/partner-content/prediction-markets/the-role-saturday-night-live-cant-cast/","name":"The Role Saturday Night Live Can't Cast"}}]}] ```